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This is the truth right here. I've never signed an IP assignment agreement that applied outside of work hours and company equipment in my entire career. I've

This is the truth right here. I've never signed an IP assignment agreement that applied outside of work hours and company equipment in my entire career. I've simply refused to do so, and made it a point of negotiation. If there's a company I really wanted to work for, at times I gave up some salary for this flexibility, but generally speaking it wasn't even an issue. Overly broad employment contracts are common-place in the US, because most people never challenge it. It's very much an "implication" situation, because of the power dynamic between employee and employer. Take the power back, read contracts, and don't sign if you disagree. There's always room to negotiate. I think it's perfectly reasonable to say things I create during work hours, or in the office, or with company equipment belong to the company. On the flip-side, once you are no longer "at work" (whatever that means in your case) and on your own equipment, that is none of the company's business whatsoever. If you agree to it though, that's on you.

ryandrake 5y ago
Just to add an anecdote: all large companies I have worked for required IP assignment, and it was NOT negotiable. You can ask for it to be removed and they will say no. You can try the “strike it out and initial” move, but the agreement will come back in about a week with a stern letter from legal saying “sign it unmodified or GTFO”. It is likely more negotiable in smaller companies that do not have huge, inflexible employment agreements.
- mindslight 5y ago
  It's not clear whether you're referring to imaginary property assignment clauses in general, or specifically to imaginary property assignment outside of the job. Of course companies require imaginary property assignment for the work they're paying you to do, and that's entirely reasonable. It's not reasonable for them to also claim ownership over everything you do in your personal life (eg side projects, emails to friends, cooking recipes).
  - ryandrake 5y ago
    > It's not reasonable for them to also claim ownership over everything you do in your personal life Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. I agree it’s not reasonable, but just try negotiating your employment agreement terms with a $1T company, and let me know how it goes!

ryandrake 5y ago

Just to add an anecdote: all large companies I have worked for required IP assignment, and it was NOT negotiable. You can ask for it to be removed and they will say no. You can try the “strike it out and initial” move, but the agreement will come back in about a week with a stern letter from legal saying “sign it unmodified or GTFO”. It is likely more negotiable in smaller companies that do not have huge, inflexible employment agreements.

mindslight 5y ago
It's not clear whether you're referring to imaginary property assignment clauses in general, or specifically to imaginary property assignment outside of the job. Of course companies require imaginary property assignment for the work they're paying you to do, and that's entirely reasonable. It's not reasonable for them to also claim ownership over everything you do in your personal life (eg side projects, emails to friends, cooking recipes).
- ryandrake 5y ago
  > It's not reasonable for them to also claim ownership over everything you do in your personal life Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. I agree it’s not reasonable, but just try negotiating your employment agreement terms with a $1T company, and let me know how it goes!