Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    This is currently a hot issue in the music business, where samplers
    have found wide use.  A magazine article I read says that one rap
    artist who uses snippets of James Brown records pays royalties to
    Brown.
    
    I suspect that any copyright holder in the music or entertainment
    business would be perfectly willing to talk to you.  Wonder what
    the royalty fees would be for something like this?

    whatever the fee is it would be no more than a % of your net
    profits.....
    
    Phil (who had a friend who did what your doing with Pink Floyds
    "time" intro - with all the clock bells)

Re: .0

I believe the law recognizes a threshold below which you can lift
anything you want.

On music, there is an eight note limit.  Use one to seven notes and
you owe nothing.  Use eight or more notes, and you owe royalties.

I don't know what the limits are for using "sounds" from an soundtrack.

Assuming you go through a publishing house (like Electronic Arts), they
should be able to advise you.

How do people (such as Dave Wecker) work for DEC and yet produce software
with a Copyright in his name for a non-DEC product?

John

    Re .4:
    
    People who work for Digital are not slaves.  They are employees.  If
    you produce something at Digital's request, on Digital's time, or with
    Digital's resources, then Digital has a claim to all or a share of the
    product.  If you produce it on your own, it's yours.
    
    
    				-- edp 

    Bill Hawes appears to have been successful at marketing his software.

    
    
    This is what our Employee Agreement says:
    
    1.  I will make full and prompt disclosure to DIGITAL of all
    inventions, improvements, discoveries, methods and developments (...),
    whether patentable or not, mode or conceived by me or under direction
    during my employment, wether or not made or conceived during normal
    working hours or on the premises of DIGTIAL.
    
    2.  Upon request by DIGITAL, I agree to assign to DIGITAL all
    developments covered by paragraph 1 and an patent applications covering
    such developments and to execute and deliver such assignments, patents
    and applications, and other documents as DIGITAL may direct and to
    fully cooperate with DIGITAL to enable DIGITAL to secure and patent or
    otherwise protect such developments in any and all countries.  
    [AND HERE IS THE PART THAT SAVES ME]
    However, this paragraph 2 shall not apply to developments which do not
    relate to the actual or anticipated business or research and
    development of DIGITAL or its subsidiary or affiliated corp., provided
    that such developments are made or concieved by me entirely during
    other than DIGITAL working hours, and not on DIGITAL's premises and not
    with the use of DIGITAL's equipment, supplies, facilities, tools,
    devices or trade secret information.

    What about images that come from movies?  Say, I have an alien space
    ship that looks like the War of the Worlds ships.  Is that ok?  
    hmmm.... 

    Re .7:
    
    > This is what our Employee Agreement says: 
    
    Correction:  That is what _your_ employee agreement says.  I was
    offered something else to sign, but it wasn't as broad as that.  Also,
    when I was offered the job, I asked if there were any contract to sign,
    and I was informed there was not.  On my first day, it turned out I had
    not been told the truth.  However, the "agreement" I was given to sign
    did not specify any compensation I would receive in exchange for what I
    was agreeing, so it is questionable whether it constitutes a contract.
    
    
    				-- edp 

    
    re .9
    
    	There is no yours, mine, ours. Official word from "The Business
    	Conduct Committe" says that as long as you accept a pay check
    	from DEC all current personnel policies apply whether you signed
    	a contract or not. They may not be able to take you to court,
    	but you can loose your job.
    
    	I was also told that ownership is only half the battle. The
    	real problem is DEC's definition of "Conflict of Interest".
    	DEC beleives that anyone that makes a computer is competition.
    	And anything done to make that computer more useful ( like write
    	software ) is a conflict of interest.
    
    	This information is 2 years old when I checked all this out.
    
    		Steve Peters
    

    Re: .6
>    Bill Hawes appears to have been successful at marketing his software.
    
    Hawes works here?  You may be confusing Bill Hawes with Bill Hawe,
    not an Amigaphile to my knowledge.

    Re .10:
    
    Oh, well.  So much for the mythical company that cares about its
    employees, as Digital worked so hard to convince me of during
    recruitment.  I guess big companies really don't understand that
    employment is a two-way street.
    
    If Digital starts firing engineers for writing games, they're going to
    lose good engineers.  If a person gets to the point where their games
    are of sufficient magnitude to make a fuss, then they've got another
    source of income.  And Digital cannot compete with the allure of
    writing games.  Engineers are a resource, and if Digital takes a strict
    line, they will lose employees to other companies. 
    
    It would be smarter for the company to encourage employee activities.
    
    
    				-- edp

    I'd be interested to hear what Dave Wecker has to say about this.  At
    one time - I think it was after the VT100 flap - he was calling
    himself a "wholly owned subsidiary of DEC".  Now he's released uRay
    with a license in his own name.  What happened?  Is ray tracing an
    area in which DEC has no interest? 

    Has anyone (other than Dave, possibly) been burned by the employee
    agreement?  People get their hackles up when someone mentions the
    employee agreement, but my impression has been that DEC doesn't care
    in any but the most blatant cases of conflict of interest.  For one
    thing, there usually isn't enough money in it to make it worth DEC's
    while. 

    I'm willing to be proven wrong!  Does anyone have any war stories?

    - Z

I, too, am curious to know if anyone has fought the nameless-faceless evil and 
come out alive, well, and owning thier own software.

The problem with the Employee Agreement is that it, as people mentioned before,
allows DEC to decide who is a competitor and what thier market is.

Apple, from what I recall, has a great system.  Basically, if they want it they
get it...but if they take it and don't market it within a year, all rights and
privileges revert back to you.

Anyway, I'm also curious if anyone has war stories (good or bad) to share with
we who might (within a year...granted..;-)) be taking up the gauntlet...

George

    I have some software which I developed on DEC's computers, using DEC's
    time.  I have written journal articles in which I mention its
    availability, so I'm not keeping it a secret.  It isn't a DEC product,
    even though I distribute it on mag tapes which I get at work.
    
    I have had absolutely _no_ negative feedback about this from my
    management, even though I've sent tapes all over the U.S.A. and to
    Canada and Europe.  As best I can tell, my management couldn't care
    less, as long as my activities don't impact my ability to get work
    done.
    
    Some caveats: 1) I don't sell this software, I give it away.  I don't
    even charge shipping.  However, I don't think my management knows that.
    2) The software is only useful on DEC products (the LN03 and LPS40)
    so its existence contributes to the sales of hardware.  3) My
    management is real nice people---you may not be as lucky as I am.
        John Sauter