Macro created at work can be copyright?

[VeraV]

I created at work (myself and sometimes portion of the code with help from forums like this one, thank you) a few complex macros that increase my co-workers efficiency (my initiative not the management request). I am wondering, being this company employee and using its resources (computers, programs, etc, even if I worked at home also), if the codes created can be copyrighted, if they fall under the intellectual property laws?

If yes, any suggestion how to get them copyrighted?

Thank you

 

[winnier]

Great Post. I am in exactly the same situation. I'll be checking for replies.

 

[calculus]

What exactly are you wanting to do with the code?

I asked a very similar question of a lawyer recently. Basically since you aren't being paid to write the code, you own the code - not your employer.

However, I think you'd be hard pressed to bill your employer for solutions already in use.

calculus

 

[mdmcginn]

I believe that since you did it on company time, using company resources, it would be considered a "work for hire" and not copyrightable by you. Your company may not have paid you to write the macros, but they were paying you for the time you spent writing them, right? If you wrote them on your home computer, after working hours, it would be different.

 

[dpatrickcollins]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nearly all employers have the legal upper hand in code produced while you are working in the capacity of an employee when it comes to "intellectual property." This is for two reasons. The first is that most companies have you sign an employee agreement expressly stating that anything you create while an employee, period, is theirs. Secondly, an employee status is regarded by the law as a work-for-hire status anyway, which implies the same rights of the employer.

For certain, the argument "because you aren't being paid to write the code, you own the code" will not hold water whatsoever. Reason being, if you were on company time and/or using company equipment and/or developing code expressly used in company projects, it is nearly impossible to establish that "you weren't being paid to write the code." The only safe way to establish true autonomy in your ownership while employed whould be to write it truly on your own time with your own software and equipment, and then approach management with the idea for its us. Even if you do not want your employer to purchase it, an agreement would still be highly indicated which would state that they waive any right to the property and that it is being provided to them for use by you free of change. Anything else is very sticky.

I am not a lawyer but am a business owner in the software industry, in case you are wondering "how I know". Of course, it is always best to defer to an attorney for true legal counsel.

Hope that helps.