Re:IBM to Kernel Maintainer: “You Are an IBM Employee 100% o...
by throwaway287391 on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:39AM
(#26874493)
> I’m not sure why people sign these things though...
The clauses are usually (in my experience anyway) restricted to things that are "related" in some way to your core work. I personally don't question the boundaries on this "related" and assume that anything that involves writing code belongs to my employer. This doesn't bother me because I rarely write code outside of work [0], and I suspect most people who are employed full-time to write software are the same.
[0] Rare exceptions: solving silly puzzles when I get nerdsniped, and automating random things on my personal phone/laptop. If my employer finds out I'm doing either of those and would like to claim they own the IP for them, they can be my guest.
The clauses are usually (in my experience anyway) restricted to things that are "related" in some way to your core work. I personally don't question the boundaries on this "related" and assume that anything that involves writing code belongs to my employer. This doesn't bother me because I rarely write code outside of work [0], and I suspect most people who are employed full-time to write software are the same.
[0] Rare exceptions: solving silly puzzles when I get nerdsniped, and automating random things on my personal phone/laptop. If my employer finds out I'm doing either of those and would like to claim they own the IP for them, they can be my guest.