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I work as an employee for an international corporation, and would like to try my programming skills developing applications for mobile phones and see if I can make some extra income from this. However, my current contract states that all my work, whether at the office or not, is property of the company. Others in the company have tried to obtain a "permit" to do such side business but were explicitly told they are not and will not be allowed to.

My question is, is this even enforceable at all? I'm currently employed in Germany so information specific for this country's laws is highly appreciated, though discussions of similar laws elsewhere are also interesting.

Many thanks!

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An official answer to this would depend on a detailed analysis of your contract and interpretation of German law, something only a German attorney can do. Your question involves intellectual property, contract and liability issues. From a general information standpoint, however, what I've seen based on the description you've given me suggests that this may implicate the German Copyright Act which suggests that the provision may not be enforceable.

Here are a few links that will help you interpret your own contract: The first discusses the German Employees Inventions Act http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+German+Employee%27s+Inventions+Act-+Beware+of+Employees%27+Rights+to...-a0118003086

The second is from StackOverflow which has some posts from UK and EU lawyers which you may rely on: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9705/what-can-i-do-about-my-employers-intellectual-property-policy

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that I am NOT a German lawyer (hate to repeat this but I am not your lawyer and you are not my client, either) and cannot really advise you on German law; neither can I really hold myself out as competent on German law since it's out of my jurisdiction so this is merely for your information. You will have to retain a German attorney to get a real legal opinion.

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Thanks for your comment and the links. Of course I won't take action based on advice from a web site, but it's still useful information. I guess your fine Disclaimer applies to every single post in this site :) – Anonymous Feb 8 at 21:59
No problem at all and hope it helped! Sorry about the excessive disclaimers, the US has professional responsibility rules that need to be repeated. Good luck and hope you are able to pursue your project. – Munish Feb 8 at 22:16
I think adding a disclaimer to the this website, showed when posting a question, will be beneficial for all future users (who aren't familiar with the need for a disclaimer) – Am May 22 at 19:04

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