The author explains how analyzing and presenting data was worth millions of dollars. The author documents how a senior executive instructed him to write excel. It is clearly their core business. Also, and this comes back to the fantasy/denial/wishful-thinking aspect here, neither I nor the law says core business. That's a word that you added. If you did it as part of your job, then it is, by definition, part of their business.

I am also nearly 100% certain we can look back at this comment in 20 years and find nothing happened, but only because nobody will take this code and make a billion dollar business. If they did, I guarantee there would be a law suit.

> neither I nor the law says core business

That’s just factually false. You specifically wrote:

> Even in California the "I wrote it on my own time" doesn't apply to software that relates to an employer's ***core*** business.

You can’t complain about people being “wishful” or in “denial” when they are quoting you.

Maybe California law is silent in the topic, but Aeolus wasn’t the person who introduced that specific phrase.

Oh that’s embarrassing. I did. Apologies. I was wrong to write “core” and wrong to complain when you did it.

Eh, it happens. No worries

Excel is not their före business. That executive knows nothing. This is an example why you need product managers and engineers don't talk to users.

Literally today I was in a fireside chat where the speaker told us the IP law department at a previous employer brought in a couple billions in revenue by suing for infringement.

Sure, but they weren’t sueing a rock.

Getting a judgement against an individual is vanishingly unlikely to result in any profits.

Probably even more pertinent, in my last job, I worked with a guy who got sued for taking the source code with him.

https://unicourt.com/case/pc-db5-better-holdco-inc-et-al-v-d...