Linux Format forums

[jack_spratt]

I'm a web developer, I have written new applications from scratch. I am self employed, and have a SLA (service level agreement) with a company to guarantee my rates and work for a limited time.

I've never been an employee, and ownership of the code that I write has never been discussed.

So, who owns the code that I've written? I assume that its me as I'm a contractor and have never given up rights to the code in any kind of agreement.

Is it safe to assume that the code is mine?

If appropriate, please refer me to somewhere more suited to this kind of question.

[MartyBartfast]

[jack_spratt]

Thanks, some good points.

Regarding the testing: that's a good point, and whilst I think that I could argue that they were testing it because it was being deployed for the specific circumstances of their business, it may prove controversial in court.

Also, could you recommend a firm to use to get advice on this sort of thing? Ever got professional advice yourself on a matter like this?

[johnhudson]

The default legal assumption is that the code belongs to you unless you wrote it in the course of your employment; if you are self-employed and a contractor pays you for some code, the default assumption is that whatever code you wrote which was entirely original and written for the purpose of fulfilling the contract belongs to them because they have been paying you for your output.

This can cause problems if you reuse code written for one contractor in a different contract for another contractor.

Some employers have standard clauses covering these situations as do some contractors. But, in the absence of any clauses, you can insert a clause in your tender which sets out ownership of the code.

Not being a programmer I have never done this for code but I came across a very useful formulation when I tendered for some work with the Home Office some years ago which involved producing documentation, namely, the precise text provided would be the copyright of the contractor but I would be at liberty to use the ideas in other contracts.

I have adapted that to most subsequent contracts and not had any problems.

However, legal advice would almost certainly not come amiss in circumstances like these.

[MartyBartfast]

[AndyBaxman]

I would have to agree with MartyBartfast.

If you are writing software for someone and the contract does not explicitly state the the IP remains with you then the customer will have a good case to claim that the IP is theirs.

This isn't a question of employment. I work for a small ISV, so any code I write in their time does not belong to me, but that doesn't mean it belongs to them, either.

Most of the software we write is bespoke, the IP of that software belongs to the customer and we provide the customer with full source code. We do, however, place a term in our contracts to the effect that while the IP of the code belongs to the customer we retain the right to reuse elements of it in other projects.

OTOH, If we write code as part of a service we provide and maintain whether we retain IP or not (or share it) is down to contract negotiations. For retail software we, obviously, retain IP.

Software I write in my own time is my IP though, obviously, there are terms in my contract that prevent me from using my position in the company to my advantage in that respect.
_________________
Bomb #20: "Let there be light"

[graemef]

I assume that from your question your contracts didn't specify one way or the other.

Did you put any license information in the source code?

If so I would suspect that the license would take precedence (assuming any lack of stipulation in the contract).

If not did you use any code that anyone else had developed? (such as third party frameworks). Check out their license.

Did you use code that you developed (for an earlier project) but were reusing (for this one)?

What additional resources did the client provide. Design, Code, Testing?

[AndyBaxman]

[ollie]

[jack_spratt]

Hmm, it does seem that there are several issues here.

I've opted to consult with http://www.egos.co.uk/ - apparently specialists in IT and IP.

The project does use some code that I had previously written, and the whole project it is written in such a way as to be portable and redeployable.

There has been no discussion whatsoever, much less written agreement about any kind of IP ownership.

The client has provided testing (not as much as I have), but I don't see how that in itself gives them rights - I have still not agreed to hand over ownership, and testing would always be required for a specific deployment of software that I'd written.

There is no third party code in use except things like lightbox 2, jquery, and a few FOSS items like that, but they will all count as plugins I think and therefore not affect the license of the code in question.

I haven't added any copyright notice to the files yet, but I will do so now, in case that makes a difference.

Thanks for all your input!

[ollie]

[nelz]

[ollie]

[AndyBaxman]

[AndyBaxman]