[pauldix]

The primary point of my post was that the law doesn't actually matter in practice. Regardless of if your points 1 and 2 are demonstrably false (thus the person is protected by 2870), someone trying to commercialize a side project (or a project started immediately after quitting a full time job like Shred) may very well see it die because of an aggressive previous employer.

Thus my closer: when you are a full time employee, don't do side projects that you have ambitions to commercialize.

[7Figures2Commas]

The law absolutely matters in practice. Playing by the rules never guarantees that you won't be sued by a former employer, but contrary to what a lot of people here seem to believe, most employers don't make a habit of suing former employees for no reason when they have no evidence.

As I wrote, a lot of former employees who get caught up in these types of disputes make claims that they can't sustain through the discovery process because let's be honest: when you're working on a commercial side project that you're excited about, it's difficult to at some point not do some work (however minor) on it during working hours or using the resources of your employer.

Finally, if you take the time to read Smule's complaint against the Shred folks, you'll see that this isn't the case of an "aggressive" former employer. Smule presents a different version of events and appears to have some legitimate questions.