My company's IP policy is outlined below. It is an Illinois company, and I believe Illinois has a statute to protect employees from companies with overly broad IP policies -- however the language seems to apply to "inventions." I am wondering whether in either of the two following situations the company would have a legal claim to the copyright on a book?
1. An employee writes a book on his own time without any company resources. The book is unrelated to the employee's job.
2. An employee creates content for the company about topic x. The employee moves onto other content area for the company. On his own time and using his own resources, he does more work on topic x, which eventually leads to a book.
Given the policy below, could the company claim rights to either/both of the book projects above?
As part of your employment ..., you need to promptly disclose to Company management any inventions or other intellectual property that you create while you are employed by (the Company). If this occurs, you would also need to promptly assign this intellectual property to the Company or do anything else reasonably necessary to allow (the Company) to secure the appropriate patents, copyrights or other forms of legal protection. If you suspect any theft, misuse, or improper disclosure of the Company's intellectual property, immediately tell your supervisor or someone from Human Resources, Internal Audit or the Law Department.
This policy is not intended to preclude or dissuade you from engaging in activities protected by state or federal law, including the National Labor Relations Act, such as discussing wages, benefits or terms and conditions of employment, including discussions regarding forming, joining or supporting labor unions, raising complaints about working conditions for your and your fellow employees' mutual aid or protection or other legally protected activities
1. An employee writes a book on his own time without any company resources. The book is unrelated to the employee's job.
2. An employee creates content for the company about topic x. The employee moves onto other content area for the company. On his own time and using his own resources, he does more work on topic x, which eventually leads to a book.
Given the policy below, could the company claim rights to either/both of the book projects above?
As part of your employment ..., you need to promptly disclose to Company management any inventions or other intellectual property that you create while you are employed by (the Company). If this occurs, you would also need to promptly assign this intellectual property to the Company or do anything else reasonably necessary to allow (the Company) to secure the appropriate patents, copyrights or other forms of legal protection. If you suspect any theft, misuse, or improper disclosure of the Company's intellectual property, immediately tell your supervisor or someone from Human Resources, Internal Audit or the Law Department.
This policy is not intended to preclude or dissuade you from engaging in activities protected by state or federal law, including the National Labor Relations Act, such as discussing wages, benefits or terms and conditions of employment, including discussions regarding forming, joining or supporting labor unions, raising complaints about working conditions for your and your fellow employees' mutual aid or protection or other legally protected activities
