Hi guys,
I think, (and I haven't had any issues like this as I haven't done freelance/web work in a long time!) your problem is that this is a SUBSEQUENT maintenance stage. You have already deployed the original software to the clients server, so they feel that if they didn't ask for the maintenance, then you don't have the "right" to do it. I think you should follow the closed source application software model in these cases, where with normal closed source apps, you pay an initial amount to have the software, then a yearly maintenance contract amount which gives the client updates as well as tech support. Then if the client chooses not to take the maintenance, it is their prerogative, and if there is a subsequent security issue, you are covered as well, as you offered them the maintenance contract they declined. You can point out that with open source software there is no need to pay the initial amount to "own" the software, and what you are paying for is your skills and time to install and customise the software to their liking. So they are still saving some money overall. Vivian From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jochen Daum Sent: Monday, 27 July 2009 10:48 AM To: PHPUG Subject: [phpug] [OT] legal: retain ownership of code until paid and open source licence Hi all, I'm looking for experiences with the following problem: we're distributing most of our code under open source licences to clients and I wonder if anyone has had experiences with the following scenario: - Project get developed and delivered under open source licence to client on clients server - Later, a round of maintenance is developed and rolled out to the clients staging server. - Clients disputes nature of maintenance request and withholds payment Now, normally we have a clause in our contract that we withhold the licence of source code until it is paid. I found a similar clause in Egressive's contract here: http://www.phpug.org.nz/index.php/Business_Terms_and_Conditions and our own contract has pretty much an identical clause: "3.1 The Supplier, subject to payment in full of all owing, grants the Purchaser a non-exclusive licence in respect of all pre-existing material of the Supplier, which comprises the Agreement Type upon completion of The Project , ..." But after completion of the maintenance we would have distributed open source code already? Do I need to keep code on my own staging server at all times to get around this? Kind Regards, Jochen Daum Chief Automation Officer Automatem Ltd Phone: 09 630 3425 Mobile: 021 567 853 Email: [email protected] Skype: jochendaum Website: www.automatem.co.nz http://twitter.com/automatem http://www.xing.com/go/invite/3425509.181107 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
