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The agreement was that the work was voluntary. If you volunteer to fix my yard, and after a weekend, I tell you thanks but please leave, am I suddenly expected

The agreement was that the work was voluntary. If you volunteer to fix my yard, and after a weekend, I tell you thanks but please leave, am I suddenly expected to pay for it?

openmosix 9y ago
I'm not sure it has nothing to do with IP ownership. I "volunteer" to a million of opensource projects. However, I am not giving up IP ownership - they get transferred as part of the license associated with my work. In the absence of a license, I still retain 100% ownership of everything I have produced. There is a reason why every employment agreement requires to sign a special document where the employee transfer IP ownership to the company. In an "informal" setting, Mark is fully entitled to the intellectual ownership of his work (unless he signed a license or a IP transfer). In the current situation - from a pure legal standpoint - Mark could claim ownership of the project.
- startupdiscuss 9y ago
  I suppose Mark can argue that he can take his code and launch a competitor. Or he can threaten not to let her use "his code" or something else. But none of those things happened! He said he is going to show up at the booth, and that he will continue working the company.
LyndsySimon 9y ago
> The agreement was that the work was voluntary. I'm just not seeing that in the article.
- startupdiscuss 9y ago
  Haven't you heard of startup weekend? Please look it up: https://startupweekend.org/ https://startupweekend.org/
  - LyndsySimon 9y ago
    It's probably hit my radar at some point, but honestly hackathons just aren't my scene unless I'm going for work.
- jasonlotito 9y ago
  It's made very clear in the article. That's the point of SW. It is voluntary. It's understood that you are sharing everything. Both ways.
  - LyndsySimon 9y ago
    > It's understood that you are sharing everything. Both ways. This was my preconception, based on the hackathons I've attended. That also doesn't fit well with the article - it seems the author was expecting it to be their company. In the absence of a prior discussion or agreement, I would expect it to be an equal partnership.
    - jasonlotito 9y ago
      No, not at all. There is no equal partnership. They are under no obligation to bring you on board. You are free to go your own way, and so are they. God, if there was an implied equal partnership, that would be bad.

The agreement was that the work was voluntary. If you volunteer to fix my yard, and after a weekend, I tell you thanks but please leave, am I suddenly expected to pay for it?

openmosix 9y ago

I'm not sure it has nothing to do with IP ownership. I "volunteer" to a million of opensource projects. However, I am not giving up IP ownership - they get transferred as part of the license associated with my work. In the absence of a license, I still retain 100% ownership of everything I have produced. There is a reason why every employment agreement requires to sign a special document where the employee transfer IP ownership to the company. In an "informal" setting, Mark is fully entitled to the intellectual ownership of his work (unless he signed a license or a IP transfer). In the current situation - from a pure legal standpoint - Mark could claim ownership of the project.

startupdiscuss 9y ago
I suppose Mark can argue that he can take his code and launch a competitor. Or he can threaten not to let her use "his code" or something else. But none of those things happened! He said he is going to show up at the booth, and that he will continue working the company.

LyndsySimon 9y ago

> The agreement was that the work was voluntary. I'm just not seeing that in the article.

startupdiscuss 9y ago
Haven't you heard of startup weekend? Please look it up: https://startupweekend.org/ https://startupweekend.org/
- LyndsySimon 9y ago
  It's probably hit my radar at some point, but honestly hackathons just aren't my scene unless I'm going for work.
jasonlotito 9y ago
It's made very clear in the article. That's the point of SW. It is voluntary. It's understood that you are sharing everything. Both ways.
- LyndsySimon 9y ago
  > It's understood that you are sharing everything. Both ways. This was my preconception, based on the hackathons I've attended. That also doesn't fit well with the article - it seems the author was expecting it to be their company. In the absence of a prior discussion or agreement, I would expect it to be an equal partnership.
  - jasonlotito 9y ago
    No, not at all. There is no equal partnership. They are under no obligation to bring you on board. You are free to go your own way, and so are they. God, if there was an implied equal partnership, that would be bad.