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On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 6:38 PM, Robin H. Johnson <robbat2@g.o> wrote: |
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> On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 06:14:23PM -0800, Matt Turner wrote: |
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>> On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Greg KH <gregkh@g.o> wrote: |
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>> > Just ask anyone who has had to get their company to sign the FSF |
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>> > copyright assignment paperwork, for just how hard that was, and how long |
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>> > it took. |
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>> It took my university, who had no rational reason to own any of my |
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>> work, six months to sign the FSF's paperwork for a really simple bug |
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>> fix. By the time they decided they didn't care about owning my work, |
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>> it was April and I was graduating in May. They seriously asked me |
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>> whether I would just wait to submit the work until after I graduated |
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>> since it would be so much easier for them. |
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> What was your university's claim to ownership of the bugfix? |
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That as a requirement for entrance into grad school I signed paperwork |
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that allows them to claim ownership over things I do under some set of |
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conditions. |
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As it were, |
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- I wasn't a researcher, |
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- I wasn't paid by the University, |
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- I didn't do the work for the University |
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- I didn't do the work with anyone from the University, |
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- I didn't do the work with on University time, and |
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- I didn't do the work with any University property. |
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They basically wanted to confirm this (I guess). The first three they |
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could actually confirm, and the last three they'd just have to take my |
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word. |
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> If they had a copyright claim because you worked on using school |
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> systems, during paid time, then it shouldn't have made any difference |
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> you were graduating: they would still own the code after you graduated. |
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> Similarly for any all-encompassing clauses like those found in some US |
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> employment contracts. |
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> |
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> So, if were able to submit it on your own after graduating, I don't see |
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> why you couldn't have done that prior to graduating. |
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Of course. This was part of why the process was so ridiculous. |
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The whole system for releasing potentially University-owned |
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intellectual property is designed for the case that a University |
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researcher wants the University to disclaim ownership of something |
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that they did. It's massive overkill for a free software hobbyist who |
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wants to submit a 20-line bug fix to gcc. |
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