company's property or intellectual property

[sapra]

I(Totally ME!!) have been working on a menu system for my company and have made some smart clips or functions in flash 4 and I think a lot of people can learn/use something from it. But my question is that do I have the right to post it and take credits for it in flashkit etc...or am I just supposed to keep shut about it. According to my boss (his subtle hint) that he hopes I havent told anybody about this and it is not open source. I know if anybody wanted or truly wnated they could program too(it would take them a while though..very complexed looping)...so should I or shouldnt I? or should I just part with just a little bit of code? The work done is with forms/checkboxes/radio buttons/expanding menu's (basic DHTML stuff which requires arrays)....
Cheers
gary sapra
PS: In your comments do let me know that how much is your thoughts and how much is fact!!!

[vampstko]

hey sapra
thats tough
my thoughts : screw the system the man is always tring to suppress us. be strong stand up post what you feel others should learn KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

real world: ya like your job, my boss allready told me if any of the work i produce shows up on any flash site I'm looking for another job ( i think he's still mad about me losing all those source codes) i do all my experimental stuff at home

your call

[sapra]

Originally posted by vampstko
hey sapra
thats tough
my thoughts : screw the system the man is always tring to suppress us. be strong stand up post what you feel others should learn KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

real world: ya like your job, my boss allready told me if any of the work i produce shows up on any flash site I'm looking for another job ( i think he's still mad about me losing all those source codes) i do all my experimental stuff at home

your call

Vamstko, I need better than this..something more concrete...
Cheers
gary
PS: long time no see

[vampstko]

okay how about this have you signed any contracts with the company you work for. some co. do if so there might have been something in there that won't let you share company info. personally i saw post it i mean how is he gonna know any more then that and your on your own
good luck

[studio249]

I think you're in a work for hire situation, which means the boss owns what you produce, at least it is in the
USA. If its different there, Id be interested in hearing about it. I only freelance.

[sapra]

Originally posted by studio249
I think you're in a work for hire situation, which means the boss owns what you produce, at least it is in the
USA. If its different there, Id be interested in hearing about it. I only freelance.

I agree once again and Im in the US of A andnow where are the MODS when you need them the most.
Cheers
gary

[Scills]

If your company pays you for this type of work then it owns the IP. Trust me, I've lost count of the threatening legal letters that have been sent to FK for exactly this situation. What they have not got IP over if your knowledge, so if you developed another system using your knowledge whilst not working for the company and it was not an exact copy of the original, that may be okay.

[studio249]

That's what I thought. I generally license the use of the design, as opposed to a buyout. That way I retain the rights and can resell or reuse the design. Its an interesting point that with flash are you selling both the design and the technology.

[SubKloda]

It really does depend on the work contract, as to who actually owns the code and design (i noticed this in the contract for my new job and it's something i'm thinking of contesting ).... and as scills says, once you know how to do something, then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to use that knowledge again....

[sapra]

Originally posted by SubKloda
It really does depend on the work contract, as to who actually owns the code and design (i noticed this in the contract for my new job and it's something i'm thinking of contesting ).... and as scills says, once you know how to do something, then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to use that knowledge again....

I guess so, all the wise people have spoken, may be the best idea is to just enjoy work and help others with thier problems and not worry about making tutorials for people. The reason I was so interested was becuase I had to go through the harrowing task of writting logic for 38 checkboxes and seeing if they all were checked or not and other things associated with it...and so i developed this generic code which you can just plug and the checboxes start working and it works just like HTML group of checkboxes...... and I did not want the next Joe shmoe to go through this same problem... well I hope if any body does bother to read this and needs help with them then I can just tell them through emails which should be OK I GUESS!!!!
cheers guys
gary sapra

[Scills]

How about you write a tutorial on it? Also, can you give us a link to see it working?

[sapra]

Originally posted by Scills
How about you write a tutorial on it? Also, can you give us a link to see it working?

Yes that would be a good idea as to walk a person through the tutorial but for the time being you can have a look at this address:

http://www.decidia.com/flash/test6.html

Cheers
Gary
PS: let me know if it is even worth somehting..LOL
Menu's that are working: TYPE/Brand/Video/Color/Options

[Scills]

Very nice, must have taken you ages, I think a tutorial on your work here would make an extremely popular tute. Perhaps you should run it past your work first though.

[agent vivid]

this is a crazy situation... you want to help, and you're scared that the damn system may get in the way...
imho---
the first question you ask is... will he sue me?

if the company won't sue you, then it's simply up to you

the second question you ask is... if he DID sue me... what would his grounds be, and what who would have the upper hand?

once the creator...always the creator... that's the first rule of copyright...

now, if you're working on something for the company as an employee, the company automatically gets rights to the work, but they are not the 'author' / creator of the work itself... in this situation, you still have the upper hand... kind of... it's all dependent on so many variables

did you sign a contract before you started working??? that could change your situation...
--------
this is getting nowhere
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as far as i'm concerned :as it resonates in this thread: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER... nothing can stop it's inevitable spread accross our consciousness... releasing your learned knowledge in a tutorial or something similar here at flashkit will do no harm (and you're not doing something in direct competition with your company, either, so there are really no grounds to fire you even... unless your boss is a dictator)

i hope you can figure it out! happy flashing