The Memo

The daily grind was slightly more interesting then usual today. Not that anything truly unusual happened, mind you. But one of the vast blind things that swim in the corporate sea surfaced and blinked at us all. (Would a blind thing blink? Would it even have eyes? Quit picking on my metaphors.) At any rate it surfaced and handed us a Memo.

In violation of corporate policy and certain of my anonymity I will post it on the web. It’s not exactly the sort of gripping stuff that’s going to get me fired even if they did find me out.

On Intellectual Property:

Like all firms employing magic has the greatest respect for the intellectual property represented by the spells we work with. We are also committed to the expansion of the sum total of human magical knowledge. Remember as per the intellectual property agreement you signed when you began working here (Employee Handbook Section 12.5.27B) you retain full rights to any new magical discoveries or inventions you should create during uncompensated time, on non-corporate projects, and without the use of corporate resources (except where otherwise expressly prohibited).

However, such magical work MAY NOT be perused via the use of corporate resources. Employees of SOULLESS INC. never obtain usage rights to magical Intellectual Property held or leased by SOULLESS. Magical IP not for personal use, and individuals using spells in any way not explicitly allowed by corporate policy will be considered in full violation of Magical IP law.

Unauthorized use, sale, dissemination, or experimentation with Magical IP carries with it possible penalties of: fine equal to 100,000 dollars per incident plus actual damages to the holder of the IP, jail terms upon failure to pay the fine until the fine is paid, conventional arrest warrants issued against the violator, and IP bounty warrants issued against the violator. Enforcement of the IP statutes is a serious concern at all levels of SOULLESS and we will work closely with all state, local, and private IP enforcement agencies to assure violators are caught and punished. Rewards may be available to those who have information leading to the capture or conviction of IP violators.

The memo is, or course, standard boilerplate. But why did they choose to remind us now. I must admit seeing it gave me the willies because I’ve sort of fooled around with the quantum alignment spell. But I haven't I’ve done could get me in trouble.

Fore one thing, I haven't cast quantum alignment. I’ve mostly been casting worthless spells that are vaguely related to quantum alignment. I’ve also come close to casting a few spells that are in use, but the IP laws are pretty clear. You can cast a spell you don't own 'without completion' provided you didn’t realize the spell was copy written before you cast it, and you aren’t attempting to make a profit by casting it.

I think somebody is out there is using quantum alignment on their own in order to make money. And that, my friends, is heap big dumb. It would also explain why work has been so hard lately. I hope they catch the jerk doing this, because he’s the one giving me all these migraines.