New startup advice

I work for a church here in California as a gfx designer. 8 months ago I had an idea for a web service we could use at the church I work at. I spoke to my pastor (boss) about the idea and he said let's do it. So the church paid $1500 to create the idea and so we have been using it in our church for 8 months now. So I want to take my idea and do the same thing and recreate it on the side to sell to other churches. I have sign no Employer Protection Agreement. Can I do this or do they own the product. Thank you for any help you can give me.

From what I understand CA laws are pretty biased for the worker. If you did not agree to assign rights to the client then it is yours. You will probably want to work out an arrangement with the original client as they did subsidize the work, but that is just the way I would operate. I don't think you are legally obligated to do so.

I doubt they would be interested in a joint venture or other such things - but if it was me I would donate some part of the revenue to the church. Just seems like the right thing to do.(at least until the amount they spent on it was paid back)

It is difficult to answer your question for two reasons.

First, it is not clear whether you are an employee or an independent contractor - that issue can have a major impact on who owns what. Please see, for example, Securing IP Requires More than an NDA and Why “Work Made for Hire” is a Term Made for Confusion.

Second, it's not entirely clear what the "idea" is and what you want to do with it for other churches. If it really is a mere idea, then it probably belongs to no one. But if using the idea requires using a copyrighted work or a patentable invention, then you should have a lawyer look at who owns what.

Disclaimer: This post does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

Move forward but talk to them and negotiate first. Churches are not about running businesses and it is likely that they will have no problems with you doing this, especially if you also attend the church.

Just going ahead with the idea and risking pissing them off is sheer stupidity in my opinion. Most likely scenario is that that would lead to negativity and problems when there is a high probability that you could avoid all that fairly easily.

You want to save all your energy for your startup - not waste it in placating your employer. Talk to them first.

In a nutshell, unless you signed an agreement giving them the copyright or you signed a "Work For Hire" agreement, you own the copyright. It sounds backwards, but the contractor owns the idea even if he/she got paid to do it.

Just my experience, but I AM NOT A LAWYER.

In a nutshell, unless you signed an agreement giving them the copyright or you signed a "Work For Hire" agreement, you own the copyright. It sounds backwards, but the contractor owns the idea even if you got paid to do it.

Just my experience, but I AM NOT A LAWYER.

You probably have the right to develop again and resell it. You seem to have the pastor's permission which is good. You shouldn't do it behind their back. You may want to consider offering them some sort of additional payment if they agree to continue to test and provide leads for you.

Your owner does not own the idea. I would move forward. The worst case is that you will get sued dont the line (not likely), and that they would be looking for a settlement. I would not look into a join venture. I would simply re -create the service with multiple clients in mind. Finding a church marketing list is very easy to do. Marketing to churches is also easy to do as compared to other business groups.

I wish you the best of luck.