On Thu, 11 Feb 2016 12:10:23 +1300
Daniel Reurich <daniel@???> wrote:

> > How 'legal' do you want this to be? My work contract has a clause
> > which states that even if I dream of code/ something else which
> > might be useful, the rights rest with my employer.
>
> That's insane and surely it's legally unenforceable, and certainly if
> they don't pay you for the time spent dreaming code
>
> D:


Hi Daniel,

You'd be hugely surprised at how literally some states in the US
interpret contracts. I live in (anti-employee) Florida, and a friend of
mine here in Florida was advised by his lawyer to not work for Linux for
the next 6 months because his former employer had a 6 month
anti-compete on any Linux work. His lawyer said he'd likely lose the
case if he did Linux and his old employer sued.

Meanwhile, in California, that kind of non-compete is illegal.

This often becomes a problem in Free Software, as former employers
covet Free Software rights on software written by their employees on
the employee's own time and with the employee's own computer.

This is the reason a lot of Free Software authors assign all rights to
the FSF. I don't do that because I've been self-employed since 1982.

SteveT

Steve Litt
February 2016 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/key