Countering IP Agreements?

Ghettoimp asks: "I'm a grad student considering an offer for a summer internship with a large software company. The offer is appealing but has a horrible IP agreement which gives them the rights to work I create while I'm there, *and* rights to work I've created in the past. I proposed a counter-agreement but it seems quite clear that the terms are non-negotiable, and I have little reason to believe that this situation is different anywhere else that would be interested in hiring me (e.g., defense contractors, research labs). The agreement does let me list explicit items to exclude from this, and gives me space for four items. I am thinking about instead attaching a list of every program I have ever worked on at all. I know this won't give me any control over what I work on while I'm there, but could this be a viable strategy for keeping ownership of the programs I have already written? I just want to know that I will be able to use, distribute, and talk about my own work in the future without worrying about some ridiculous lawsuit."

Comments

Re:Lawyer lawyer lawyer

[keesh]

Because a lot of us don't like giving money to the crooks who make paying extortion money necessary in the first place.

Re:Lawyer lawyer lawyer

[King Fuckstain]

Well, a lot of us have made friends in life who work in a variety of fields because we're not social outcasts and, therefore, can just ask our friends who are lawyers to take a look at the document in exchange for running Windows update for them.

But you go ahead and rage on and call lawyers crooks. Perhaps after your 16th birthday you'll start the long trek towards maturity and arrive there sometime by your 40th birthday.