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Google sounds like it's the complete opposite. I've never seriously pursued a job with Google, and don't have first-hand knowledge of the actual policy, but eve

Google sounds like it's the complete opposite. I've never seriously pursued a job with Google, and don't have first-hand knowledge of the actual policy, but everything I've seen suggests that it's a "Google owns everything you write unless you jump through some really big hoops" and it's been a big part of why I've never seriously thought about applying there.

rootoor 8y ago
This is sort of true. You can get copyright waivers for personal projects by filling out a form. They say most projects are approved but in my experience, it seems like they deny a lot of them. One of the two projects I submitted was denied. Other people I know have had a similar experience
dodobirdlord 8y ago
It's actually basically the same policy, it just tends to get framed in a negative light instead of a positive light. "We own everything you produce unless you used no company resources" and "Everything you produce is yours unless you used company resources" are the same statement, but the former sounds way worse. As far as I know there are two differences. a) Google claims ownership of things you produced off-hours with no company resources if the work you were doing off-hours is your job. If you are for example a DL theorist, you are being paid in part for your general skill at coming up with DL theories, not just for the hours you put in at the office. If you come up with a new DL theory in the shower instead of at your desk, Google still owns it. b) Google claims ownership of innovations made by employees off-hours with no company resources if the innovations in question were already being researched elsewhere at Google or the innovation was already known to Google. Like any sufficiently large technology company, Google has made patentable discoveries that it has elected not to patent so as to maintain them as internal trade secrets. This is to avoid the mess that would ensue if an employee independently came up with one of these discoveries and filed a patent for it and Google had to dispute the patent by demonstrating prior art and in the process revealing their trade secret. So if you have a new innovation that was produced off-hours and without company resources, you first submit it to Google's legal office and they will let you know whether they (a) consider it part of your job or (b) were already aware of it, and if so they will claim ownership. If you disagree with their decision there's a third party arbitration process so that you can hash it out without risking the exposure of a trade secret.
pmiller2 8y ago
Even worse, Google/Alphabet is in so many businesses, it’s probably very hard to do something outside those areas (and near impossible to refute a claim of “oh, another division is working on that”).

rootoor 8y ago

This is sort of true. You can get copyright waivers for personal projects by filling out a form. They say most projects are approved but in my experience, it seems like they deny a lot of them. One of the two projects I submitted was denied. Other people I know have had a similar experience

dodobirdlord 8y ago

It's actually basically the same policy, it just tends to get framed in a negative light instead of a positive light. "We own everything you produce unless you used no company resources" and "Everything you produce is yours unless you used company resources" are the same statement, but the former sounds way worse. As far as I know there are two differences. a) Google claims ownership of things you produced off-hours with no company resources if the work you were doing off-hours is your job. If you are for example a DL theorist, you are being paid in part for your general skill at coming up with DL theories, not just for the hours you put in at the office. If you come up with a new DL theory in the shower instead of at your desk, Google still owns it. b) Google claims ownership of innovations made by employees off-hours with no company resources if the innovations in question were already being researched elsewhere at Google or the innovation was already known to Google. Like any sufficiently large technology company, Google has made patentable discoveries that it has elected not to patent so as to maintain them as internal trade secrets. This is to avoid the mess that would ensue if an employee independently came up with one of these discoveries and filed a patent for it and Google had to dispute the patent by demonstrating prior art and in the process revealing their trade secret. So if you have a new innovation that was produced off-hours and without company resources, you first submit it to Google's legal office and they will let you know whether they (a) consider it part of your job or (b) were already aware of it, and if so they will claim ownership. If you disagree with their decision there's a third party arbitration process so that you can hash it out without risking the exposure of a trade secret.

pmiller2 8y ago

Even worse, Google/Alphabet is in so many businesses, it’s probably very hard to do something outside those areas (and near impossible to refute a claim of “oh, another division is working on that”).