On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:32:39 -0600
"Jamin W. Collins" <jcollins@asgardsrealm.net> wrote:
> And a conflict of interest can be handled by the employer firing the
> employee, that's all that's needed. As long as I don't use code written
> for them, either by me on their time or someone else, I'm free to do
> what I want on my time. If code written for them is used, it's theft,
> plain and simple.
This feeds into the "Code is art" argument that floats around. I dunno
about anyone else but I found a particular thing written by one of my favorite
authors applicable to me. J. Michael Straczynski, most famous for Babylon 5,
has often stated in newsgroups postings that he cannot not write. He needs to
write, to get the ideas out. This sentiment is also echoed by Neil Gaiman of
Sandman fame in a recent book of his, Smoke and Mirrors. He describes how
often he will write a story just to get it out of his head.
Sometimes I just need to code. Some program gets stuck in my head and
until I at least make the effort to get it to work, to code it in some manner,
I am hard pressed to do little else. That is one of my creative outlets. It
may not be one that many people understand but there it is. I feel and others
have expressed that a lot of programmers are the same way. Code is art. To
many it is a form of self-expression through creation.
So do you think that any artist would sign on and say that x type of work
is owned, whole or in part, by the company regardless of whether or not the
work was done for that copy or on their own?
Granted DC Comics owns the copyright for Sandman and Warner Brothers owns
the copyright for Babylon 5 so one can argue that if Neil Gaiman or JMS write
stories in those universes they can be considered property of the companies
that own them. But the larger argument of th genre cannot be made. IE, JMS
still can (and does) write science fiction even though that may compete with
the WB property Babylon 5 which is science fiction. He can't call it Babylon
5 or relate it to Babylon 5 but he can write it, sell it, whatever even if it
were during the time he was working for WB's project provided it was on his
own time.
It is the same principle here. If an author working on eBay (to keep with
the example) goes on to found a competing on-line auction site as long as
there is no code share and none of the work was done on eBay's time then eBay
has no claim as long as he doesn't call it eBay. IE eBay = title, auction
site = genre.
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
| -- Lenny Nero - Strange Days
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