TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Under U.S. copyright law, the work-for-hire doctrine applies to "a work
prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment." If the
doctrine applies, the employer -- and not the employee -- owns the
copyright rights to the work the employee created. This is the "default"
scenario. However, the scenario described in this thread apparently refers
to an employment contract. These contracts can either limit or broaden the
default work-for-hire status. Typically, an employer would have no
interest in obtaining copyright rights to something an employee creates
outside the scope of his employment. Therefore, a very reasonable argument
could be made by an employee that the relevant provision in the contract is
unnecessary and should be deleted, because the default work-for-hire
doctrine will provide the employer with everything it needs.
For more information on this topic, read the following articles on
GigaLaw.com:
Note that this thread has focused solely on copyright rights -- which
seems entirely appropriate for this list. However, other intellectual
property rights, particularly patents, may be involved in other situations,
in which case other rules (and not the work-for-hire doctrine) would be
applicable.
Doug Isenberg, Esq.
Editor & Publisher, GigaLaw.com
FREE daily Internet law news via e-mail! Subscribe today at
http://www.GigaLaw.com/news
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
