I told my boss I had an idea for a program that could improve efficiency across much of the business, and he let me build it on company time. In the long term, he wanted to be able to sell it to other companies. However, the program never got implemented due to personnel mismanagement, and I’d rather be able to post it on my github under a free licence so I can use it as a resume item, and at least someone would have the chance to actually use it. It’s all still in my head, and I could write it again if I wanted. If I do, is it illegal to publish it? What if I write it in a different language? Do I need to change the variable names? I did plenty of research and planning on company time to build it, and it’s not like I can research it again, it’s all still in my head.

  • foo@withachanceof.com
    1·
    8 months ago

    The only real answer here is talk to an actual lawyer rather than a bunch of Joe Blows on the internet. Case in point: Laws will vary depending on country and you haven’t specified what country you’re in. The set of laws you’re subject to are possibly entirely different than the set of laws each commenter here is familiar with. Never take legal advice from the internet.

    But if you’re only looking to publish the source code as a resume item, it’s not worth the legal exposure or time/money to talk to a lawyer. Find something else to write and put on your resume.

  • hascat@programming.devEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    Check your employment contract. If that includes an NDA or a confidentiality agreement, the company may own your design as well as any code produced. Writing the program from scratch a second time may still end up being company property.

    Given that they didn’t put your program into production, it’s unlikely they would pursue you legally for releasing a new version on your own.

  • BB_C@programming.dev
    1·
    8 months ago

    Meh, everyone scaring you into thinking you don’t own your own mind.

    Assuming your boss is not the dangerous kind (beyond legal threats), and if the goal is to make it FOSS, then do it using an alias first. Do it differently. Use components/libs/algos from other people at first, even if they are not perfect. Make those parts easily pluggable/replaceable which would be good design anyway. The code then wouldn’t be wholly yours, not even your alias self.

    You can join the project later with your real identity as an interested domain expert (maybe a bit after not working for the same boss). Start contributing. Become a maintainer. And maybe take over after a while. You can start replacing non-optimal components/libs/algos with better ones piecemeal.

    Oh, and if Rust wasn’t the choice of implementation, use it this time.

      • MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de
        2·
        5 months ago

        “Make those parts pluggable/replaceable which would be a good design anyways”.

        Following best practices = Morally Wrong?
        Sure, fren, whatever you say.

        The only reason OP might not have done it this way in the first place would have been to save the company worrying about licensing, or getting shitty with OP about not using enough orignal/proprietary code to ensure lock-in with future clients … is THAT somehow morally superior in your book?

  • scorpionix@feddit.de
    0·
    8 months ago

    Not a lawyer but from my understanding of intellectual property: You wrote it on company time, so it is the companies code. Publishing it without explicit approval would be copyright infringement.

    • DroneRights [it/its]@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      The code on the computer isn’t what I would be publishing. I would be publishing the memories in my head, which I had written down again

      • remotelove@lemmy.ca
        1·
        8 months ago

        Don’t copy the code directly from any company assets. There are plenty of ways to track code and data theft these days, so don’t even attempt it. I am just saying that as a friendly reminder.

        Honestly, there is not much that a company can do unless they specially own the business logic of what you are doing. Are there aspects to the code that apply to internal proprietary software? That probably isn’t wise to share.

        While I am not a lawyer, a general rule of thumb is that if you think you might be stealing something, you probably are. Anything you do on company time, is technically owned by that company.

        If your previous work gets discarded by that company, never talk about it again. Never code it again for that company and just let the idea die, as far as that company is concerned. Independently resurrect the idea at a later date.

        Nobody here can really tell you what to do, btw. Quite honestly, if you think that you can claim ownership of what you have, pay a few hundred bucks for a consultation with a lawyer.

      • scorpionix@feddit.de
        0·
        8 months ago

        Doesn’t matter if you write it in code or chisel it on a stone tablet. It is still the companies intellectual property.

        Think of it this way: You film a movie which for whatever reason doesn’t get published. This doesn’t give you the permission to write a book containing the same story, just in writing. The story is still owned by the film studio. The same reason applies to published material: You are not allowed to write a Star Wars story without approval from Disney, the copyright holder. Fan fiction exists in a gray zone for exact this reason.

        • Beej Jorgensen@lemmy.sdf.org
          1·
          8 months ago

          You can absolutely write a Star Wars knockoff, though. You just can’t call it that. There’s some gray line in there somewhere.

        • Bipta@kbin.social
          1·
          8 months ago

          You’re sort of missing the point. Two programming implementations are never the same if you rewrite them from scratch for anything but the most trivial program. It wouldn’t be a copy of the original and it would have a unique, if similar, implementation. It’s not as clear cut as you suggest (at least not for the reasons you suggest, but IANAL.)

          • scorpionix@feddit.de
            1·
            8 months ago

            It is not about the code line by line, but the functionality that OP created for their employer. And yes it is not clear-cut in the sense that in Oracle vs. Google it was AFAIK decided that the idea of the toString Method does not fall under copyright. However, a software that fills a specific need for a company and is then re-implemented/released by an employee? You can bet your ass you are in for at least a lengthy battle in court.

    • adr1an@programming.dev
      0·
      8 months ago

      That’s practical, but not so sound, advice. IANAL, yet… I remember when Julia lang was gaining traction that many R lang programmers wanted to port their favorite packages. If they were to look at the R sources (under GPL) to write the Julia version to be released under MIT license, they would be violating the GPL. Or there was a risk, at least. Of course, this case is different because the first and original version is not GPL. But this came to mind. Anyway, I suppose that it all boils down to how much OP feels like their employer (boss or anyone with power in the company) will be a son-of-a-cop and really come forward to court against him… I mean, that’s in the first place. Then, comes the legal advice, as to how much of a case can be made, and what do we expect a judge would see it…