I couldn't disagree with this more. Never call someone up and ask them what your rights are with respect to intellectual property. How do you think the client i

I couldn't disagree with this more. Never call someone up and ask them what your rights are with respect to intellectual property. How do you think the client is going to view it? Many clients assume ownership of intellectual property, simply because they don't understand it. By calling them and asking them, you're transferring the judgement to them. Consider that many people view code like they do any thing else they buy. If I pay someone to construct a building for me, I assume that I own the building when it is completed. But do I own the rights to the design (plans) for the building? This question is far less clear unless defined in a contract. Rather, a better strategy would be to talk to a legal professional who understands the law in this area. Because the contract did not spell out who will "own" the code, he (the author) must gain an understanding of the legal perspective in these situations before he squanders his opportunity to reuse the code. Even if the conversation with the client resulted in their agreement that the bherms can do whatever he likes with the code, that doesn't clear up the legal issue. What happens a few years from now when this charity is under different leadership and they notice the similarity between their management system and the one that sells for $30/month from whatever business bherms starts? Talk to someone who knows these answers before you proceed. Nothing is worse than putting years of effort in to something, only to have it dismantled by something from your past that you could have taken care of easily.