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Can Employer Usurp Copyright On GPL-Derived Work?
An anonymous reader writes "I am a recent graduate, and I've been working on my own on a project that uses GPL-licensed libraries. Later a university department hired me, on a part-time basis, to develop this project into a solution that they needed. The project's size increased over time and soliciting help from the open source community seemed like the obvious thing to do. However, when I suggested this, my boss was not interested, and it was made clear to me that the department's position was that copyright of the whole thing belonged to them. Indeed, by default work created for an employer belongs to the employer, so I may have gotten myself in the same trap discussed here years ago. Even though I want to release my code to the public I don't know whether I have the legal right to do so. I did start the project on my own. And, since no written or verbal agreement was ever made to transfer copyright over to my employer, I question whether they can claim that they now own the extended version of the project. Also, the whole project relies on GPL libraries, and without those libraries it would be useless. Can they still claim copyright and prevent me from publishing the source code even though it is derived from GPL software?" Some early commenters on the submission pointed out that it matters whether the libraries were licensed under the LGPL vs. the GPL.
Is it possible to do two distinct forks simultaneously, if you're the one doing the coding on both forks? Couldn't your employer argue that your contributions to the personal fork are inevitably derived from the code you wrote for their fork? And if you write your fork first, and then soon thereafter write the employer's fork, isn't the employer's fork inevitably derived from your personal fork, since you wrote both?
I think a single person simultaneously (or even with weeks) writing both forks is a bad idea, at least from a legal "who owns this code" standpoint.
Actually, what matters is whether or not he distributed the software, preferably under a GPL license, before he was employed. If not, then there's simply no record that he ever did any work before he went to work for them. Whereas if he had distributed it them he could go to that other person and get a copy of the software from them.
How we know is more important than what we know.
consult a lawyer, but IMO the key thing you said is:
"I did start the project on my own. And, since no written or verbal agreement was ever made to transfer copyright over to my employer, I question whether they can claim that they now own the extended version of the project."
it was yours to start with. they paid you to do some extra work on it. there was no transfer of license.
they may "own" any of the work-for-hire stuff you did while employed by them (depends on the nature of the employment - usually, in simple terms, if you're a contractor, you own your work but if you're an employee, they do) BUT THEY DO NOT OWN THE COPYRIGHT, AND THEY DO NOT OWN YOUR PRIOR WORK.
BTW verbal agreements are worth the paper they're written on - doesn't matter what they claim you said, if they can't produce a signed transfer agreement, it means nothing. same as if an employer verbally agrees that you will get paid quadruple for working overtime, unless that's standard practice where you work it's unenforcable unless it's in writing. and same as if the salesman says you can opt out of the contract at any time for any reason without penalty - if it's not what the contract says, it means nothing.
never trust a verbal agreement. they're worthless. this is true anywhere, not just in employment.
BTW, crap like this is why i *NEVER* sign an employment agreement without carefully looking at the clauses to do with ownership of work. if it says anything other than "what i do during work time on work equipment is yours, what i do on my time on my own equipment is mine" i send it back for another edit. i've had one or two bosses quibble about that until I ask them if they want to start paying me for 24 hours a day rather than 7.25.
(that question was always a good answer to the occasional managerial whinges about long hair and beard too)