[nycphp-talk] Ownership of Code
Ken Downs
ken at secdat.com
Sat Jan 13 16:56:30 EST 2007
tedd <tedd at sperling.com> wrote: > > Do you see the common thread
here? There are things you have control > over and there are things that
you don't -- and, you don't have much > control over the net. So, if
you're going to work on the net, then > stop worrying about your code,
let clients do what they want (in most > cases they don't know anyway),
and get on with your life. > > Sure, you can (and should) address the
ownership aspect of your work > product in your contracts, but realize
that it's nearly a moot point > when it comes to enforceability. >
Tedd, overall well put, but I would add one more detail. Sometimes its
not about enforceability but about expectations. A contract, like a
lock, only keeps honest people honest. But just as a lock says,
"you need permission to enter here", a contract stating ownership
of code indicates to the customer what kind of relationship you expect.
I can think of two cases where this came in very handy for me. In one
case the client objected strongly to a clause in my contract, which hit to
the very base of how I worked. Ultimately I had to let that one go, as
i figured he'd be an unprofitable customer. But what if the contract
had not raised this point, we went forward, and then discovered how far apart
we were in expectations?In a similar case the contract caused my client to ask
a lot of detailed questions that gave us a better understanding of each
other's position, and we have worked well together.
_________________________________________________________
This mail sent using V-webmail - http://www.v-webmail.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nyphp.org/pipermail/talk/attachments/20070113/e8260b24/attachment.html>
More information about the talk
mailing list