US copyright ownership issue

[Tenzin_la]

I've fumbled across this dealing with being a consultant writing bits of code and designing networks. When I have to fill out a Non-Disclosure Agreement stating I am under other Non-Disclosure agreements that I am not permitted to disclose.

[murg]

Originally Posted by Tenzin_la

I've fumbled across this dealing with being a consultant writing bits of code and designing networks. When I have to fill out a Non-Disclosure Agreement stating I am under other Non-Disclosure agreements that I am not permitted to disclose.

Make sure you fill it out in triplicate and burn all four copies.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by theducks

Another issue that was part of my former employment agreement:

Use of Employers resources,
even if the work was fully done on the Employees time off.

Way back in the day, when Steve Wozniak worked at Hewlett-Packard, he created the Apple I at home in his own free time with his own materials. He nonetheless showed it to his bosses and obtained a release stating HP had no (legal) interest in the product.

In some businesses, what you learn on the job can't be applied outside of work.
In that his case, the Society may have provided data or other forms of input not available elsewhere. Or maybe the team used publicly available data. Or resources from their employers of record.

As volunteers the team members were supposed to be offering free support to the Society. The question is how much and what kind of support did the Society provide aside from gathering the team and "branding" the report (if they had approved of it). Ownership of the copyright will depend on that. Absent proof of material support of the effort by the Society the report would seem to be either the property of the tesm members or their employers of record, not the Society.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

But wouldn't you agree that it is a kind of stealing if you use your employers resources for personal gain? Even if you don't gain financially you could theoretically as copyright holder release your work into the public domain.

As always: Depends

I could borrow (sign out) test equipment overnight.

Mostly they were worried about stuff done on premises, consumption of materials and using proprietary IP

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by theducks

I could borrow (sign out) test equipment overnight.

Mostly they were worried about stuff done on premises, consumption of materials and using proprietary IP

That is where we have to agree to disagree.

No question about using consumable resources and propietary IP - on or off premises.

Borrowing test equipment? If it is test equipment that is cost prohibitive for you to aquire or rent elsewhere then your employer shouldn't let you take it home and play with it unless you are working at home for your employer. Liability incase it gets damaged or stolen is one thing, the other is regular wear and tear.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

That is where we have to agree to disagree.

No question about using consumable resources and propietary IP - on or off premises.

Borrowing test equipment? If it is test equipment that is cost prohibitive for you to aquire or rent elsewhere then your employer shouldn't let you take it home and play with it unless you are working at home for your employer. Liability incase it gets damaged or stolen is one thing, the other is regular wear and tear.

Company policies vary.
Some are very lenient in one area and tighter in others.
Some have corporate juice bars and masseuses. And very nasty employment contracts.

Back in the 90's when internet access was starting to move out into the mainstream, our outfit set a policy explicitly allowing use of corporate email and web access for personal shopping and stuff during lunch and outside working hours. With the proviso: "don't do anything that would embarrass the bosses. Or else."

As near as I could tell only one guy out of thousands got into trouble and he was using his own hardware and dialup service.