>One employer asked me to yield ownership of my entire work product during the term of my employment, including things I wrote on my own time on my own equipmen

>One employer asked me to yield ownership of my entire work product during the term of my employment, including things I wrote on my own time on my own equipment, such as these blog articles. I think the employer should own only the things they pay me to create, during my working hours. >When I pointed this out to them I got a very typical reply: “Oh, we don't actually mean that, we only want to own things you produced in the scope of your employment.” What they said they wanted was what I also wanted. I still view this as a huge red flag. The companies I've come across that had fuck-you clauses like this inserted by overzealous lawyers usually had a toxic culture to match. A company that will default to "we get first dibs on everything coming out of your brain" will probably not treat you with respect even if certain individuals who work there are reasonable human beings. The worst company I ever worked for not coincidentally had the worst contract (e.g. they had 8-7 working hours followed by a verbal "dont worry nobody actually works that"). Contractual clauses are an underrated window into company culture. It's the one place where honesty prevails. These days I dont push back on unreasonable clauses or give the opportunity for the hiring manager to say "whoops so sorry our lawyers tried to fuck you". When a company tries to tell me who it is I believe them - first time.