OT: Who owns your code?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Satchell
  • Start date Start date
D

Dave Satchell

I am a consultant and I have a client that wants me to
design them a custom application with Access and VB.Net

I was wondering what the standard is for this kind of
case as to who would own the code and the reasoning as to
why?

Thanx, Dave.
 
Everything is negotiable. Having said that it is pretty common that if they
hire you to build something for them, then they own it when it's done. If
they buy a pre-created solution from you (a compiled component say), then
you own the code and they are buying a license to use it.
 
The contract should control who owns the code, but a
custom-developed application usually belongs to the
customer/client. For this reason (among others), a
developer will normally charge more for a custom
solution. If there is a significant amount of time or
money involved in the project, I would advise having an
attorney with experience in this area help with drafting
the contract.
 
Mike Kirros said:
The contract should control who owns the code, but a
custom-developed application usually belongs to the
customer/client.
Click to expand...

Define belong. In Canada, the US and Britain, as far as I know, the
copyright is retained by the developer. Unless you're an employee in
which case your employer owns it.
If there is a significant amount of time or
money involved in the project, I would advise having an
attorney with experience in this area help with drafting
the contract.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that.

Tony

--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
 
The contract should control who owns the code, but a
Define belong. In Canada, the US and Britain, as far as I know, the
copyright is retained by the developer. Unless you're an employee in
which case your employer owns it.
Click to expand...

Well no, not really. If there is a contract agreement for the company to
purchase the software, it usually includes a clause that explicitly states
that the software and ALL rights to it become the property of the purchaser.
 
Scott M. said:
Well no, not really. If there is a contract agreement for the company to
purchase the software, it usually includes a clause that explicitly states
that the software and ALL rights to it become the property of the purchaser.
Click to expand...

You're right. I should've prefixed it by "Unless explicitly stated
otherwise in a contract."

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
 
We had an excellent presentation at the Pacific Northwest Access Developer's Group (PNWADG.org)
meeting, on 2/17/2004 with Tom Howe, as our guest speaker. His topic was titled "The Business
Side of Computer Consulting". He is an attorney based in Portland, Oregon, but he stated that he
does more coding work than he does legal work. He offered a bunch of Word documents from his web
site for free. The link is: http://www.controlcenter.com/frmFreecode.aspx

Select "Consulting" from the Type dropdown (not the left margin). You should see two downloads.
The first one, titled "The Business Side of Software Development (Samples).zip" includes several
documents in Word format, which are valid in Washington and Oregon. Your mileage may vary for
other states or countries, and he advises that you run any contracts by your own attorney.

The Word document named "68.doc" includes a discussion of ownership rights in section 5 on page
2. It also covers the distinction between an employee and a contractor. Mr. Howe pointed out
that it is very important it is to include the term "nonexclusive", if you, as the consultant
want to retain ownership rights. Here is an example:

Customer License. Effective upon completion of the services set forth in Exhibit "A" attached
hereto and payment in full by Customer of the fees and expenses invoiced by Consultant with
respect thereto, Customer shall have a nonexclusive license to use the Software in
machine-readable form throughout Customer's organization.


He stated that the use of the term "nonexclusive" is what allowed Bill Gates to earn so much
money back in the early days of Microsoft with DOS. Without that single word in his contracts,
Microsoft would not be the corporation it is today, according to Mr. Howe.

Tom
_________________________________________

Mike Kirros said:
The contract should control who owns the code, but a
custom-developed application usually belongs to the
customer/client.
Click to expand...

Define belong. In Canada, the US and Britain, as far as I know, the
copyright is retained by the developer. Unless you're an employee in
which case your employer owns it.
If there is a significant amount of time or
money involved in the project, I would advise having an
attorney with experience in this area help with drafting
the contract.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that.

Tony

--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
 
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