[Info-vax] [Attn: HP Employees] PDP-11 OS hobbyist licensing

[David Froble]

Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> In article <l2ifi2$tcq$1 at dont-email.me>,
> 	David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> writes:
>> Johnny Billquist wrote:
>>
>>> That is what one part of the problem here is about. The license in 
>>> question mentions "emulator owned by DEC". This was simh, back when simh 
>>> was a DEC "product". Bob later quit DEC, and continued working on simh 
>>> on his own. Is this later, improved version, owned by Bob still covered 
>>> by a license for software on a simulator owned by DEC?
>>> Sounds doubtful, if you ask me.
>> It was my impression, and I could be all wet, that SimH was never a DEC 
>> product, but a hobby of Bob's.
> 
> There is always the legal question that because of its relationship to
> Bob's job it would be consider DEC IP.  In any event we do know that in
> the end DEC disavowed any ownership and it left with Bob.  The rest, as
> they say, is history.
> 
> bill
> 

The whole issue of "work for hire" can be nebulous.  If the employer 
states that any software produced is theirs, and the person in question 
agrees, that's one thing.  A person can tell the employer that he's 
working on something private, and the employer can agree, or not.

Part of the issue is relavence to the work being done for the employer.