I want to create a hobby project and release it under MIT. I work as a developer professionally and i have some clauses in my employment contract that gives any IP to my employer. My employer is open to amending these and/or adding exceptions for specific projects. Can anyone point to guidance resources on how to formulate such exceptions properly?

// EDIT: My contract is not totally strict, it refers to applicable laws and the wording is something like ‘knowledge gained through company activities belong to the company’, which is probably intentionally vague. Also: i like my job and employer and they are open to FOSS. My only concern is whether some higherups might disagree at a later point which is why i want to get the wording right. Will not spend money on a lawyer - it’s not that important to me. Thanks for sharing your experiences so far.

CC image ref.: https://thebluediamondgallery.com/legal/employment-contract.html

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 26 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Bad idea from the start. Anything you make on company equipment belongs to the company. You signed and approved that. Changing that only opens up liability for the company and so even if they do approve it it will be worded against you. If you push anyway to the open source project then that opens the door for your company to attempt to claim ownership too. All around it's a lose lose situation for you, and the project.

Coding does not require a supercomputer. Go pick up a used laptop somewhere and do the work off of that.

[+] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I mean, I've just worked at multiple international companies while residing in multiple countries and each one has made me sign this. It's a no brainer. Don't use company equipment for personal projects.

[+] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Enforceable is a level of risk that we can't decide for the OP. If there is any chance of enforcement that is a chance of them taking credit for OPs work, or other financial issues. Not to mention lawyers are expensive, even if it's not enforceable, is OP willing to pay for legal fees to prove it?

Personally, even if it's not enforceable and they're completely morally justified the question remains, why open yourself up to any risk at all by using company equipment when you can literally use any other computer to do the work?