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Honestly, and IANAL, but I would never do a handshake agreement when it comes to code. Paying several hundred now for an attorney will be worth it if something

Honestly, and IANAL, but I would never do a handshake agreement when it comes to code. Paying several hundred now for an attorney will be worth it if something happens to go wrong. You are only protecting yourself. Even a simple agreement, reviewed by an attorney, is better than just grabbing something off the internet and hoping it works for your situation. It's all fine till a year from now when you hear about them redistributing your code, then you are out thousands of dollars to try and defend a handshake agreement, where it is your word against theirs. Or worse, a year from now when someone from their company says you are violating the agreement and they go after you.

alelordelo 11y ago
Thanks Jeff! But isn't there an existing open source license model that contemplate this case? Involving lawyers would surely kill the project, as the developer of the company already mentioned...
- jeffmould 11y ago
  You can probably find a software license fairly easy on Google or try RocketLawyer. I can't emphasize enough though, to have an attorney review anything prior to signing. A few hundred now, can save you thousands down the road. It sounds like the company you are trying to work with knows this and is insisting on a licensing agreement. Why not have them write up an agreement, and you pay an attorney to review it for you. That shouldn't cost you more than several hundred dollars. I am not sure I understand why you think it will "kill the project". There are really only two reasons you would think that. First is you are afraid of the cost, and any cost alone would kill the project. The other reason is that the type of project and agreement is so confusing and one-off that any formal agreement is impossible, in which case I would seriously reconsider the project itself.
  - alelordelo 11y ago
    jeff, sorry if I didn't make myself clear... The company itself don't want to go bureaucratic and involve lawyers into this. They want something like a standard open source license, were we can just copy and paste into a file on a Github private repo.
    - jeffmould 11y ago
      Got ya. Without knowing all the details, it really sounds kind of shady not wanting to have a licensing agreement that is reviewed by attorneys. I would be a little skeptical.

alelordelo 11y ago

Thanks Jeff! But isn't there an existing open source license model that contemplate this case? Involving lawyers would surely kill the project, as the developer of the company already mentioned...

jeffmould 11y ago
You can probably find a software license fairly easy on Google or try RocketLawyer. I can't emphasize enough though, to have an attorney review anything prior to signing. A few hundred now, can save you thousands down the road. It sounds like the company you are trying to work with knows this and is insisting on a licensing agreement. Why not have them write up an agreement, and you pay an attorney to review it for you. That shouldn't cost you more than several hundred dollars. I am not sure I understand why you think it will "kill the project". There are really only two reasons you would think that. First is you are afraid of the cost, and any cost alone would kill the project. The other reason is that the type of project and agreement is so confusing and one-off that any formal agreement is impossible, in which case I would seriously reconsider the project itself.
- alelordelo 11y ago
  jeff, sorry if I didn't make myself clear... The company itself don't want to go bureaucratic and involve lawyers into this. They want something like a standard open source license, were we can just copy and paste into a file on a Github private repo.
  - jeffmould 11y ago
    Got ya. Without knowing all the details, it really sounds kind of shady not wanting to have a licensing agreement that is reviewed by attorneys. I would be a little skeptical.