Eithics of reusing source code

[footpad]

Greetings,

I have been programming for many years now and have developed a number of utilities, algorithms, techniques and other chunks of code during that time.

Most of this work has been performed while employed as a full time employee of various organization.

Should I worry about trying to reuse code from projects written for previous employers, even if my current employer is not in the same line of business?

For example, I currently work for a biomed that's developing a database application. Since the bulk of my career has been related to databases, I have a number of "toolkit" style solutions in my archives, stemming from my previous work for consultants, software publishers, and even work-for-hire project.

If, for example, I have a good solution in my archives, am I safer (from a legal standpoint) to simply reinvent the wheel and perhaps improve it in the long run or should I do as all good programmers should and evolve my personal "kit code" into an appropriate solution for the tasks at hand?

Is there a threshold or a rule that I can apply to determine my level of risk?

Thanks in advance....

P.S. I assume that my previous employers own the general copyright on my code, however, given the recent decisions regarding the reuse of articles written as works-for-hire, I wonder what (if any) the implications might be.

P.P.S. I like and work in WA state, is that makes any difference.

 

[igoraf]

I can not give you legal advice on this [Mike, where are you? ] but if I were in your position I would definately reuse my own code and build on it, rather than starting from scratch.

 

[jmacgregor]

Thought I don't know much about code, would think it would fall under the laws of intellectual property. A little digging found me this:
"The situation with software copyright is no less confusing than with software patents. If programs are "abstract machines" or "methods of operation", are they copyrightable at all? The Supreme Court gives little guidance here. One possible precedent is Baker v. Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879) in which the Court ruled that describing a system of accounting in a textbook did not confer copyright protection on the system itself: "

The case described, Baker v. Selden, is fascinating and surprisingly relative to your own case.

I don't see anything wrong with you using old code regardless to the final product or who owns the rights to the code itself. It's kind of like someone copyrighting a graphic design you made and sold and then telling you to destroy the computer on which it was made because that computer has the ability to make that design again.
Indeed, it does come down to ethics.
I'll keep digging...
jM

 

[jmacgregor]

by the way, I found that case on:
http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/int-prop/software-copyright.html

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The bottom line -- if you do work for an employer, all the work you do will be for the employer UNLESS you draft a contract whereby you will own your basic routines. If they are relatively standard, you probably won't have a problem. However, if you are creating a "toolbox" of specialized routines, you may run into issues reusing the code.

This is a very hot issue and most smart developers will put into any employment contract that they are providing a perpetual license to the company to use the source code, but that they will retain ownership to the basic routines.

Baker v. Selden is a landmark case and makes for interesting reading. The key concept here is the ownership of work product that you do by your employer. You want to overcome the presumption that as an employee (not a contractor) you create work for the benefit of your employer.