On 2010-07-03 at 21:47 -0700, Shrdlu wrote: > If you're getting a paycheck, the copyright > isn't yours (other than by prior, WRITTEN, agreement, and that's oh, so > very rare).
> The school took nothing away. He had no right to place a copyright on > work he did not own, and the fact that he wasn't paid for that work is > simply a life lesson. > > Let it go. Move on. You can't create a contract after the fact, and it > doesn't sound like there was one before. Contracts can be verbal. *Enforcing* verbal contracts is difficult, which is why we use written contracts, but just because it wasn't written down doesn't mean it did not exist. Check dictionary.law.com for "oral contract". http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1407 He believed that he would be separately paid for work outside the duties for which he was routinely paid and had a verbal contract to that effect. Until paid, the work was his and it sounds like he acted in good faith. This is not comparable to your example, of the person who changed copyrights to claim ownership of something which he did not develop. The lesson here is in the value of *written* contracts. -Phil _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lopsa.org http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
