> Blanket "we own everything" statements should never be accepted, ever.

That's a value judgment that others might not share.

Also, that's easy to say if you have a steady, secure job that pays well. But if you don't, and you need a job else you might not make your next rent payment, maybe you can't be so picky.

Same deal if all the desirable jobs in your area have clauses like that and you can't or don't want to move.

> if you don't, and you need a job else you might not make your next rent payment, maybe you can't be so picky.

Yes. Early in my career, I had been in this situation a couple of times. What I did then (and would do again) is to suspend any work on such private projects entirely until I can find a job with a more reasonable employer.

sometimes clauses are implicit in the law or collective contracts or come from case law so on the contract you sign you don't have to specify it, contracts are still bound by law and law takes precedence most of the time and ultimately you have to read the whole thing to know what a contract actually bounds you to in it's entirety, which is way you resolve disputes you need a specialist

Italy for example has a blanket "we own everything" statement on the standard collective contract, and to work around that you need to write an agreement and sign it on the side (not on the main contract) or it won't stick in court because all clause against the collective contract are considered vexatious by default and require special care