Work legalities

[Brian Vincent]

On 3/7/07, Nathan Williams <nathan.andrew.williams at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm worried about the copyright of any external work I do, so I need a
> little advice.
>
> What do I need from my employer to clear me to work on wine?
> Is something verbal ok, or should I get it in writing?

Is your employer Microsoft?  If so, I'd LOVE to hear how that
conversation goes.  There could probably be legal issues on the Wine
side too.

Since your employer probably isn't Microsoft, then I'd do this:

1.  Get it in writing from your employer.  I don't think asking for
that would be a big deal and they'd be inclined to sign something like
that for you.  This is just to protect your copyright in case your
employer decides they could come after your copyrights.  It could also
potentially protect Wine in the event something happens with you and
your employer, you get scared, and decide you want all of your work
removed from Wine.  We don't want that to happen.  (See quartz from
about 4 years ago as an example.)  To do this right you need your
company legal department to go over it.
2.  Don't use your work email for sending patches to wine-patches.
However, do use your work time for working on Wine.  Ideally you could
spend 100% of your time at work working on Wine.

-Brian