> When a developer creates code he or she gets paid once, but company profits forever.
Forever usually being 1-5 years?
It's a figure of speech, but I've seen 10 year old commits still doing well in production and some written before even git was a thing.
Given how much value this work generates, it's time developers got together and put a pressure on companies to pay fairer and proportionally to profits they are generating.
I'd even opt for a legislation that would make contract clauses about giving up royalties illegal.
When a factory worker makes a chair, company does not profit from it indefinitely.
When a developer creates code he or she gets paid once, but company profits forever.
So even if they fire a developer, they still are profiting the from work they did. Question is, why developers sign IP transfer and royalty waiver in their contracts?