Can you use work from your 9-5 job in your coaching business? A.K.A. “Work for hire”
I begin this post with the following disclaimer: I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY!
THIS POST IS A PLEA FOR YOU TO CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY IF YOU SUSPECT THIS SITUATION APPLIES TO YOU.
Recently, I had a client tell me she planned to open a coaching business which was VERY closely related to her current 9-5 job. Her plans included using resources she created as an employee of a company for her own business. She naturally assumed that since SHE had created these resources, they were hers to use as she wished. All I could think of was Steve Donner and Eudora.
I first became aware of the "work for hire" legal term when I heard the story of Steve Bonner, the creator of the email software program Eudora.
Mark Andreessen, the University of Illinois undergraduate who conceived Mosaic at the same time Dorner was working on Eudora, went on to develop the Netscape Navigator and became a multimillionaire at age 24 when the Netscape Communications Corporation went public. There was no such Cinderella story for Dorner. He left the university staff in 1992, only because he wanted to keep working on Eudora.
Qualcomm Inc., a communications company based in San Diego, signed licensing agreements with the university for the development rights to Eudora and later for the trademark, paying a sum a university official described as "not huge — more than $100,000 and less than $1 million." Dorner became a principal engineer at Qualcomm, working mostly on Eudora. But he did not get a cent in royalties, because the inventions of Eudora and PH were considered work-for-hire by the university.
Basically, work for hire means that when a programmer at Microsoft creates code for a Microsoft Product, Microsoft (not the employee) is the legally recognized owner of the work.
If you are employed full time when you launch your coaching business, make certain to consult with an attorney. Bring any documents you signed when you were hired at your current job. It’s important to note whether you were classified an "independent contractor" or not.
You’ll also want to be aware of this legal term if your clients include companies rather than individuals. Check with your attorney to make sure the training program you developed for a client still belongs to you!
