I don't have a template or resources I can point to. But some things both employer and employee should consider before embarking on this:
1. Is this a brand new, from the ground up project or the open sourcing of something the company had that was previously closed? The former is marginally less complex than the latter. 2. Is the project in an area of that the employer is currently involved in? Is the employer likely to become involved in this area in the next 1|3|5|10 years? 3. Does the employer understand open source? Is employer an active supporter of open source? Is employer a beneficiary of open source? 4. Would the employee use any of the employer's resources (computers, bandwidth, electricity, office space, email address, hosting space, etc.) in developing the open source software? If not, how would the employee ensure that they are not using any resources from the employer in building this software? 5. Even though employee might be developing the software purely on an individual basis, there is a chance that the software is perceived to be from the employer rather than the employee's personal project. 6. What license does the employee plan to use for the project? Is this in the best interest of the employee? The employer? 7. What happens if someone sues the employee for the open source software? Can the employer get sucked into the dispute? 8. What happens to the employer/employee if the software turns out to be the next What's App or InstaApp? Some sort of agreement between the employer and the employee addressing the details of these would be a good starting step. Thaths On Wed Jun 04 2014 at 1:08:15 PM, Biju Chacko <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > A colleague wants to start an open source project and wanted to make > sure our employer is ok with it. I was wondering if anyone here could > point me to some templates or other resources for this kind of > agreement. A quick google didn't get me anything useful. > > -- b > >
