So I would start this story, if it was a fairy tale, but the continuation of this story turned out to be not at all fabulous, but very instructive - directly to the "good fellows well done".
Three employees of the software company registered exclusive rights to develop the company in which they worked and created an excellent business on its basis. The cherries on the cake were the decisions of three courts that refused the company to the developer to satisfy the requirements for violation of rights to former employees.
So what is the lesson for the Good fellows?
The fact that no one is safe from the fact that Ivanushki workers will not take away all the results of these works in order to live happily ever after, and will be right in doing so.
Our lawyers have already covered our calluses with repeating the language of the vital necessity of important letters (pieces of paper for you) and magical autographs of all collaborations so that no one could encroach on your treasures.
Next I’ll ask you tricky questions, and if you give at least one negative answer, then my advice is to run quickly to the legal wizards, so that they cast an inviolability spell on your soft treasures.
Hereinafter, I will not indicate the name of the required document; the essence is not in the title; I will indicate the conditions that should be reflected on paper and certified by responsible persons.
1) Do I have treasures?
The fact that you are sure that you have rights to the RID does not mean that the rights are confirmed in the documents. Black and white should indicate - the start date of the development, its goals and objectives, the people responsible for the preparation of the technical specifications and the formation of the team have been appointed, the date of commissioning and registration of intangible assets should be set for putting the software into operation.
2) Is the circle of authors defined correctly?
Keep in mind that not everything is so simple (the code, algorithm, interface, database structure, graphics, multimedia, photos, video, product documentation and corporate identity (its elements) are protected by copyright). In our tale, the workers were in the service of “Project Director”, “Lead Programmer” and “Scientific Project Manager” (only according to the documents he was the head of another project). Do not lose sight of the fact that documentation must be maintained for each project.
3) Is confidential information framed?
Be sure to include a detailed list of CIs, permissions regarding CIs, prohibitions regarding CIs, validity of permits and bans, confirmation of granting access to CIs. The composition of the CI should include code, algorithm, interface, database structure, graphics, multimedia, photos, video, product documentation and corporate identity (its elements).
4) Are all conditions with employees reflected in their documents?
Check the availability of information in contracts with employees and an indication of the position, a detailed description of the functional (I don’t stop on issues of labor law, because I give recommendations on a separate issue).
5) Are all conditions with the authors reflected in the documents?
That's right - I highlight the documents with the author in a separate paragraph. Remember that initially everything that is done with pens belongs to the right place from which these hands grow!
Our goal is to describe the transfer of all these rights to you, and for this you need to indicate the transfer of exclusive rights (the procedure for transferring rights from the author to the company and acts of acceptance and transfer of rights to the created work, maintain project repositories with the ability to track additions).
Permission to use the object: the creation and distribution of copies, publication and reproduction, etc. (list in Article 1270 of Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), indicate the transfer of rights to parts and fragments of the object, the territory of distribution and use. The following describes in detail the right to dispose of the property.
Do not forget about the observance of personal non-property rights - the right of authorship, the right of the author to the name, the right to inviolability of the work, the right to disclosure. These are all separate rights! The waiver of these rights is not valid, i.e. you can not pass them.
I advise you to indicate in your documents your right to use the object without specifying the name of the author (this will greatly facilitate your life, otherwise you need to transfer a complete list of authors with each copy of the program).
Well, my favorite, which many forget about is the author’s right to the inviolability of the work. If you do not indicate in the documents with the author that you are allowed to make changes to the work, then any author will receive not a small jackpot from you for violating this right. It is believed that changing a program is a modification, and does not violate the right to inviolability of the work, but I do not support this point of view and may later consider this topic separately.
I earnestly ask - indicate the information on the admission of each author to create a specific result of intellectual activity under the signature.
6) Do I pay royalties to authors?
Copyright remuneration cannot be an integral part of wages, it is paid after signing the act of acceptance of the transfer of work
7) Have I passed the voluntary registration of the software?
A procedure that is questionable from my point of view, but in fact is necessary. 10 years ago, when the program was placed on disk, maybe this made sense, because the deposit could contain the full code, but with the size of today's developments, only parts of the code are sent to the deposit. However, the courts positively assess whether you have a beautifully designed certificate, which is a plus. I advise you not only to indicate versioning during registration, otherwise you will have to get a new certificate for each version.
When I see a list of two sheets of printed text, I’m sure I’ll hear again: “Just give the lawyers an opportunity and they will drown the business in paper,” however, with the right approach, the described conditions fit into a modest list of documents, and with the correct organization of processes and workflow, the lion's share of these documents subscribes once.
The materials that became the basis of the article are in the public domain (Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow case No. A40-202764 / 18-110-1552, Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal Case No. A40-202764 / 18, Court of Intellectual Rights Case No. A40-202764 / 2018).