Intellectual Property 1

[k4ghg]

Hi - Over 20 years ago I create an application for a local government agency. I work directly for them and through the years have rewritten the application in different computer languages. The compiled version is accessable to the public for donlading.

Recently the agency outsourced the rewrite of the program to .NET. The .NET version is a hack/reverse engineering of my code, which is fine because as a government employee, I think my code should be in the public domain. My question is with the rewrite, they took my name completely out of the program. Even the documentation that had been plagiarized, does not give me any create for my creation and years of work. Does anyone one know if I have any Intellectual rights to have them acknowledge that the program was my creation?

Thanks... Ronnie

 

[SantaMufasa]

Ronnie,

I don't know on this particular issue, but this type of question is one of the many uses I have for my subscription to a pre-paid legal service...The best $16 I spend each month.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[MDXer]

Depends on how much your name being identified with the app is worth. Have you contacted them directly and discussed your issues with them?

Paul
---------------------------------------
Shoot Me! Shoot Me NOW!!!
- Daffy Duck

 

[dgillz]

When you create something as an employee of a private company, you have no intellectual property rights to it unless agreed to by both parties. I don't think the government should be any different.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

"What version of URGENT!!! are you using?

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Recently the agency outsourced the rewrite of the program to .NET. The .NET version is a hack/reverse engineering of my code, ...
Why did the code have to be reverse engineered?

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[k4ghg]

Thank you and everyone for getting back to me. The program was reversed engineered because they now want everything to run on the .NET platform. They could not find someone to rewrite the program so they took my standard and reversed engineered the code.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Regardless of any legal rights/obligations, the company, out of sheer professionalism and courtesy, should have attributed your contribution to their end result.

Even if they didn't recognise your efforts, K4, we, your Tek-Tips Sisters and Brothers, lob kudos your way!



Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[dgillz]

It seems as if you just want the kudos and not royalties or any financial renumeration as is normally associated with intellectual property rights.

Am I right?

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

"What version of URGENT!!! are you using?

 

[k4ghg]

Thanks for the kind words...

Yes, I would appreciate the acknowledgement that I create a tool that has lasted for over 20 and they copied my tool. Also, I would appreciate it if they would acknowledge that I wrote the 30+ pages of help with supporting information. Some how the word plagerizim comes to mind.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Plagiarism occurs when you copy someone else's work. Unfortunately, they own your work, so they're legally okay...but they are, without doubt, being rude and rather unprofessional IMHO.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[dgillz]

It is pretty clear you have no legal rights IMHO. I think you have self esteem issues and some ego driven need to be recognized. A job done well is its own reward. Let it go.

Not trying to be an Ash-hole, this is just my opinion.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

"What version of URGENT!!! are you using?

 

[SantaMufasa]

DG,

I, personally, don't believe that K4 has any self esteem or ego issues, any more than the rest of us who take pride in our workmanship and creativity. Cool stuff that I build, I hope to be recognized for, and recognition beyond simply paycheck is nice.

If your/my son or daughter does something great, it's fun to have people say, "That's his/her kid!" Same goes for software, I believe. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[CajunCenturion]

Something about this whole thing doesn't make sense. You wrote the application 20 years ago as an employee, and through the years, you've re-written it in different different languages, presumably as either an employee/contractor each time.

Now, they want the application in .NET, so they outsource the re-write, which is done through reverse engineering? Where's the source code of the original, or from any of your subsequent re-writes?


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[harebrain]

>Where's the source code of the original...?

I don't think he knows what "reverse engineering" means.

Because the procuring body is a government agency, all the behavior is consistent and makes perfect sense. The only irrational thing is the OP's continuing need, after 20 years, for recognition. I wonder if he knows or cares who wrote the owner's manual for his car?

 

[audiopro]

20 years ago - 1988?
Dos applications, Bulletin boards, Commodore Amiga, Sinclair Spectrum and Win95 just a dream.
What was the app written in?

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[k4ghg]

Thanks again for all your suggestions and comments. The program was written with with DOS's G.W. Basic, modified to DOs's, True Basic, VisualBasic for DOS and than with DOS Quickbasic. In 2000, I redid the program with Windows Visual Basic and I still have all the source codes.

I think the program was reversed Engineered because they took my source code and modified it to .NET. Some of the sub routines (had headers with my information) where taken exactly as I had written them with my origional variables.

I may have an ego and recognition issues. On the same hand I created something that has lasted the test of time. When one copies from a book, you give credit to the auther who put the information together.

I want to thank everyone for commenting but this thread is probably ended its usefulness. Thannks again... Ronnie

 

[SantaMufasa]

BTW, please don't let "personal assessments" from above (that may have been made in haste or without all the facts) discourage you from posting here.

We're just "one big, happy family here" and sometimes our "familial-arity" takes liberties that we might not encounter in other forums. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[k4ghg]

Thanks again... The folks at Tek-Tips have always been helpful and I appreciate any advice. By the way noticed you are from the Beehive State and hope you wont mind if I say Go AGGIEs (Graduated in 1983...). Thanks again Ronnie

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> I still have all the source codes.
Unless you have contracts that indicate otherwise, the odds are that the source code belongs to the government, not you. Therefore, you could be in possession of government property without authorization and that could get you into hot water. Just because you wrote it, doesn't mean you own it. Most likely, the government owns it because they paid for it.

==> reversed Engineered because they took my source code and modified it to .NET.
Ok, I understand, but that's not reverse engineering. Reverse engineering starts by decompiling the executable to get the source code. There are exceptions, such as the source code being lost, but generally, reverse engineering is an illegal activity because the people doing the reverse engineering are not entitled to the source code. That doesn't appear to be the case, and no one has reverse engineered anything.

If the government took the source code that they most likely own, and gave it to a contractor to rewrite in a different language, nothing has been reversed, and nothing untoward has happened, and you are entitled to nothing.

==> When one copies from a book, you give credit to the auther who put the information together.
This is a different situation, because you don't own the material in the book, nor do you possess the copyright on the material. More often than not, it's the publisher, not the author, that owns the copyright. You don't need to cite anyone when using material that you already own, or have the copyright to. Again, unless you have a contract that specifies otherwise, the government owns the designs, the source code, the object code, and everything else associated with the products. It belongs to them and they can do with it as they please.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[k4ghg]

Thanks (I have copies of the code, I gave the origional to my organization. I always believed that the program belongs to the public.)