Intellectual Property - What Belongs to Who?
We've been discussing IP over the last week or so and this is an important topic in my line of work as a consultant. I make a living by providing my expertise and knowledge to a client. If my materials were dispersed to the public and other consultants it would lessen my value because my specialized work could be copied and reproduced. This brings me to another phenomenon that is common in today's workplace - many employers now claim IP rights to anything their employees create. This is also the case with my current employer. What are your thoughts on this issue? Should companies be able to claim IP rights on YOUR creations? Why or why not?
posted by ChangeAgent501 @ 12:00 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I don't think employers should be able to claim IP rights for work they do not even do. If you create something, it should only be yours and no one else. Companies just do this to claim success. They are not the ones who invest time and effort into creating something new, their employees are the ones who work hard for it. Therefore, the employees should be the ones to claim credit. However, I can see the risk companies take by not claiming the work. People could simply decide to leave the industry and take their creations with them. Companies would lose a lot of money and success if this were the case. In order to prevent that, companies claim IP rights. However, I still do not think it is right. They should not claim credit for someone else's work.
This is a grey area for me because I understand you are a resource and an asset to your employer and they pay you a salary for the work you create. However, your work is YOUR work. I would prefer to claim IP rights on all of my work, but that isn't how it works for my current position.
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