Don't Think Now

Large corporations demand varying manifestations of loyalty from their employees, sometimes for fairly arcane reasons. Last week John Leonard, editor of the New York Times Book Review, stood eyeball to eyeball with CBS on the issue. Writing in his periodic column for the Book Review, Leonard looked askance at a personnel agreement that all CBS employees are required to sign. The employee must agree that "any 'Idea' (a writing, discovery, invention, design or intellectual or artistic property or creation of any kind or nature) which relates to or is suggested by my work for you and which is conceived or created by me while I am employed by you, whether or not during working hours or alone or jointly with others, shall be promptly disclosed to you and shall become your sole property."

In other words, quipped Leonard, "If you want to spend your weekends writing a novel about corporate megalomania, CBS owns it." Confessed one flustered CBS executive: "It's legalistic and jargonistic. It'll be made more agreeable, but we have to protect trade secrets." Like lonely ideas, perhaps.

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