This petition was submitted during the 2010-2015 parliament
Petition Prevent employers from claiming IP rights to works produced in an employee's spare time
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In some industries, like software, employees often like to work on side-projects in their spare time. However, employers sometimes take ownership of them by writing a clause into an employee's contract.
High-tech startups are likely to form an important part of the UK's future economy, and these often start off as side-projects. But some employees are prevented from doing this, due to the clauses.
California has a law that states that anything employees do on their own time that isn't related to their employers' line of work is theirs. I propose that the UK passes a similar law.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
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