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Doing Open-Source Development, Anonymously?
An anonymous reader asks: "I have some free time, and I've recently started looking into some open-source projects that I'd like to start working on. (I'm a great fan of open-source. A package that I wrote four years ago, and which shall remain un-named, is probably running on you Linux system). But I have a problem: I strongly suspect that my after-hours work might be 'frowned upon' by my employer, and although I have no contractual commitment to abstain from such work, and I will not use office-computers or anything, I realize that in these times it might get me into trouble. So I figured I'll use an assumed identity. However, in order to release copyleft software, you have to first claim copyright to it, and this is not likely to legaly hold for an assumed identity. I don't want to release to the public-domain either. So what can I do?"
Why are people so afraid of registering copyright? This is a solved problem.
If you want your copyright claim to be strong enough that it would actually hold up in court, you really want to register it anyway, and using a pseudonym or anonymous authorship is allowed, at least in USAia (and the treaties should cover elsewhere).
You can get someone else (who you trust, obviously) to sign the paperwork as your authorized agent, no need to divulge who you are, and no need to assign.
IANL, but...
If you do your OSS work:
- in your own time
- using your own equipment
- outside the scope of your current employment
it's yours, even if you signed a contract saying that everything you publish while in this company's employ is theirs.You should get this advice directly from a good IP lawyer with experience in this area (I give the google cached version because they're working on their server this weekend). You might find that he also tells you that you need not consult your present employer because the contract they made you sign is in breach of this basic legal principle of IP law. He will probably tell you that you are the equitable owner anything you do in your own time, on your own equipment, and outside the scope of your current position with that employer.
There is, of course, ample precedent for entities, including individuals publishing under pseudonyms, retaining copyright of their work.
Your main order of business (besides getting the half hour of preventative legal advice that you can pry get on a free initial consultation), is to, through your own internal CVS logs for example, continue to document the fact that the OSS work you are doing is in fact being conducted on your own equipment and in your own time.
Another measure you can take is to timestamp, sign and encrypt and periodically mail the CVS logs (heck why not a snapshot of the whole repository) off to a trusted third party, with instructions to store, and not to open the files unless it becomes necessary. This is the digital equivalent of sending yourself a registered letter with your copyrighted documents in it, and then not opening it -- unless you need to do so in front of the judge. Which you probably won't have to, but it's a heck of a good thing to have. If someone informs you they're going to challenge your copyright, your counsel will tell their counsel that you've taken these preventative measures, and poof! the problem will, in all likelihood, magically go away.
It is perfectly legal to "publish" works under a pseudonymn.
The short of it can be taken from the Library of Congress's site, specifically at the Copyright Office site (alternately found at http://www.copyright.gov). Here is a bit from the FAQ:
If you're really interested, you can get full details in this file (Note, it's a PDF), which specifically deals with copyrights and pseudonymns.
Hopefully this clears up your confusion.
Topher