4 ms·

Agreed with 'have a contract' and I see your point. But I would never ever hire a contractor on such terms. Never. No company in their right mind would put t

Agreed with 'have a contract' and I see your point. But I would never ever hire a contractor on such terms. Never. No company in their right mind would put their IP at risk due to some fuzzy contractual language - and it's always fuzzy, subject to interpretation. The contract could conceivably be 'interpreted' as 'all the companies IP' and all it takes is an angry contractor who is pissed and thinks he can make zillions $ to make your life hell. Personally - I've only had good experiences, but I take a different approach. I just withold milestone delivery until I get paid, until I sense the credibility of the institution. There have been a few comments such as 'I will take down your site if you don't pay' etc. - this is a reflection of the power that the contractor has, and it implies something more than legal leverage, really. Also - the moment I whiffed there was going to be a 'non payment scenario' - I'm out. If you're getting paid often enough, at least your losses are limited.

camkego 10y ago
So let me see if I have this straight, your agreement assigns the IP rights from the get-go, but you don't actually deliver the IP until each milestone is paid? Seems so simple that it seems to good to be true.
- edblarney 10y ago
  Essentially yes. Any smart employer will make sure that 'whatever you do belongs to us' from a contractual perspective. That's going to be important to them, and it's common. I wouldn't even suggest otherwise. But usually I send in an invoice as the first milestone is done (usually there is enough conversation/back-forth for them to know the milestone effectively done - or like a web-demo or something), and softly hint that I'll send in the deliverable (i.e. code and assets) when it's paid. There's no way a company can take you to task for code what you have written, wherein you have not been paid. Even if they did - it would be a long, expensive process and would be a huge distraction from whatever it is they are trying to do. The pragmatic reality of 'you get the milestone for payment' trumps any kind of legal contextually - if they want to move forward they need to pay, it speaks right to the operational reality of their bottom line. But lucky enough, I've never had a problem.
vidarh 10y ago
Without a contract, said companys IP is at risk because of an even fuzzier agreement that is not clearly documented. If a company is worried that the terms of an actual stated, signed contract are too fuzzy, they should be far more worried about not having one.

camkego 10y ago

So let me see if I have this straight, your agreement assigns the IP rights from the get-go, but you don't actually deliver the IP until each milestone is paid? Seems so simple that it seems to good to be true.

edblarney 10y ago
Essentially yes. Any smart employer will make sure that 'whatever you do belongs to us' from a contractual perspective. That's going to be important to them, and it's common. I wouldn't even suggest otherwise. But usually I send in an invoice as the first milestone is done (usually there is enough conversation/back-forth for them to know the milestone effectively done - or like a web-demo or something), and softly hint that I'll send in the deliverable (i.e. code and assets) when it's paid. There's no way a company can take you to task for code what you have written, wherein you have not been paid. Even if they did - it would be a long, expensive process and would be a huge distraction from whatever it is they are trying to do. The pragmatic reality of 'you get the milestone for payment' trumps any kind of legal contextually - if they want to move forward they need to pay, it speaks right to the operational reality of their bottom line. But lucky enough, I've never had a problem.

vidarh 10y ago

Without a contract, said companys IP is at risk because of an even fuzzier agreement that is not clearly documented. If a company is worried that the terms of an actual stated, signed contract are too fuzzy, they should be far more worried about not having one.