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Sell out? Or stick to my principals and lose my modest salary and benefits?
The below post appears in the “Corporate Video” section of COW. I was advised to repost here for potentially better feedback.
–My original “Corporate Video” post on Fri. Jan 7, 2011–
Ohhhh, boy. I think I just walked out on my salary and benefits today. I need some support and recommendations.In Short:
Today, I had to make the big choice you sometimes hear about: Stick to my principals, or “sell out” to keep my salary and benefits?
My employer asked me to sign a restrictive Invention Assignment Agreement (potentially sign away rights to my private work.)In Long:
I am a videographer/editor/producer for a large bicycle accessory retailer (actually, a similar type of industry.) I shoot and edit videos promoting the bicycle accessories that we sell, as well as event coverage, corporate interviews and the myriad media-related tasks given to the “in-house media guy.” (My job description states: Videographer and Copywriter.)Regardless, we were recently purchased by an even larger company within the industry.
I am now being asked to sign a very restrictive, very generic Invention Assignment Agreement. This agreement states that they own any invention (read: video/film/artwork/text) I create which “relates to the Company’s current or contemplated business or activities;”
To me, this reads that if I create any movie/film related to bicycles and bicycling that they could claim ownership.
I am an avid bicyclist and bicycling fan, and I love getting paid to make videos about the products and events/people in the industry. Dream job, right?
How can they tell me that any bicycle-related movies I make, in my free time, with my own equipment, belong to them?
They have refused to modify the generic contract I am being given. I simply ask that they specify, in writing, that I may produce bicycle-related media as long as it does not conflict with my employer. Meaning, I will not produce videos promoting specific bicycling products, or bicycle accessory installation advice or how-to.
Otherwise, I should be free to produce any artwork or visul media without fear of them claiming ownership.
This is ridiculous. Ridiculous, and complicated. And scary.
I was told that they would not modify the agreement.
I was told that signing the agreement is a condition of my employment.
I was told that if I do not sign the agreement – I do not work here.
I was told to have the signed agreement turned in by the end of business, today.
I did not sign the agreement.I just walked away from my salary and benefits on a matter of artistic principle, and I am freaking out.
I just lost my job. I think.
I am NOT signing that agreement without modifications.They would have to pay me a LOT more to lock me down artistically like this. It’s a matter of principle. The principle of a starving artist?
Is this type of agreement common for other corporate videographers?
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20 Replies
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I’m not hearing the sell out part. If they would have offered you a bonus or a bigger salary to sign away freedoms that’s one thing but that aint the case. You did the right thing. Walk. Ride. Enjoy your freedom to create.
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“Stick it to my principals” or “Sell out” is the wrong way to look at it. Such polarized thinking is what causes religious and race wars at the extreme.
In any case, they’re asking for too much that conflicts with your personal life and you made the right choice in my opinion. Good job.
HOWEVER! Don’t just walk out. Don’t quit. I would return to work on monday, as if nothing had happened. If asked, “Why did you leave, I’d say sorry, I was upset by the stress of the corporate merger, but here I am.” If you turned in a formal resignation sheet, talk with your local boss about “losing” that piece of paper. Wait until they ask you to leave; even if it is right away.
If you quit/resign, you won’t be able to access unemployment benefits. While I’m not one to promote living off everyone else; for hard workers between jobs it’s certainly a benefit.
There are other benefits as well. They may “overlook” that you didn’t actually sign the contract and forget about it, and still pay you. Just keep working. If someone comes with a contract, take it and say “I’ll get right on it” and let them go away. If they want you to sign it right there, say you need to review the contract and get back to them, then never do. If they want to wait while you read it, take a really long time, say what you aren’t comfortable with. I would avoid actually saying no to it, I’d say I need to think about the drastic conditions in here. Basically delay and stall, as long as they continue to pay you.
I’ve lost a consulting job this way. I thought they didn’t want me around after the board replaced the principals and took over the company, so I stopped showing up. However I bet had I just continued to show up they’d still have me on.
Make them ask you to leave. Meanwhile look for another job. This is not about sticking it to them. This is about not letting them take advantage of you while you maintain yourself and your family. The two concepts are fundamentally different.
For future employers, the situation will probably be the same whether you quit or are fired, because you can describe what actually happened. What is important is that you maintain a positive relationship with your immediate supervisor so he or she can continue to be a reference for you. (See point 1:polarization)
Really the first point is so critical. Even though it’s only a few words on an internet post; those who use them most likely have the same polarized thoughts throughout all aspects of their life.
Cory
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Cory Petkovsek
Corporate Video -
The larger the company you do work for, the more likely you are to face this situation.
And yep, it puts you in a tough position.
I’ve seen more (and more restrictive) Master Agreements and Scope of Work documents from my clients in the past few years than ever before. I suspect that’s because they are all growing and the legal departments are getting ever larger.
You want to feed off the big organizations, expect their legal departments to set the terms.
That’s how it works.
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I’d have a really honest conversation with myself if I were you. Can you pay the bills with personal videos you’d be making regardless of if you had a full time job? If you sign the contract and continue to make the videos – does it really matter if your company could theoretically claim ownership of it? Unless you say disparaging things about your employer or their products, it’s highly unlikely that would ever, ever happen.
My 2 cents…
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By and large, I think Cory expresses a good way to proceed.
Keep doing your job and put them in the position to have to make the move to fire you. They may not.
If they try to coerce you to sign on the same day, the contract itself may be questionable legally. Can one sign a contract under duress and an immediate threat? “Sign this or get fired today” basically eliminating your right to have the contract legally reviewed sounds “unreasonable.” Of course that wouldn’t be a fun legal battle to pursue. Sometimes winning is still losing.
I think a reasonable response to coercion is that given this is a legal contract with significant ramifications you need to time to have your lawyer review it. For a simple contract review (as I suspect this would be) it shouldn’t be too expensive to find a lawyer with both state labor and contract experience.
“relates to the Company’s current or contemplated business or activities;”
I am suspicious about the term in bold. Proving contemplation is slippery. You make a targeted bike documentary that becomes modestly successful like “Dogtown and Z-Boys” did for skateboarding and they can claim they “contemplated” it?
Also look at the longevity of the contract. If it’s just for the duration of your employment you might survive it as long as you get out of there when you’re ready. If extends some years past your employment that’s a serious concern.
Keep working. Talk to a lawyer. My guess it shouldn’t cost more than a couple/few hundred dollars and and you’re be able to make a clearer life decision.
IANAL but I’ve talked to them and you should consider that as well.
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A contracting party cannot impose additional conditions after contract has been agreed without the agreement of the other party.
That’s why they want you to sign.
Does that not apply to employment contracts where you work?
So if they sack you, what unfair dismissal legislation can you rely on in your jurisdiction? Here in the UK, a case like this would almost certainly end in a tribunal finding in your favour as unfairly dismissed if the reason for dismisall were failure to sign agreement to new conditions, and would be looking to the employer to pay you compensation. The employer’s lawyers would probably promote an early offer to you to settle, if they thought you had legal advice or would fight. I don’t know how that goes in the USA, but I guess not or you wouldn’t have posted like this ..
https://termination.legalview.info/articles/being-fired-or-terminated-from-work/57707/
https://www.mypersonnelfile.com/ -
[Michael Mahoney Jr.] “How can they tell me that any bicycle-related movies I make, in my free time, with my own equipment, belong to them?”
How much money do you earn in your free time making these videos?I’m not asking you to actually answer the question here, I’m asking you to evaluate the value of what you might be giving up. When making big life decisions like this you should take the time to lay out the pro’s and the con’s.
Hypothetically, let’s say you make 40k at your current job and supplement that with another 2k from videos made on your own time. Given that the company is unwavering you’re going to end up leaving something on the table. Do you walk away with your principles in tact and leave +38k on the table?
If the money you make during your off time is fairly significant you might consider having a go of it on your own by building up a business. Do you have other potential clients outside the niche of the bicycling community? You’ll need a decent client base to get off to a good start. What is the state of job market like in your area? Again, these are questions you should be asking yourself.Maybe I’m reading your post wrong, but it sounds as if you made an emotional decision. You were upset because they are overreaching their control. Business is business. There’s no place for emotions in business decision making. If possible try to evaluate your situation without letting emotions factor into the process.
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Hey Michael,
Without Prejudice and without knowing the finer details:
I would agree with most comments here: don’t give up the day job. In short, it is what we in the UK call “Constructive Dismissal” – depending on how many years you’ve worked for the company, it can get very expensive.
You might even have a claim against the previous owner – i.e. once you lawyer threatens to sue both parties, its gets messy and tend to bring people to the table for a suitable settlement. At which point you are likely to find that it is a overzealous HR person who is trying to get you to sign the contract, where as that both senior management and the legal department will be happy to “talk” to fix this situation – no new owner of a business are interested in bad publicity from one of there most avid fans 🙂
Maybe even appeal to the group CEO before going full out legal – again, if that person doesn’t know about this and if you explain that you’ve no interest in competing or generating competing products and that this is a passion more than a job for you, they might just decide to come to an arrangement that suit both parties.
My 5c
All the Best
Mads
London, UKPlease do visit our faceBook page here: https://www.facebook.com/MacMillionProductions
Mac Million Ltd. – Digital Media Production
Blog: https://macmillionltd.blogspot.com -
I’m not going to go as far as to reverse my earlier post on the Corporate Video COW (where this thread began). But I do admit that perhaps I misread or over-interpreted Michael’s original post. I was under the impression that the resignation had already happened. If it has not, and a state of limbo still exists, then by all means he should look for middle ground, keep attempting to negotiate or, as was suggested directly by Cory and indirectly by Craig, STALL. Force them to make the moves. Just be sure that while this is going on you are doing your job and never giving them any excuse for claiming under-performance.
As to contacting a lawyer, while that’s probably a good idea, Michael may find out what he needs to know by contacting the labor board in his respective state government. I’m not a lawyer — and I don’t play one on TV — but I seem to recall that signing a non-compete requires some form of “consideration” and that an employer can’t go to an existing employee and ask you to agree to something new like this without giving you something in exchange for doing so. At least that’s the way it was in my state. Which brings up the points offered by the boys from the other side of the pond…
Employment law in the US is substantially looser than it is in the UK and especially more favorable to the employer than it is in most of Western Europe. There are many states here where employment is entirely at the will of the employer, ie.- they can release any employee, anytime they so desire without any cause whatsoever. Not to say that litigation for wrongful dismissal can’t be brought under truly extreme circumstances, but these kind of lawsuits are very expensive and can last years. This pro-business (at the potential detriment to the employee) attitude is one of the reasons it’s considered simpler and less expensive to start a new business here than it is in Europe. Not saying it’s right or wrong, just how it is.
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I have to agree with John Davidson on this. What chance do you think there is of a company monitoring your outside work and activities? Unless you produce something that becomes wildly successful and well-known, there is little chance that:
1. They’d ever even know what you’re doing on your own time.
2. They’d feel threatened enough to do anything about it.
My advice? Sign it and keep doing what you’re doing. If your videos truly don’t conflict with your employer’s products, then the chance of anyone getting upset or taking any legal action is incredibly small.
This isn’t a matter of a company trying to take away your artistic freedom, it’s a matter of a company trying to protect what they perceive as proprietary technology or products. Stay away from doing outside work that touches those things and everybody will be happy.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com
Read our blog http://www.videomi.com/blog
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