I’m disturbed a bit after having read this article: http://www.chicagolawyermagazine.com/Articles/2011/07/01/infotechcolumn-07-2011.aspx. Read the last paragraph and think upon what it really means for those of us who write code.
When I think about code, I think that, well, I wrote it. Sure, I wrote it when I was employed by XXX company. They have it, they “own” it. But do I not, also, own it? Why is it that copyright / patent law should be able to dictate that my prior employer owns my code exclusively? Can I not also own that code? After all is said and done, they still have that code. They still get the benefit of using that code. Why should it be that they get to slap some other company for using the same concepts?
The next company I work for will need for me to build the same kinds of things that I built for the last company (after all, I focus on companies who need my services and skills, and I’m very skilled in a very narrow area). I’ll no doubt use the same methodology as I used for the previous employer. Am I violating copyright by using the concepts inside my own brain? According to U.S. copright law, well, yes, I am. I’m “stealing” from my previous company.
I wrote the code. I thought of the code. And now I’m “stealing” the code. No – I really don’t think so.
In “the days of old,” coders would bring their code with them. That was one of the reasons people hired old coders: they’d have a wealth of code when they came. Today, though, such things are copyrighted / patented, so that the “old coder” is essentially no different from the “young coder” except that the “old coder” is … well, older, more likely to die, or retire. How is this better for the world? How does this improve things?
Copyright / Patent Law is entirely broken. Its purposes have been subverted for the profit of a few and only serve the interests of those few.
Copy at will.
Creative commons license: attribution, non-commercial, derivatives OK.
-D
This reminds me of a girl I knew in college whose father worked for Shell Oil. He invented — quite by accident — the Shell No Pest Strip. You hung them up and then some unfortunate insect with wings stuck to it. Voila! New fangled fly paper mega corporate style. Anyway, he had no rights to it or royalties connected with it even though he created it. They held the patent. I also understand that often, intellectual property is protected by a “do not compete” clause in contracts when employees leave — sometimes as much as two years. Maybe that’s why there seem to be more and more independent contractors out there.
Companies even have DNC contracts with people doing contract / consulting work. They don’t often enforce them, though. I routinely line out that part of any contract. Actually – I make it rather a sport to cross out as much of the contract as I can, explaining to them why their contracts are not reasonable. I’ve never had anybody complain about me doing so, either – they’ve simply thanked me, changed the contract, and we’ve gone forward.
I can just picture that. Good for you putting them to task. More people should!