Re: Why not contribute? (to GCC)

[Dave Korn <dave dot korn dot cygwin at googlemail dot com>]

On 26/04/2010 05:28, Richard Kenner wrote:
>> I believe the contract would have to explicitly say that this is
>> *not* the case for you to be able to retain ownership of copyright
>> of work that you did for hire.
> 
> That's my understanding as well, but where it gets tricky is whether
> a SEPARATE disclaimer would have the effect of doing that as it relates
> to a particular work.

  Well, as a data point: under the contracts that I used to write computer
games under back in the late 80s, I very definitely owned the copyright and
retained it, and was only granting the employer a licence to distribute and
exploit in various mediums and territories.  (But that was in a different
jurisdiction to the one that the FSF is based in, and I can't say for certain
how the more recent updates to the law might undermine my rights or award them
to a possible employer.)

  And yes, they were generous terms.  I was very happy with them.
Particularly when the firm selling the games was shut down and their assets,
when sold off, did not include my copyrights.  One of my fellow authors at the
time did indeed consult a lawyer, and the company in question
kind-of-pathetically sent us all copyright assignments, in case we'd like to
give them our copyright for the benefit of their fire-sale.  Not
unsurprisingly, none of us saw any reason to sign...

    cheers,
      DaveK