Legal question about scripts 1

[PPettit]

I've been thinking of quitting my current job. Over the years, I've written various scripts that help me do my job. Some are login scripts, but the bulk of my scripting has been to automate tasks that I do almost every day.

What I want to know is: Can I legally remove/delete scripts that I have written for my own benefit? In other words, am I legally obligated to leave my scripts for my replacement?

Alternate question: Am I entitled to compensation for scripts that I wrote if a company continues to use them after I have resigned?

If it helps to know for legal purposes, I am in Texas and I am not a programmer/software developer by trade. I'm primarily a PC tech/network administrator. I have no desire to remove my login scripts or any other scripts that are not used solely by me. To complicate the matter even further, the scripts have been developed on company time as well as my personal time.


Anyone have experience with an issue like this or know where I can find out what the relevant laws may be?

 

[EBGreen]

You really need to talk to a lawyer in your state. I am neither, however I suspect that it will come down to anything that you developed on company time belongs to the company. If you developed stuff on your personal time and then used it at work I have a feeling that you would be entitled to keep ownership and possibly be able to expect compensation if the company continues to use those scripts. However, you explicitly indicate "I have no desire to remove my login scripts or any other scripts that are not used solely by me." so with the exception of your replacement it doesn't sound like the company will be using the scripts. As for your replacement, I suspect that if you pushed the issue, the company would just tell your replacement to not use them and you would be out a butt load of money that you spent on lawyers trying to force the issue.

So the short version is:

-I'm not a lawyer so feel free to ignore this entire post
-You have a right to use what you developed on your personal time.
-You have no right to what you developed on company time.



[red]"... isn't sanity really just a one trick pony anyway?! I mean, all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you are good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky is the limit!" - The Tick[/red]

 

[nick20008]

By law, anything you develop on company time, or using company resources belongs to the company. So.. If you created the scripts using a company computer, or during working hours, these belong to the company and they could pursue legal actions if they are destroyed or removed. I have done much research on this, and have made it a point to develop all hobby-related software on my own time, and using my own computer/network/applications/etc.

 

[guitarzan]

You might also want to post here: forum717

 

[PPettit]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I've decided that I'm not going to push the issue. I'm just going to use this as a learning experience. From now on, I'm going to document my projects more precisely and try to keep work and leisure time a lot more separate.

Thanks, guitarzan. I searched for a board like the one you mentioned, but I must not have used the right keyword(s).