What Are Software Author's Rights For Recognition?

DarkEdgeX asks: "I used to work for a .com company as a software engineer, and worked on a product that was to be distributed for free over the Internet. We parted on pretty bad terms, but the product was basically finished except for a few minor tweaks (less than 4-5 lines of code). Now I see this product on the Internet and on major download sites, but in the field for 'author,' it lists one of my ex-co-workers who barely worked on the product at all. Do I have any legal recourse to force my former employer to give me credit for my work? I wouldn't care normally, but I was proud of the work I did. Personally, I think software authors should be able to force former employers to give credit where credit is due."

Nothing you can do

[eroberts00]

You really have no recourse here. Unless you and the company agreed to different terms beforehand, ahything you wrote while employed by them is owned by them. They can do whatever they want with it, including giving credit to the wrong person.

Good question

[SpatchMonkey]

However, it has probably already been answered sufficiently here [grahamcheese.com]

Possibilities

[The Pim]

You really didn't include enough information, but I imagine there are possible recourses.

First, who has the copyright? I assume it is your employer, in which case of course they have no legal obligation to credit anyone. However, a few companies assign it to the FSF, and there may be other policies as well.

Second, is there a significant user community around the software? If so, you should be able to point out to them that your name was on earlier versions of the software, and that the company is being dishonest by hiding your contribution.

Third, is the software "Free Software" free? If so, it should be easy for you to demonstrate evidence of your authorship. There is also more likely to be a sympathetic community if the software is free.

Another option...

[cmowire]

There's always the litigation-free option of starting up a site to cover the project that you did and give the true attributation.

The only prob is that they could try to bring you to court for Libel.

Moral rights

[cperciva]

Just like everyone else on /., IANAL. However, here's my uninformed opinion:

You do have legal recourse.

The US is signatory to the Berne convention [cornell.edu] which among other things guarantees that

Independently of the author's economic rights, and even after the transfer of the said rights, the author shall have the right to claim authorship of the work and to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the said work, which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation.

In addition, 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 USC 1125(a)(1)(A) prohibits "false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact" that is "likely to cause confusion, ... mistake," or deception about "the affiliation, connection, or association" of a person with any product or service.

Basically, international law provides that you can claim authorship, and US law provides that they cannot claim authorship.

For more details, I suggest you read this [rbs2.com].

Re:Try asking them first...

[Anonymous Coward]

Consider this: Someone wants a programmer to write some code that will do something similar to something DarkEdgeX's program does. Assuming DarkEdgeX's ex-employer was honest, this new employer is safe in his belief that DarkEdgeX is the ideal candidate. But since that's not the case, someone who knows little to nothing about the program will be thought of instead. In this way DarkEdgeX can be cheated out of a job and the new company won't get the kind of programmer they thought they would; all because of the ex-employer's plagarism.

This plargarism may be costing DarkEdgeX job opportunities right now. Ask nicely first explaining how plagarism hurts everyone involved. Then let the lawyer have it.

Try asking them first...

[3-State Bit]

You don't mention asking your former employer about adding your name as a contributor. I know you say you "parted on pretty bad terms", but I would still send them a nice request to allow you to see your name on the work you are proud of and spent energy on, before resorting to legal measures.
After all, it can't hurt. What employer wouldn't be glad to hear an employee is proud of software work he/she developed for the company, implying genuine hard work? Even before you start looking for 'legal recourse', definitely try a plain old request. If you parted on bad enough terms, you might be met with a 'no', but it doesn't hurt to ask. Your letter might run somesomething like:
Sir,
I realize we have had our differences, but I am writing only with respect to the professional issue that I would like to see my name on the ~~~ product (for instance, at this location [whereverit...theproduct]), on which I spent considerable time and work at <your former company>, and in which I do take some pride. (then some anal thank you and goodluck goodluck or hope your products are doing well or whatever.).
If you really want to imply a legal recourse, after 'I would like to see my name on --', put in "which is the legally established convention for credited work (you do include <name of other dude> with whom I worked), even in the case of when a company holds the exclusive copyright.", which is only vaguely true per the above post's reference to legal code. I say this because this [rbs2.com] (linked in an above post) says:

In my essay on Copyright Law, I asserted that the USA does not recognize "moral rights" of authors that are included in article 6bis of the Berne Convention, despite the claim of the USA that it adheres to the Berne Convention. These moral rights include:

• the right of integrity: mutilation or distortion that would prejudice the author's honor or reputation is not permitted. In French law, this right is called "droit au respect de l'oeuvre" and is mentioned in Article6 of the French Law No. 57-298 of 11 March 1957.
• the right of attribution: the true author has the right to have his/her name on the work, and a non-authors are prevented from having their names attached to the author's work. In French law, this right is called "droit à la paternité" and is mentioned in Article6 of the French Law No. 57-298 of 11 March 1957.

In other words, the US does not honor formally (or de facto, depending on how you interpret the above) the right to see attributement (when you don't hold the copyright), and indeed the caselaw (still from here [rbs2.com]) says:

Smith v. Montoro, 648 F.2d 602 (9thCir. 1981) (removal of actor's name from film credits was valid claim under Lanham Act).

Now I wasn't sure what this meant, so I found this [bitlaw.com] on the "Lanham (Trademark) Act (15 U.S.C.)" including the preamble:

The Lanham Act is found in Title 15 of the U.S. Code and contains the federal statutes governing trademark law in the United States. However, this act is not the exclusive law governing U.S. trademark law, since both common law and state statutes also control some aspects of trademark protection. This index contains links to each of the sections of the Lanham, and was last updated in March, 2000.

Now Title VIII - False Designations Of Origin And False Descriptions Forbidden [bitlaw.com] says:

1125. False designations of origin and false descriptions forbidden
(a)
Civil action.
(1)
Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which--
(A)
is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person, or
(B)
in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person's goods, services, or commercial activities, shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is or is likely to be damaged by such act.

In other words (the bold above is mine), despite what the above essay said about our not respecting authorial attributement as the French do, in letter at least this Lanham Act seems to mean that you're fairly well covered in saying the legal convention is behind you. If you say "convention", it implies that that's how it's done to be sure to be legal, and is not as overtly negative as if you had said the law requires this.
In any case, first a nice letter, with a vague allusion to law, then if your former employer refuses to add your name, dig around this Lanham Act business a bit and send him chapter and verse (section and paragraph :]) along with a nice hyperlink so he can check out his legal obgligations. Either way, you seem covered. Good luck!

Re:Try asking them first...

[DarkEdgeX]

Yeah, I haven't asked yet, this question was more a "well, I think I know they won't give in if all I do is ask, so I might as well ask the general population what they think". Because, depending on how they respond to my initial request (like I said, we parted on bad terms, but that doesn't change my work at all-- I still wrote a vast majority of the code), I may want to immediatly call an attorney.

Plus, and I didn't mention this in the story submission, but it seems kind of a slap in the face for them to distribute it on popular download sites (CNET, 32bit.com, etc) and put this other employees name in for "author" (on sites that support such a field) and not mention mine.

It's probably just nit-picking, honestly, but I'd rather be informed in case I do want to pursue it, than just jump in head first. Thanks for the responses. =)

Re:Try asking them first...

[3-State Bit]

Honestly, it's not a matter of suing them. You have no damages. Just show them the law, if they see that they are obliged to credit you, then they will credit you. It is definitely not worth it for them to say "No. We understand that we are acting illegally, but we refuse to stop crediting someone who contributed very little of the code instead of you who contributed the vast majority."
In conclusion: get a lawyer only if you can't find the law (although I would think it's a very general IP issue to not credit the creator of a work, and therefore should not be difficult to find), not to try to sue them for money. You and I both know you're not suffering great damages. Just find a law (like the one I quoted) and throw it at them. If they still remain asses get a lawyer with a contingent fee to write them something nasty about suing them if they blatantly continue to act illegally. (If it's really a large corporation ignoring a clear law, they can be penalized even if you don't suffer many damages, you know, just for their breaking the law and refusing to stop). Start by writing them a letter, it doesn't change anything! You're not going to get money from them by waiting and suing them...they'll just say they didn't know. Let them know! Like I just said, they won't say "uh, no, we think we prefer to continue illegally not crediting you.". Type up that email bro! There's /no/ downside to "jumping in head first". (You don't deserve money from them right now just for their not putting your name on, so you can't honestly be 'ruining anything' by not doing what legally has the most potential money behind it in a lawsuit type situation.)

Happy New Millenium!

[Merry Millenium!]

Happy New Millenium!