Copyright assignment

[mjg59]

The fundamental problem with projects requiring copyright assignment is that there's an economic cost involved in me letting a competitor sell a closed version of my code without letting me sell a closed version of their code. If this cost is perceived as larger than the cost of maintaining my code outside the upstream tree, it's cheaper for me to fork than it is to sign over my rights. So if I have my own engineering resources, what rational benefit is there to me assigning my copyright?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

For those of us in some companies, there's a related problem: I am permitted to contribute back under the license(s) I receive the code under by my contract of employment, provided my employer keeps the copyright. If I misuse this permission, I face internal disciplinary procedures, up to and including termination of employment and criminal charges, depending on just how severe the misuse of that permission is.

I do not have the power to sign a copyright assignment on behalf of my employer. If you want me to do that, I have to go to the Board of Directors and make the business case for signing this contract. Guess what I'm not inclined to do, ever?