Re: Work done "in course of employment" - by a minor

Capacity to contract is a state law issue, unless it's federal common law because it concerns a work for hire, in which case the issue is one of first impression, and your guess is as good as mine. In any event, the issue is probably avoided because the remedy is generally rescission, and it only works for executory (unperformed) contracts. If a kid promises to pay $2500 for a car, the court will let him out of the contract if he changes his mind; but if he pays for the car and totals it, he can't get his money back. If the kid did the work and got paid for it, you'll have a hard time unravelling it unless the facts show that the employer took advantage of him.

If you ask for a license, you're waving a checkbook in their face. I'd go back to the beginning and make sure the work was a work for hire within the scope of employment; figure out what the scope of copyright protection is; and write around it if you have to. There are a lot of computer programs that produce websites. How is this one special?

John Noble

At 6:55 PM -0400 5/11/06, Mike Holderness wrote:
>I hope someone can give me a pointer on this one, or at least have fun
>with it...
>
>
>A wishes to enter into a partnership to produce a website with B, a US
>resident, currently 18 years old, using computer programs written by B.
>
>B says he originally wrote the program while an employee of a company who
>he has now fallen out with. He feels that he can now carry on using the
>program as he was 16 when he created it and therefore the contract he
>signed with the company stating that he was an employee and therefore
>relinquishing his rights was invalid as he was a minor at the time.
>
>A proposes that the agreement with B will include a clause where "we state
>that we own the rights to our respective creations and agree to indemnify
>each other against any losses incurred as a result of any legal action
>resulting from (c) infringement".
>
>So:
>
>Who owns B's code?
>
>A is thinking of approaching the company for a licence. Is this necessary?
>
>Mike
>
>
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Received on Sat May 13 2006 - 08:40:01 GMT