[NetBehaviour] "Where do I go from here?" - Text talking about employment

[Edward Picot]

James -

I had a look on the Unite website 
(http://www.unitetheunion.org/member_services/legal_help/employment_issues/intellectual_property_works.aspx) 
and it looks as if it's standard practice for employers to claim 
intellectual property rights over anything their employees create: "Even 
if the work is created by the employee in their own time and using their 
own resources, the employee will not necessarily be able to claim any 
rights in that work, if the employer shows that the nature of the work 
created was that which could be reasonably contemplated as part of the 
employee’s duties... Consequently, Amicus members who wish to retain 
their rights in respect of ownership of work created in their own time 
should ensure that their contract of employment expressly provides for 
this to happen... some Universities have developed Intellectual Property 
Policies which include revenue sharing schemes from the exploitation of 
IP created by employees in the course of their employment. Such schemes 
are of course a vast improvement on the statutory position, which (as we 
have seen) generally does not allow for employees to share in the 
financial success of the IP works they have created and the development 
of such schemes in other sectors should be actively encouraged."

It looks as if you might be okay if you create something in your own 
time which your employer could not demonstrate was connected in any way 
to your work. And of course there's always the option of lying - signing 
their contract, then cheating on it - which is probably common practice, 
and not particularly morally reprehensible under the circumstances. 
You'd have to be very careful how you covered your tracks, of course.

- Edward