Board index » delphi » Re: My client wants the source code

2006-02-04 05:46:27 AM
delphi228
the application.
Oliver Townshend
 

Hi,
In my country there is no strong law for programmers but if my client
need source code for latest develop work I teel him to by Delphi and
all other VCL and when he show all licence I give him the source for 8
- 10 times bigger price than application!
I have alny 3 clients that want source code with these condition!
P.S. For all small application 50 - 100 USD I put source into zip and
rename zip into xxx (some another format .bpk) and leave source into
some application directory to continue develop later!
These are ideas!!! ;o)
--
regards,
sasa mihajlovic
www.msdinfo.com
 

"Dan Barclay" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>writes
correct in the US.
As far as I can tell, hourly payment has no bearing on copyright. Being
told *what the application should do* has little bearing.
It comes down to: 1. are you an employee, 2. could you be legally *deemed*
an employee, 3. Are you working on a small part of a larger work, 4. Is it a
*Work for Hire*.
For a project to be considered a *Work for Hire*, their has to be a signed
agreement specifying exactly that.
Here's the real info: www.copyright.gov/circs/circ09.pdf
Here's an old thread on the same topic, Herbert Sitz (lawyer) is the expert:
tinyurl.com/7k4au
Here's general copyright stuff:
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
 

And true.
--
Martijn Tonies
Database Workbench - tool for InterBase, Firebird, MySQL, Oracle & MS SQL
Server
Upscene Productions
www.upscene.com
Database development questions? Check the forum!
www.databasedevelopmentforum.com
 

US citizen here and NOT a lawyer, but have read
quite a bit about copyright law - but AM STILL NOT
A LAWYER ... my reading of copyright law is similar
to what you describe Jeffrey. In fact, I think if
you are NOT an employee, then unless there is a
written agreement the software developer has the
copyright. I don't think being paid by-the-hour
has anything to do with it. Being an employee
clearly has something to do with it. I believe it
is a good rule of thumb to think of a photographer.
I a photographer, in a similar situation, owned the
negatives, then the software developer would own
the copyright to the source code. Maybe this does
not help but I just love analogies. And again,
I AM NOT A LAWYER AND DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE.
Ohhhh, one more thing ... that old saying
"possession is 9/10s of the law" is pertinent
with no written agreement, I think.
Bob
_______________________________
"Jeffrey Miller" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>wrote in
message news:43e3d8b5$XXXX@XXXXX.COM...

"TJC Support" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>writes
Both you and the customer made a mistake - you did not discuss source code
ownership. Some customers do not know about this issue and it costs them
dearly. Developers who are professional should talk about it before
starting.
Now that the mess exists, I recommend not screwing your customer. You won't
get a good reputation or repeat business or a good feeling by forcing the
customer to get the program rewritten by someone else. So decide to provide
the sourcecode at a fair price, and lower the price if you have to.
Would you have charged any differently if you knew you had to supply
sourcecode?
My policy is to quote for sourcecode to be provided for software written for
the needs of a specific business - stuff you couldn't sell generally, or
contains special knowledge of the customer. I supply the source when I
deliver each program release. What protects me is that I give fast, high
quality service so the customer does not want to go elsewhere, unless I need
to move on to other things.
Keeping ownership of the code is awful when a lazy or second rate programmer
uses it to keep milking a customer - a problem my employer is enduring right
now. Time or cost issues can force the customer keep going back for more
late delivered, crummy code just to stave off disaster.
Roger Lascelles
 

also I'd try to get a contract on maintenance an upgrading the software
 

what you intend to acheive (get the maximum $ from him now or maintain the
client relationship), what you think is fair, etc.
But if you want to put a maximum price on it, you could estimate how much it
would take him to hire someone to do the project again from scratch, and ask
for say 2/3 or 3/4 of this amount.
If you don't want to give him the code at all, figure out this amount and
then charge him 5 or 10 times the amount you calculated for the cost of
reproducing the code.
If you are happy to give him the code, then it could be anywhere from free
to the amount you calculated it would take him to get someone to develop it
again from scratch.
Hope this gives you some ideas . . .
Lauchlan M
 

Jeffrey,
I don't disagree with what you say. My point was to describe the difference
between work you own and work that was done for someone else as a hired
hand.
My own advice is to have a written agreement that spells it out. The advice
I've had before is that if you act like an employee, your work will be
treated like an employee's work. Ownership will be with the employer that
was telling you what to do (as they would their own programmer) and paying
you like they'd pay their own programmer. IF you go to civil court anything
can happen, as you know.
I've hired out work, and done it in a way that I would have worked it with an
employee. I *still* had the ownership spelled out in plain English.
Agreements are the key. Here's one I recently discussed with another
friend... he's being hired to *revise* a program already owned by another
company. In doing that he's going to be using some library code of his own
rather than write everything he needs from scratch. Hmmmm....
To use anything other than an agreement is to put yourself at risk of jury
interpretation, which depends mostly on who has the better story.
Dan
"Jeffrey Miller" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>wrote in
message news:43e3d8b5$XXXX@XXXXX.COM...

Gaspar writes:
a certain level of confidence, if 'the worst' should happen. As others
here say, if you have any plans of doing business with this customer
again, or with other customers they might talk to or influence, then it
pays to come to an *amicable* agreement.
But don't let good will get in the way of protecting yourself. When
you hand over the code, make sure certain things are clearly spelled
out to avoid future problems:
i/ who 'owns' the code and copyright.
ii/ what rights does the non-owner have for this code, other than
looking at it?
My guess is that you are selling this product to your customer as some
kind of 'site license' so they can run as many copies as they like. In
which case, they will probably want the right to make changes to the
code as they see fit *for internal use only*. You do not want them
sub-licensing your code, or re-selling your product in competition with
you.
In any event, you probably need to contact a real lawyer for advice at
some point, and to draw up the contract for you.
--
AlisdairM(TeamB)
 

Craig Stuntz [TeamB] writes:
out of escrow (and potentially much higher costs), even if you're
sure what's held in escrow is what you want.
I strongly advise my clients against escrow, except where it's
absolutely unavoidable.
Andrew
--
Andrew Gabb
email: XXXX@XXXXX.COM Adelaide, South Australia
phone: +61 8 8342-1021, fax: +61 8 8269-3280
-----
 

Rick Carter writes:
 

"Dan Barclay" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>writes
person that is in a project that is underway or completed.
This newsgroup (and its archive) is a valuable resource for many non-tech
topics. I googled this NG as a reference when I found myself in the middle
of a IP dispute with a client that I have had for 13 years. I found that
there are common misconceptions on the topic of IP. It seems people want to
apply *common sense* and assume it is the law. it is a good thing that I
consulted a lawyer and the US copyright website. So I guess I am on a mini
crusade to get good info out. I think the 2 main points are:
1. If you are an independent contractor software developer, in *nearly*
every case you automatically own the copyright to the software you create.
It doesn't matter who provided the high level design or if the payment
method is hourly.
2. I you are hiring an independent contract software developer, make sure
your signed written agreement uses the phrase *This is a Work for Hire*.
 

Rick Carter writes:
assume it to mean <
--
David Farrell-Garcia
Whidbey Island Software LLC
Posted with XanaNews 1.17.6.6
 

Gaspar writes:
do not want to depend on a one man company.
It gives them a good feeling, and they do come
back for changes. If they intend to proceed without me,
I got rid of a lot of work with meagre pay, also good.
Rene