Does a computer program that solces a universal problem belong to the company or to the employee who wrote it?

Does a computer program that solves a universal problem belong to the company or tho the employee who wrote the program? Who do you believe the program should belong to: Why?


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Does a computer program that solces a universal problem belong to the company or to the employee who wrote it?
It would be nice if the program always belonged to the employee but in this world that isn't the case.





Here's reality:


All software is written in a special programming environment such as Microsoft Visual Studio for example. In all cases if the company provided the programming environment the software will always belong to the company even if the employee did not use a company computer and did not get paid for writing the software.





A few examples...


1) The employee used company equipment to write the software but wrote the software on unpaid time. The software belongs to the company because it was written using company equipment.


2) The employee used their own computer but was paid for writing the program. The software belongs to the company because the employee was compensated.


3) The employee used their own computer equipment and was not paid. The software belongs to the employee as long as they owned their own copy of the programming environment. "Their own copy" means they purchased a copy on their own and did not make a copy of the company provided programming environment.
Reply:Unless there are extenuating circumstances or your contract states otherwise, the courts view it as company property. You used their time and resources to solve their problem.
Reply:If someone was employed to make a program, or if the program was completed during a time where someone was paid to do work, then the company owns the software.

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