RE: work contracts inquiry

["McCallion, Martin" <MccalliM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Shadrach,

You don't say what country you're in, but I remember reading something
similar in my contract when I first started here an alarmingly long time
ago.  If you take the letter of the contract, then even if I write a
novel or a song while in this employment (but wholly on my own time)
then the company would own the copyright.

I discussed this with a friend who has knowledge of Contract Law (he's a
Patent Attorney).  He said that such a clause is unenforceable under UK
law.  There is a larger principle, that contracts must be "fair", and
these sort of conditions would not be.

I suspect that, for a programmer working in their own time on a
programming project, even if unrelated to their employer's business, the
situation might be a little less clear.

Disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer; and things may be different in your
country.

Cheers,

Martin.


--                                                                     
Martin McCallion                 
Midas-Kapiti International
Work:  mccallim@midas-kapiti.com
Home: martin.mccallion@ukonline.co.uk

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