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This is just an ad for a law firm. You should always be clear who gets what when you freelance or when you hire freelancers. Any legal "default" would fail to

This is just an ad for a law firm. You should always be clear who gets what when you freelance or when you hire freelancers. Any legal "default" would fail to capture the subtleties. For example, who owns the copyright to my "library code" when I use it in your project? I always prefer to specify something like a BSD license to the code. That means that it doesn't matter who owns the copyright - we both get to do anything we want with the code. If the client wants exclusivity, then we explicitly agree that he gets 100% ownership of the code that was written just for him, and the remainder is BSD licensed. None of this is hard, and none of it requires a lawyer.

hga 16y ago
"This is just an ad for a law firm." Perhaps, but this is probably the single most important bit of unique to software development legal advice there is. (Can anyone think of something else that's more important? Not counting the usual stuff that applies to all companies.) And you're right, it's neither hard nor requires a lawyer, but you must know about it and do the right thing, otherwise the person you hire owns the code he writes.
anigbrowl 16y ago
It is sort of an ad, but a useful one. I disagree about none of it being hard; there are a lot of potential pitfalls, and disputes may arise not just between client and provider, but between either of them and the labor or taxation authorities. For example, A hires B to develop software tools for A's business, which takes 3 months of full-time work, during which B does not service any other clients. B gets paid and assigns all his interest in the code to A and both walk away happy. A year later B goes bankrupt or is involved in a messy divorce, and a court takes control of his assets. In the course of assessing B's financial position, they find the transaction with A was equivalent to employment, and that B's financial position would be better if it had been treated as such for the 3 months, which would in turn have made more funds available for B's alimony or creditors. A may be asked to make good on additional obligations that would have been payable to or on behalf of B, if B had been classified as an employee (social security payments or suchlike). Even if both parties agreed that B was an independent contractor, a court could invalidate that agreement on the basis that statutory obligations of employers took precedence and hold A liable for failing to meet those obligations. Or that A's payment to B was far below reasonable market rates, and the administrator of B's trust/estate/whatever may seek equitable relief from A. Or... This is hypothetical of course, but not so far away from some real cases. And as far as copyright is concerned, disputes can and do arise after the fact, and an agreement that looked beautifully simple during friendship is interpreted differently under acrimonious circumstances. I was involved in a case like that last year as a witness, where a dispute arose between client and vendor relating to payment and delivery, the client sued the vendor and was counter-sued in turn, and the paperwork between them turned out to have holes big enough to drive a truck through. After a second visit to court yielded no result other than the parties threatening further legal action against each other (though mainly out of bravado rather than serious intent), I documented, copied, and quickly severed my relationship with both of them, feeling that no good could come of it. Not fun.

hga 16y ago

"This is just an ad for a law firm." Perhaps, but this is probably the single most important bit of unique to software development legal advice there is. (Can anyone think of something else that's more important? Not counting the usual stuff that applies to all companies.) And you're right, it's neither hard nor requires a lawyer, but you must know about it and do the right thing, otherwise the person you hire owns the code he writes.

anigbrowl 16y ago

It is sort of an ad, but a useful one. I disagree about none of it being hard; there are a lot of potential pitfalls, and disputes may arise not just between client and provider, but between either of them and the labor or taxation authorities. For example, A hires B to develop software tools for A's business, which takes 3 months of full-time work, during which B does not service any other clients. B gets paid and assigns all his interest in the code to A and both walk away happy. A year later B goes bankrupt or is involved in a messy divorce, and a court takes control of his assets. In the course of assessing B's financial position, they find the transaction with A was equivalent to employment, and that B's financial position would be better if it had been treated as such for the 3 months, which would in turn have made more funds available for B's alimony or creditors. A may be asked to make good on additional obligations that would have been payable to or on behalf of B, if B had been classified as an employee (social security payments or suchlike). Even if both parties agreed that B was an independent contractor, a court could invalidate that agreement on the basis that statutory obligations of employers took precedence and hold A liable for failing to meet those obligations. Or that A's payment to B was far below reasonable market rates, and the administrator of B's trust/estate/whatever may seek equitable relief from A. Or... This is hypothetical of course, but not so far away from some real cases. And as far as copyright is concerned, disputes can and do arise after the fact, and an agreement that looked beautifully simple during friendship is interpreted differently under acrimonious circumstances. I was involved in a case like that last year as a witness, where a dispute arose between client and vendor relating to payment and delivery, the client sued the vendor and was counter-sued in turn, and the paperwork between them turned out to have holes big enough to drive a truck through. After a second visit to court yielded no result other than the parties threatening further legal action against each other (though mainly out of bravado rather than serious intent), I documented, copied, and quickly severed my relationship with both of them, feeling that no good could come of it. Not fun.