zenimax files suit against oculus and facebook

[norseamd]

zenimax media decided to file suit against oculus and facebook

they obviously want a lot of money and probably some ownership if not the whole company

this is going to be important for more than a few reasons concerning tech and entertainment companies

one of the huge questions concerning this suit is whether a company can own everything you do while you work for them including stuff you do at your own home. also another question is whether they can control your life after you stop working for them.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/...iling-claim-to-stake-in-oculus-vr-technology/


some background

there is a lot of shady activity at zenimax and with their executives like robert altman. a lot of former employees have complained about the upper management at the company. there are more than a few questions of whether this is anything more than a cash grab.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Altman

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ZeniMax-Media-Reviews-E134492.htm

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/id-Software-Reviews-E3811.htm

the law company representing them is skadden arps

have any of you guys had experience with them?

and illegal activity or corruption?

https://www.google.com/search?q=Ska...a:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs

 

[_Rick_]

one of the huge questions concerning this suit is whether a company can own everything you do while you work for them including stuff you do at your own home.

I had a clause in my last contract, which stated that everything I invented that was within the scope of my job, belonged to my employer. I think even inventions that are within the scope of the overall business of the employer can be give some exclusive rights to the employer, such as the right to make a first offer, or something like that.
I think that would be a pretty standard R&D clause. I also was prohibited from taking on a secondary job without express permission from my employer, to avoid conflicts of interest.

Then there's non-competition clauses, where you're not allowed for X-time to work on something that was within the scope of your job at a competitor.

That's all pretty standard stuff, and someone who violates that kind of contract knowingly is in for a hard time.

 

[TechBoyJK]

/repost

 

[HumblePie]

I had a clause in my last contract, which stated that everything I invented that was within the scope of my job, belonged to my employer. I think even inventions that are within the scope of the overall business of the employer can be give some exclusive rights to the employer, such as the right to make a first offer, or something like that.
I think that would be a pretty standard R&D clause. I also was prohibited from taking on a secondary job without express permission from my employer, to avoid conflicts of interest.

Then there's non-competition clauses, where you're not allowed for X-time to work on something that was within the scope of your job at a competitor.

That's all pretty standard stuff, and someone who violates that kind of contract knowingly is in for a hard time.

Pretty much every programming job I have ever worked had these kinds of contracts as terms of employee agreements I had to sign. Basically, as a developer, if I am working on code that could even be potentially usable by my employer, it belongs to them. Even if I am at home and screwing around with some open source shit or code for a game. Which is basically why I rarely ever did any coding at home for full projects.

Looks to me like a standard contractual agreement that was breached, Rift tried to throw a pittance at Zenimax, and Zenimax is fighting back saying they have the contract in hand which will basically make for a slam dunk civil suit in their favor. Looks to me like Zenimax is going to win this.

 

[Wreckem]

Pretty much every programming job I have ever worked had these kinds of contracts as terms of employee agreements I had to sign. Basically, as a developer, if I am working on code that could even be potentially usable by my employer, it belongs to them. Even if I am at home and screwing around with some open source shit or code for a game. Which is basically why I rarely ever did any coding at home for full projects.

Looks to me like a standard contractual agreement that was breached, Rift tried to throw a pittance at Zenimax, and Zenimax is fighting back saying they have the contract in hand which will basically make for a slam dunk civil suit in their favor. Looks to me like Zenimax is going to win this.

They have some points but they are also trying to take it way to far by claiming right to his general know-how. Whats next? They say he can never develop another game/game engine because it would use his know how that hear learned as a founder/owner of ID. I wonder how much Carmack regrets selling out. It will also be interesting to see what his contract actually states because its obvious he does not have a non-compete, so I doubt his contract is the typical boiler plate that most developers are stuck with.

 

[ElFenix]

They have some points but they are also trying to take it way to far by claiming right to his general know-how. Whats next? They say he can never develop another game/game engine because it would use his know how that hear learned as a founder/owner of ID. I wonder how much Carmack regrets selling out. It will also be interesting to see what his contract actually states because its obvious he does not have a non-compete, so I doubt his contract is the typical boiler plate that most developers are stuck with.

at least in texas, a "never" prohibition on working in the same field is going to be unenforceable.

 

[norseamd]

at least in texas, a "never" prohibition on working in the same field is going to be unenforceable.

some states have laws against overreach of this kind of shit so that may make a lot of difference in this suit

 

[Red Squirrel]

I had a clause in my last contract, which stated that everything I invented that was within the scope of my job, belonged to my employer. I think even inventions that are within the scope of the overall business of the employer can be give some exclusive rights to the employer, such as the right to make a first offer, or something like that.
I think that would be a pretty standard R&D clause. I also was prohibited from taking on a secondary job without express permission from my employer, to avoid conflicts of interest.

Then there's non-competition clauses, where you're not allowed for X-time to work on something that was within the scope of your job at a competitor.

That's all pretty standard stuff, and someone who violates that kind of contract knowingly is in for a hard time.

My company has similar clauses too. Also can't partake in any activity that is near the same market. Ex: I work for an ISP, so I can't do hosting, or web design, and even fixing computers for money is kinda iffy. Sucks that companies can even do this. I'm a strong believer that companies should not be able to control what you do off the clock (unless you're on call, in that case you are being paid extra for that time period and sorta are on the clock). Sadly that's not how it works these days. Companies have lot of power over people whether they are employees or customers.

My company is not really all that strict about it though, so I could probably get away with most things as long as I'm not actually competing but still iffy if the wrong person gets wind of it. I've been reluctant to start on any projects because of that. That, and the draconian IP laws of today. It's too easy to fall into a situation where you are in some kind of violation of some kind of weird obscure patent, trademark, copyright or w/e. It's also impossible to think of every possible angle to patent first, not to mention the cost, hobbyists like me don't really have that kind of money, we just want to code/make stuff for fun and release it for fun without worrying about all the legal crap.

I guess the way to go with something like this is to form a corporation and lay very low as far as the person running the corporation so that should protect you from conflict of interest clauses, and if a IP law situation arises you can probably declare bankruptcy and fold the company. Though, not sure if that actually does work or not.