Another copyright question

[ted leslie]

ahhhhh  , no.


 (iv) Moonlighting:

Depending on the nature of the job, results may be the only measure of success (in a sales capacity, for example) rather than time spent working. However, the job may well require time to be devoted outside of regular working hours, and if there is an expectation for extra commitment, it may be appropriate to prohibit part- time employment in some other employment relationship as part of the duty to commit to full time employment in the new position.

Such restrictive covenants are rigorously examined by the courts as a result of the employee's inequality of bargaining power vis a vis his or her employer. In drafting such clauses, the Employer must be careful to strike a balance between the two primary competing considerations: the right of every individual to earn a livelihood and pursue opportunities in an effort to advance their career versus, the right of employers to protect their legitimate business interests and not to be harmed by the misuses of its proprietary or confidential information.

If an Employer wishes to impose a restrictive covenant such as that regarding moonlighting which is enforceable, that covenant must: (1) protect a legitimate propriety interest such as a trade secret or trade connection; (2) the restraint must be reasonable (the use by an employee of general skill and knowledge cannot be restrained); (3) not be used to solely preserve the employer's competitive advantage (covenant's whose object is solely to prevent competition are void).

There is ample support in the case authorities to suggest that a restriction on an employee's right to alternative employment is reasonable and within the employer's right to establish where (1) alternative employment would inhibit/interfere with productions; (2) the employee has access to particular information which if imparted to a competitor would harm or damage the employers business; and (3) there exists a form of employer/employee fidelity. 

http://www.lbwlawyers.com/publications/writtenemploymentcontract.php
(canadian labour lawyers),

in other words, seems to me if you program in your own time (even commercially), and its not stepping on any of the above items,
you are well and in the clear.
in other words, it appears to be the opposite of what you wrote below (granted it might have changed in 20 years).

-tl


On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:50:32 -0400 (EDT)
"D. Hugh Redelmeier" <hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> | From: Viktor Pavlenko <vvp-iRg7kjdsKiH3fQ9qLvQP4Q at public.gmane.org>
> 
> | I wrote a program at work because I couldn't find a good open source
> | solution. Obviously, it is now a property of my employer. Initial
> | request to my boss to make it available under GPL didn't meet
> | understanding. So I shut up.
> | 
> | But what if I re-wrote it in a completely different language,
> | preserving the functionality and user interface (command line) as is
> | and released under GPL, would it still be a copyright violation?
> 
> Legal questions are tricky.  Especially in this area.  It is dangerous
> to beleive what geeks like us might tell you.
> 
> Example surprising thing:
> 
> I was told by a lawyer that I hired that if you are on salary in
> Canada, under common law (i.e. without even having in a written
> contract) that your employer owns all your work in the field for which
> you are hired.  No moonlighting in that field!  In my case, a program
> that I was planning on writing in my spare time would be deemed to be
> my employers (and they were uninterested in having me write it, for
> them, on their time).  And "field" is construed broadly (I don't know
> the proper term any more).
> 
> Note: this was 20 years ago and some details have faded from my memory
> or have mutated.  I Am Not A Lawyer.
> --
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-- 
ted leslie <tleslie-RBVUpeUoHUc at public.gmane.org>
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