Episode 70: Who Owns The Drawings??

You do some design work at home, on your own time, for the company you work for. Now, another company wants a copy of the drawings you produced. Is it ethical – or even legal – for you to send them along?

On this episode of MACHINE SHOP TALK, Ian Sandusky from Lakewood Machine & Tool is heading back into the Practical Machinist forums to address a poster who came on with exactly this scenario. What can seem like a fairly simple and straightforward situation can have some very serious ramifications if you’re not careful. When it comes to intellectual property, contract agreements, working arrangements, and work produced outside of working hours – you need to be extremely careful to be aware of both your rights and responsibilities as an employee to avoid legal trouble. From discussing the fine line between taking initiative and exploiting yourself, to the finer points of intellectual property rules – we’re getting into this and more on this episode of SHOP TALK!