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>>In my Considered Opinion and Working Experience, if you (as an employee or contractor) sign an agreement which states that any and all code written for the company is sole property of the company (or something like that), you cannot take a physical copy of it. (Ideas and thoughts are a grey area). I've worked for several companies that required me to sign such agreements. Things that I look for are:
>> Does the company own the Intellectual rights?
>>That the agreement is only binding from the date signed to the last day of paid work.
>>That outside code is exempt from the agreement.
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>>Craig Berntson stated (I believe) that the agreement is only binding if signed at the begining and end of work but in my experience that is not true. Laws vary from state to state. The best answer is to have a lawyer (Specializing inComputer Contracts) look at the agreement PRIOR to signing it. The agreements are drawn up by company lawyers so they favor the company. If you don't like the agreement, have it changed and get the company rep to agree to it and sign it.
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>> Free Legal Advice (Even from a Lawyer) is worth every Penny you Paid for it.
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>Copyright law is federal law and is the same in every state. I've discussed with a computer copyright atty and I briefly stated what he told me.

If the product/code has a Copyright filed on it, than that changes everything. I have had only one company file for a copyright and that was part of filing for a patient.