IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% of the Time”

Re:IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% o... by jeltz on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:19AM (#26874218)

It is not obvious such contracts are legal without any form of compensation. E.g. some company have a clause where if you invent something in your free time they can choose to buy the invention from you at a fixed price determined by the contract, and that is legal. But it is not as clear that just getting all intellectual property without any extra compensation is legal. A contract need to be quid pro quo, and in addition to that local employment law can contain limitations.

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Re:IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% o... by trutannus on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:22AM (#26874255)

> just getting all intellectual property without any extra compensation is legal

Generally it's not legal. Under Canadian contract law at least you need to offer some compensation for a specific clause in the contract that involves transfer. That's also why you see stories like "she purchased the IP off Nortel for $1". Makes it harder to call foul later. Not a lawyer, but this is how it's been explained to me.

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Re:IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% o... by bradleyjg on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:28AM (#26874339)

As a matter of general Anglo-American contract law it’s true that a contract needs to have consideration (i.e. something for each side) but each clause in a contract doesn’t. So if you are being paid to work then that’s sufficient consideration for all the employment terms. There doesn’t need to be identified additional compensation for each requirement the employer imposes.

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Re:IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% o... by fractionalhare on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:26AM (#26874311)

See also: one-time bonuses for developing patents and assigning them to your company.

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