What is the clause in an employee contract that says they own all your code?

Question

I am looking at my employee contract and I can't seem to figure out where it might say that they own all the code that I write, be it at work or at home.

Any examples of what the wording could be like?

Answer 1

This clause is normally called Work For Hire.

Joel wrote all about this on OnStartups.

Of course, there's no guarantee that every employment contract will use this terminology. If you don't see the above, look for keywords such as "ownership", "copyright", or "intellectual property".

Answer 2

I specifically asked my employer about this when signing a new contract this week.

In my contract, it came under 'Intellectual Property', and the gist of it was that any code I use company resources in producing, or write under company instruction, is owned by the company. Seems fair enough to me.

Answer 3

This differs wildly from contract to contract, but I think what you are referring to would be found under an Intellectual Property clause, typically somewhere in the Terms and Conditions (small print) area.

Answer 4

Such a claim is very problematic. In Germany, for instance, you need a license for every software you use (but the license needn't be written down).

So if you write a short script at home to rename your vacation photos? Too simple, to be subject of license issues? No, no, no my friend! You don't need much code for copyright.

So you couldn't use your own script without permission from your company! That's ridiculous. If you write something at home but for the company - all right, you get paid for it.

But all your work? I wouldn't sign such a contract.

It wouldn't be a problem, as long as everybody stays fair? Well - you only need contracts to rule what will happen, when people stop behaving fair.