Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you did for your employer, for your reference?

Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by menloparkbum on Thursday August 02, 2007 @01:54AM (#38604)

I've worked on over 20 software contracts and never once did the contract contain a clause that forced me to assign copyright agreement to the person paying for the software. Note that this only applies to contractors, not exempt employees.

http://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/articles/daniels_softwar...

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Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by nostrademons on Thursday August 02, 2007 @09:19AM (#38684)

Interesting...at the places I've worked (as an employee), it was considered a dealbreaker if a contractor wanted to own the source code they produced. We passed up some really, really good contractors because they wanted to own the product.

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Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by juwo on Thursday August 02, 2007 @11:43AM (#38718)

please also comment on A) since the person is likely to become an investor in my product in the near term.

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Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by nostrademons on Thursday August 02, 2007 @11:54AM (#38723)

I'm not actually commenting on either A) or B), just on menloparkbum's comment that it's common for contractors to retain ownership.

I don't really want to get into the ethics of it, because I don't think ethical debates are particularly fruitful. (I took a course in meta-ethics in college, which makes me particularly suspicious in attempts to ground ethical judgments in factual statements or logical debate.) I'll tell you that I wouldn't do it; it sounds dodgy enough that I wouldn't really want to get involved with it. Ultimately, most ethical judgments come down to gut feelings about right or wrong.

I will say that right or wrong, I think it's stupid. You're opening yourself up to big legal liability. If acquirers or investors find out about it (and they will - that's what due diligence is for), they will nix the deal. Heck, I'm spending about $1K to have a lawyer draw up a release to make sure all IP I developed for my startup while employed belongs to me, and I didn't take any source code from my employer (I'm using a completely different technology platform and am in a completely different area of business.) It's just something I don't want to fuck around with.

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Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by jsjenkins168 on Thursday August 02, 2007 @04:25AM (#38624)

Enterprise software? That surprises me based on my limited experiences, but all the better for you I imagine you own a sizable amount of useful code by now.

Great article btw, thanks.

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Re:Is it ethical to keep a copy of the code or designs you d... by menloparkbum on Thursday August 02, 2007 @04:39AM (#38628)

no problem. I've never worked on enterprise software. mostly weird, short term stuff for startups, researchers and artistes. the code was sometimes fun, but sadly, almost never useful outside of the specific contract.

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