Is my employer owner of program I wrote?

Question

I work for certain company and I was not hired for software developer/engineer. It is not in my job description to create such a work. However, my employer requested me to create several programs that company will be using and we had several meetings how they want this to be made. After bunch of meetings, I created the program and entire source code have been written by me 100%. There was no paperwork to sign nor did they create document for ownership of the software I created. Anyway, I am leaving the company now and they requested source code for programs I wrote saying it is company property, not mine. Can they do that? Are they really legal owner of these programs I wrote? I would understand if someone from the company who wrote codes with me but these codes are 100% written by me and every testing steps are done by me. It even took me countless hours my own time to create it. When company requested for it, I said I would leave installation file but I wouldn't hand over source code I worked so hard for. Who is the owner of these programs I wrote in this case? Is it me or the company? There is no written rules or statement anywhere in company that they can take ownership of the program in their policy.

Answer 1

yes, the employer owns it. You were paid to write it by the company and the task and specs were defined by the employer. They own it. Even if you had not been an employee, doing work to specifications by a company gives them ownership.

Answer 2

Speak with a lawyer...did you copyright or even have documentation for doing so.  Pleas update I would like to know what happens.... I signed away my right in the past.  Good luck

Answer 3

Yes, they can claim it, your job description doesn't matter. They asked you to do it while you were on their payroll, and you agreed, and didn't negotiate ownership terms. Boom. Work for hire.

Answer 4

If you're a salaried employee, there's no such thing as "your own time." If you're paid by the hour but worked on it solely outside of work, it's yours. If you're paid by the hour and worked on it both at home and at work, it's likely legally theirs, but you are entitled to overtime compensation, assuming you kept track of your hours.

Answer 5

I would consult a lawyer now. BUT, I would also give the program a name, then submit it to a patent office or whomever registers new programs. If the company asked you to do something outside of your job description and there was no papers signed, then if they use your work, it's stealing. 

Answer 6

You were an employee. They requested that you write a program. You wrote a program. By definition, it is a "work made for hire". An employer automatically owns the copyright as "the original author" of works made for hire. If you want a legal opinion, ask a local copyright attorney about it.



On the other hand, writing a program per the SPECIFICATIONS of someone, not as their employee, means you own the copyright in the resulting work, although possibly "jointly" with the author of the specs, under US laws.  This area of copyright law is rife with traps for the unwary, since "work for hire" by an independent contractor is strictly construed by STATUTE, not by contract laws or what you THOUGHT might happen for ownership.  In OTHER countries a client would generally own the work resulting from paying a contractor to create an original work of authorship, absent a properly written and signed contract -- the exact opposite of the US laws.

Answer 7

Definitely you need to talk to a "Possibly Notary Public" who is like a lawyer but does not do criminal cases...NP mainly knows paperwork legalities of business dealings.   He is cheaper than any lawyer.



As far as I am concerned, the program is YOURS. I could be wrong.  But be damned I will copy that source code onto my "USB stick" for I may have something to offer to the next potential employer to "cinch getting the job" as it is part of my skill set portfolio. So what if more that one outfit uses the same accounting program.  It is not like they are gonna check out the competition.



I am trying to think of an analogy....   I have experience fixing & working on rebuilding cars.  So I work for someone who has a project car. He pays me to help him rebuild the car.  Some stuff is a one man operation so I do it.  It is his car and I rebuilt the motor, and did the body work and painted the vehicle.  It is still his vehicle...no matter how much work I do on it. I got paid by the hour.  In the end it is his vehicle.  I shared my skill set. That is why I was there.



Or musicians.  They hope to be bought by a record label so they can get royalties from their music when it sells a million albums.  The record company owns the music. The musicians can not be stopped from playing their music live to others but they do not own it.

 

I think that is closer to what you got for a situation.  



I don't write computer programs so I can't get into that realm of thinking.

Answer 8

Yes, the employer owns it. You were paid to write it by the company and the task and specs were defined by the employer. They own it. Even if you had not been an employee, doing work to specifications by a company gives them ownership.

Answer 9

You could consult a lawyer to be sure, since laws can vary depending upon where you live.  But in general, if you created it on company time using company equipment, the company is the legal owner of the intellectual property.  

Answer 10

If you did it with company equipment on company time under company instruction... you have 0% chance of winning a claim to it.

Answer 11

Welcome to the workforce!

Answer 12

Simple

if you used company assets or company time (ie while on the clock) the company owns the program. if you wrote the program out of work hours on your own equipment then you own the program unless you gave up rights to the program. 

Answer 13

It sounds like you did the work for the company while employed by the company.... so they probably own it. But without more details and a law degree, it would be hard to tell. Talk to a lawyer for accurate advice. Laws on this type of thing can vary by location... every state and country can have different laws. 



I am not a lawyer and cannot offer good legal advice. My uneducated guess is that whether you own it comes down to 3 key factors:



1) What was in the documents you signed when you first started working at that company. Most employers have you fill out a lot of forms and contracts for the Human Resources department on your first day of work. Sometimes these contracts can have clauses that would apply to this scenario.



2) Did the company pay for it? It sounds like you had meetings on company time. So that suggests they paid for it to some extent, which is definitely a point in their favor. Did write any of the code on company time, or was it on your own personal time? Did you write it on company-owned computers/devices?



3) I am not sure if this really applies, but were you an hourly or salary employee? If you wrote it on clock while being an hourly worker, then it is almost certainly their code. If you were a salary employee without clearly defined work hours, then they might be able to argue any project you did for work was owned by the company, regardless of where or when the work was done (in the office or at home).



If you are serious about trying to establish ownership of this, then you should probably talk to a lawyer before you do anything else. Also, how complex these programs? Are they really worth fighting over?

Answer 14

were you on the clock when you wrote it? then you wrote it FOR them, so it is theirs.

if they HIRED you to write it, or paid you special for it, there should have been a paper trail with a document of sale attached.

but if you were on their payroll and they asked you to write it and you agreed to write it, then sorry, but you wrote it for them, and it belongs to them.but if you really wrote it, you can always just write it again, for a separate project. if there was no copyright whatsoever in the code, then there is nothing to stop you reusing the code ;)



if you only wanted them to have the installer, then you should have worked out a bill of lading and made an agreement in advance...

Answer 15

There is generally a wide open clause in work contracts, that is assumed to give the employer any product produced during working hours.

You need a Lawyer to give "Legal, legal advice".