<story><title>Developers’ side projects</title><url>https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-projects/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ImTalking</author><text>You don&amp;#x27;t quite understand Joel&amp;#x27;s point. Regardless of whether you are legally right, a larger company could sue you for the sake of suing, and make your life very miserable. And if the fight continues and you run out of money, what then?&lt;p&gt;I had exactly that thing. I was being bought-out and a small client decided (against the contract that they had signed) that the changes we had made to our mortgage broker commission system were their own IP, and that they would suffer damage if those changes were part of the overall IP we were selling to our prospective buyers. And it was absolute nonsense since their changes were just a collection of reports and small features which were part of the public domain since whenever. It took weeks to iron-out the agreement and obviously could have scuttled the buyout.&lt;p&gt;And when I left the company that bought me out to start another project, I made sure that I had a release to say that I&amp;#x27;m indemnified against any future legal actions and I started the project the day after I got that release.&lt;p&gt;The old adage is correct: plan for the worst, hope for the best.</text></item><item><author>alxmng</author><text>&amp;gt; Not related to your employer’s line of work. Um, wait. What’s the definition of related? [...] I don’t know. It’s a big enough ambiguity that you could drive a truck through it.&lt;p&gt;No, it&amp;#x27;s not that ambiguous at all. The courts rarely side with the company, and only in cases where it&amp;#x27;s quite obvious the work was directly related. If your side project isn&amp;#x27;t directly related to the work you are doing, then you don&amp;#x27;t need to worry.&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t let Joel or any other tech CEO scare you into not working on side-projects. Don&amp;#x27;t even tell your employer about side projects. Leave them out of the loop entirely.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Tharkun</author><text>&amp;gt; You don&amp;#x27;t quite understand Joel&amp;#x27;s point. Regardless of whether you are legally right, a larger company could sue you for the sake of suing, and make your life very miserable. And if the fight continues and you run out of money, what then?&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t work for companies that are dicks. If there&amp;#x27;s crap about them wanting to own you or your thoughts, don&amp;#x27;t sign it and get a different job elsewhere.&lt;p&gt;Remember when little kids would die in factories doing dangerous jobs? No? Me neither. Know why? Because at some point people had enough, went on strike, attitudes and laws changed. If you live in an area where your employer can make your life miserable for no apparent reason, or where your employer can own you outside of work, then you need to help put a stop to that madness.</text></comment>
<story><title>Developers’ side projects</title><url>https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-projects/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ImTalking</author><text>You don&amp;#x27;t quite understand Joel&amp;#x27;s point. Regardless of whether you are legally right, a larger company could sue you for the sake of suing, and make your life very miserable. And if the fight continues and you run out of money, what then?&lt;p&gt;I had exactly that thing. I was being bought-out and a small client decided (against the contract that they had signed) that the changes we had made to our mortgage broker commission system were their own IP, and that they would suffer damage if those changes were part of the overall IP we were selling to our prospective buyers. And it was absolute nonsense since their changes were just a collection of reports and small features which were part of the public domain since whenever. It took weeks to iron-out the agreement and obviously could have scuttled the buyout.&lt;p&gt;And when I left the company that bought me out to start another project, I made sure that I had a release to say that I&amp;#x27;m indemnified against any future legal actions and I started the project the day after I got that release.&lt;p&gt;The old adage is correct: plan for the worst, hope for the best.</text></item><item><author>alxmng</author><text>&amp;gt; Not related to your employer’s line of work. Um, wait. What’s the definition of related? [...] I don’t know. It’s a big enough ambiguity that you could drive a truck through it.&lt;p&gt;No, it&amp;#x27;s not that ambiguous at all. The courts rarely side with the company, and only in cases where it&amp;#x27;s quite obvious the work was directly related. If your side project isn&amp;#x27;t directly related to the work you are doing, then you don&amp;#x27;t need to worry.&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t let Joel or any other tech CEO scare you into not working on side-projects. Don&amp;#x27;t even tell your employer about side projects. Leave them out of the loop entirely.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>isubkhankulov</author><text>&lt;i&gt;I made sure that I had a release to say that I&amp;#x27;m indemnified against any future legal actions&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is great advice</text></comment>