Beware using your Employer's Hardware to Write On.....

[ChloeTzang]

It's parody HR account but....some managers wuld do this, I'm sure LOL

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I'm having a Tetris flashback.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

What low down bullshit

 

[old_prof]

I always read the on-boarding policy closely and usually insisted on some riders. Typical high tech employment agreements can make anything you create, no mottler on whose equipment or on whose time, belong to the company, under the theory that you probably got the idea on company time or from something you learned at the company.

The supervisor didn't need to ask for the manuscript. They have the right to search a work computer anytime they want to, for any reason.

 

[AbyssalAvatar]

For real though, it might be stating the obvious but don’t write stuff for Literotica using your employer’s laptop or computer (or VPN or enrolled mobile device) - they can most likely see everything that you are doing

 

[alohadave]

For real though, it might be stating the obvious but don’t write stuff for Literotica using your employer’s laptop or computer (or VPN or enrolled mobile device) - they can most likely see everything that you are doing

For the same reason, I don't enroll my phone in any IT stuff (barring MS Authenticator) on my phone. If the company is ever sued or investigated, your phone is considered a company asset and can be seized indefinitely for discovery.

If they want me accessible for work stuff, they will give me a company issued phone.

 

[WittyUserName]

It's parody HR account but....some managers wuld do this, I'm sure LOL

View attachment 2595637

When I clicked on this thread, I was expecting to hear about someone getting called into HR for writing smut on a company computer. This was still good, though!

 

[Writer61]

Or browse dodgy sites, even with your own device, on an employer/client network.

 

[lovecraft68]

When I clicked on this thread, I was expecting to hear about someone getting called into HR for writing smut on a company computer. This was still good, though!

Like this?

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/i-have-to-share-this.1618504/

 

[KittyOfSteele]

When I clicked on this thread, I was expecting to hear about someone getting called into HR for writing smut on a company computer. This was still good, though!

Same, but it really hurt me to see it was a shitpost. Nevertheless, this happened in history: Pazhitnov never earned money from Tetris until long after the fall of the Soviet Union, along with the rights to the game.

 

[ZinJ]

I actually felt my gut twist reading that. Reading fine print is important

 

[Writer61]

Once upon a time, I was put in charge of a struggling project and given four weeks to assess whether it could be completed on time.

About two weeks in, I got a call from the site's IT manager because they had found that the lead developer on the most critical part of the application had been storing porn on our server. He knew how important the guy was, so he left the decision to me.

Thirty years later, I can picture exactly where I was when I took the call. My career flashed before me.

The guy was gone immediately. It was the easiest decision that I ever made. It was the hardest decision that I ever made.

Everybody told me that I had done the right thing.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

For real though, it might be stating the obvious but don’t write stuff for Literotica using your employer’s laptop or computer (or VPN or enrolled mobile device) - they can most likely see everything that you are doing

Maybe nowadays. Back around 09, I was writing on the computer at my security desk until I got my first laptop.

 

[CalBishForNow]

Maybe nowadays. Back around 09, I was writing on the computer at my security desk until I got my first laptop.

We worked in different companies. In 09, my employer made it very, very clear that personal use of the computers for anything smut-related would get you fired, out of a cannon, into the sun. Embedded YouTube links, Facebook, and blogs were blocked, forget about this stuff.

In 2007, however, eh, I probably could have saved it on my boss's hard drive without a problem.

 

[Baztrachian]

It's parody HR account but....some managers wuld do this, I'm sure LOL

Way back in the way back I used to write freelance articles and post them on ThemeStream where they'd get picked up here and there. I'd make the occasional $50 to $100 doing this.

One day I had a deposit of over $18,000 when the New York Times picked up one of my articles and then a buttload of papers followed suit.

My then-manager got wind of this and told me that he and the company had to have preapproval over anything I wrote in the future.

I refused.

He threatened to fire me.

To which I said, "Then my very next article will be about you."

 

[M_K_Babalon]

We worked in different companies. In 09, my employer made it very, very clear that personal use of the computers for anything smut-related would get you fired, out of a cannon, into the sun. Embedded YouTube links, Facebook, and blogs were blocked, forget about this stuff.

In 2007, however, eh, I probably could have saved it on my boss's hard drive without a problem.

My work was saved on a thumbdrive. It didn't have internet, or at least any user usable internet. I was at a high rise, so there was nothing to do but watch cameras.

 

[SimonDoom]

No, I don't think so.

A company has the right to dictate how you use its equipment, and if you use it in violation of company policy you may suffer the consequences, but I doubt that a clause like this in an employment contract would stand up in an American court. The bottom line question with copyright and employment is whether the work is created "within the scope" of employment. That has more to do with what your job is and whether what you write is within the "scope" of your job responsibilities than with whether you happen to use company equipment to write something. If you were to take time off and write a novel on a company computer while you were off work, the company would be hard-pressed to argue that your work was within the scope of your employment. It would probably not qualify as a "work made for hire" within the meaning of section 201(b) of the US Copyright Act.

It would be a more ambiguous case if the company/employer were in the business of creating and publishing works of fiction.

The fact that the supervisor knowingly permitted the employee to write a sci fi novel during off time on the company computer would work against, not in favor of, the employer in this case.

All that being said, one should absolutely NOT use company equipment for personal activities, of whatever kind. It's foolish.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

The fact that the supervisor knowingly permitted the employee to write a sci fi novel during off time on the company computer would work against, not in favor of, the employer in this case.

Finally, somebody got there.

 

[TheLobster]

So you're saying that if I really want to get published, but don't feel like dealing with agents, queries, editors, publishing houses in general, and whatever is needed for self-publication these days, then I always have a convenient alternative to consider where I don't have to do any of this! Thanks!

 

[ZinJ]

So you're saying that if I really want to get published, but don't feel like dealing with agents, queries, editors, publishing houses in general, and whatever is needed for self-publication these days, then I always have a convenient alternative to consider where I don't have to do any of this! Thanks!

if you have a plan to somehow blackmail your company to give you the profits without it backfiring on you, go for it

 

[TheLobster]

if you have a plan to somehow blackmail your company to give you the profits without it backfiring on you, go for it

Well, I'd be getting exactly the same amount of money that I get from publishing here, so...

 

[HeyAll]

Ironically this a great plot for a movie or erotica.

 

[AbyssalAvatar]

For the same reason, I don't enroll my phone in any IT stuff (barring MS Authenticator) on my phone. If the company is ever sued or investigated, your phone is considered a company asset and can be seized indefinitely for discovery.

If they want me accessible for work stuff, they will give me a company issued phone.

Yep! Generally for privacy reasons you don't want to be doing this either.

 

[Andreas_Kreuz]

The initial post has a significant flaw. He asked her to send the manuscript via email. There is no proof that she used the company computer to write it.
And as always, in Europe, the protection of employees' rights is better. Here, the employer would have to provide grounds for suspicion first, before searching the computer. And then the employer would need to prove you caused them damage, which would be impossible during a sabbatical.

 

[Baztrachian]

No, I don't think so.

A company has the right to dictate how you use its equipment, and if you use it in violation of company policy you may suffer the consequences, but I doubt that a clause like this in an employment contract would stand up in an American court. The bottom line question with copyright and employment is whether the work is created "within the scope" of employment. That has more to do with what your job is and whether what you write is within the "scope" of your job responsibilities than with whether you happen to use company equipment to write something. If you were to take time off and write a novel on a company computer while you were off work, the company would be hard-pressed to argue that your work was within the scope of your employment. It would probably not qualify as a "work made for hire" within the meaning of section 201(b) of the US Copyright Act.

It would be a more ambiguous case if the company/employer were in the business of creating and publishing works of fiction.

The fact that the supervisor knowingly permitted the employee to write a sci fi novel during off time on the company computer would work against, not in favor of, the employer in this case.

All that being said, one should absolutely NOT use company equipment for personal activities, of whatever kind. It's foolish.

Myself, I did IT security at an investment bank. I did my non-fiction writing at home, on my computer, and on my own time.

Yet they still wanted to intrude into my personal space.

Reading this topic led me to post this over on Tumblr:

New Rules For Employment​

1. No work calls after hours unless there's a natural disaster, war, or random apocalypse.
2. I do not spend my money on your projects. Ever.
3. I am not donating to the company's favorite charity so management can take credit for employee donations.
4. No HR inspections of my home workspace. Fuck off.
5. I don't attend so-called 'Team Building' events on weekends. Also fuck off.
6. Just because I do photography as my side hustle doesn't mean I'm going to do it for 'The Team'...for free. Fuck off.
7. I am not carpooling so management can get a plastic trophy from some local agency. Fuck off.
8. I am not sharing my personal computers, software, equipment, etc. with 'The Team'. Fuck off.
9. Remember the no-notice layoffs you gave to my coworkers? That's why you are no longer entitled to two weeks notice from me or anyone else.
10. Loyalty is a two-way street. You don't have any for me so guess how much I have for you?