ZeniMax & ID Software vs Oculus
Wow. Read your contracts carefully before you agree to them folks. If there's anything in the contract about them owning your personal work(even if created outside of work hours) while under their employ don't do it !
Its a slippery slope that companies and corporations are treading on here, the idea that they own their employees both inside and outside of work.
At the bottom of page 7 you'll find out what they deem to be "Trade Secrets" and who they view as ZeniMax. The wording is sneaky but in a round about way they're implying that these employees and any ideas that they have automatically become the property of ZeniMax as if they had purposefully been created by ZeniMax themselves.
Court Document
There is ample evidence to support their case, even if the wording is sleazy as hell. I think that Oculus should have made a settlement with them when they had the chance, the proposal wasn't that bad to be honest and they would have saved themselves the legal fees and time :/ Will this kill VR ? Probably not, the VR ecosystem is really starting to diversify and there are a number of players out there with new units and technology.
Possible Lessons to be learned from this ?
- Read your contracts thoroughly
- Keep your personal work on your machine at home, never bring it in to work and never use the company email or any other resources.
- Keep your personal work to yourself, it may be much easier to defend yourself against claims in court if there is no solid evidence on the company's part.
What are your thoughts on this ?
Its a slippery slope that companies and corporations are treading on here, the idea that they own their employees both inside and outside of work.
At the bottom of page 7 you'll find out what they deem to be "Trade Secrets" and who they view as ZeniMax. The wording is sneaky but in a round about way they're implying that these employees and any ideas that they have automatically become the property of ZeniMax as if they had purposefully been created by ZeniMax themselves.
Court Document
There is ample evidence to support their case, even if the wording is sleazy as hell. I think that Oculus should have made a settlement with them when they had the chance, the proposal wasn't that bad to be honest and they would have saved themselves the legal fees and time :/ Will this kill VR ? Probably not, the VR ecosystem is really starting to diversify and there are a number of players out there with new units and technology.
Possible Lessons to be learned from this ?
- Read your contracts thoroughly
- Keep your personal work on your machine at home, never bring it in to work and never use the company email or any other resources.
- Keep your personal work to yourself, it may be much easier to defend yourself against claims in court if there is no solid evidence on the company's part.
What are your thoughts on this ?
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