My employer's "opening bid" was that they owned everything I did, including the letters I write to my granny. I edited the contract to replace that with something reasonable - that they owned what I did on their time and anything else I did which was *directly* applicable to my job. That's the last I heard about it, and I am assured by one of my union's tame landsharks that because they have been paying me for the last several months, that constitutes acceptance of my revised contract. At the same time, I also excised a couple of other 'orrible clauses from the contract too, such as giving up my rights under the EU Working Hours Directive. I'm glad I could call on my union for help. Everyone else should join a union too for the same reasons.