Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.programmer:2092 comp.software-eng:754 Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!uwmcsd1!nic.MR.NET!umn-cs!crayview!imp From: imp@crayview.msi.umn.edu (Chuck Lukaszewski) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.software-eng Subject: Re: Work for Hire contracts Summary: Work-for-hire is OK but... Message-ID: <6682@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu> Date: 16 Aug 88 05:33:23 GMT References: <496@hudson.acc.virginia.edu> <25636@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <25638@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Sender: news@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu Lines: 35 In article <25638@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster) writes: > Hire" is completely unfair. Think twice before you > sign any "work for hire" contract, and better yet, > refuse to sign. > Please reconsider your opinion. Do you mean to imply that no one should be able to buy pieces of art -- that we must simply license them? Do you mean to imply that the video movies we buy at the store should be revokable at any time? That we license toilet tissue? In all seriousness, the point of work-for-hire is that you get compensated to develop a program. It sounds to me like you just wrote a piece of software and realized too late how much it was really worth. Well, that is why you negotiate up front. In fairness to you, there are many many software companies that do nothing more than exploit programmers. But if you are indeed compet- ent, and especially if you have specialized knowledge, you can set a price and negotiate it. And you have the power to say 'no' at all times. I've been burned and I've had some good experiences in doing contract work. I know the legal ramifications. And I think that it is a very reasonable way of doing the work. Besides, most companies won't hear of not owning the soft- ware that the contract out. What happens when you get hit by a train and you are the only posessor of the source code to XYZ company's accounting package? No, as the president of a computer-aware company that is unacceptable to me. BTW, there are tremendous tax and benefit advantages to a work-for-hire. The law differs from state to state, but at some point recently, for example, a work-for-hire in California meant that you were entitled to benefits from that corporation. And there are limitations on social security that you have to pay if it states in the contract that you are an 'independent contractor.' ---===---===---===---===--/* Chuck Lukaszewski */--===---===---===---===--- ARPAnet/NSFnet/MRnet: AppleLink: SnailMail: Ma Bell: imp@crayview.msi.umn.edu UG0138 Minneapolis MN 55418 612/789-0931