Legal Question in Technology Law in Rhode Island

Do I have any legal rights to my programming

I was hired 14 yrs ago as a programmer to maintain & create programs for my firm. Everything I have created was for internal use only. Our firm purchased a new application software package last year written in Power Builder. It was Beta at that time. We've found their reports inadequate for our needs so far. I've spent the last year creating Menus, Reports, Queries & macros in MS Access97 to fill in the gaps. It turns out the software company now wants to buy or trade off fees for this Access database & distribute it to it's other customers. Can my firm now sell this database without compensating me? What are my rights? My company & I do not have an oral or written contract on programming.


Asked on 9/07/99, 1:51 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

Re: Do I have any legal rights to my programming

No.

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Answered on 9/08/99, 10:10 pm
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: Do I have any legal rights to my programming

Copyrightable works created in the scope of your employment fall within the definition of "works made for hire" and belong to your employer. Sorry, you have no rights in the US; possibly different in Europe, but I doubt that it matters to you.

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Answered on 9/09/99, 8:28 am


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