The law here is the same, the author has the copyright unless he specifically assigns it to someone else.
That wouldn't prevent client A from being unhappy if they had been under the impression that they owned the rights by default, however. a. We always stated specifically, in our standard client agreement, that the copyright was ours by default, and that we reserved the right to incorporate all or part of it in work for other clients (so long as Client A's privacy and trade secrets were preserved). That's fair, because A's project includes code originally written for others. b. Legality notwithstanding, it's only fair to let A know that you will be marketing a product based on some of what you did for him. He may or may not be happy about it, but he'll be a lot less happy if he finds out some other way. We've done this a couple of times, and it worked out fine. Bottom line: keep everything transparent. Dan Covill San Diego On 5/7/2011 1:43 PM, Thierry Nivelet wrote: > Don't about US laws, in France author keeps his rights even if he grants a > licence for adaptation, distribution and/or presentation of his work. > > Thierry Nivelet > +33 6 08 82 44 63 > > > Le 7 mai 2011 à 20:38, Mike Copeland<[email protected]> a écrit : > >> Just wondering what everyone thinks about this scenario...the ethics >> involved...the legality. >> >> 1. Client contacts developer and wants a very specific solution in >> software. >> 2. Developer charges client for work as it is, essentially work for hire. >> 3. Client pays, everyone happy. >> >> Fast forward 6 months... >> Developer decides that the solution written for the client 6 months ago >> would be useful in developer's software program that has a much larger >> scope of functionality, so the code, with a few tweaks, is incorporated. >> This larger-scope program is sold to multiple customers of the developer. >> >> Question(s) >> Does this situation cause any problems...ethical, legal, other...for the >> developer? >> Specifically, does the above scenario expose the developer to any claims >> by the previous client? >> Is this scenario murky enough to investigate with legal counsel, or is >> it open and shut (been there done that)? >> Is the above "potential problem" avoidable by simply having a written >> agreement in place pre-development that clarifies that the client gets >> the solution, but the developer retains the right to reuse the code? >> _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
