copyright on software

[evilswan]

Hello, I hope you can help me. A customer asked me to develop a web-based customer management system for his IT services business. The system would allow calls, assets, etc to be logged so he can run his business more effectively. I was having a progress meeting and I mentioned that I was planning to licence the software to him, to grant him the ability to run the system, but not to own the system and re sell it. He clearly wants to re-sell the system and is now talking about getting me to sign a 50-50 ownership agreement of the system so that we will both make money if he resells the system. I know that under copyright law I developed the system and own it, but it was his idea. For this reason he thinks it would be unfair of me to sell it to another customer on my own and keep the profit. However by this logic, if I was ever to again make a call management system similar he could claim that was his idea!? My question is really this: if I tell him no and he refuses to pay, and then I find and market this system to another company, would I be in legal trouble? This is crazy!? I made the system myself, surely I can sell/licence it to whoever I like, regardless of who told me to make it. If I said to NASA, go make a matter transporter, and 20 years later they do, I wouldn't have a claim on that would i? Hope you can help, I tried reading your website, but couldn't really find an answer to this there. I lack the legal knowledge.

[NickleArse]

See a solicitor!!

[j2buttonsw]

I'm no legal expert but I was under the impression you could only copywrite the coding. Thus, however unethical it was to steal his idea and write a program around it, unless he has written the program first, he has no legal rights to it.

[rekstout]

The crux of this matter would be the capacity you were engaged by this person to develop software - I presume you had no contract in place to do this. If you were employed by this person then the IPR on anything you developed would be owned by that person/company. If you agreed a price to deliver a piece of software which you developed on your hardware then you own the IPR and the issue or reselling rights becomes a matter of contract/licensing agreement. The issue of copyrighting/patenting a concept or process is a little more grey but - particularly in the software world - it is difficult to do. Short answer - see a solicitor or the CAB.

[lisaj]

I agree with rekstout. Unless there's a contract in place or another document that can prove he gave you the idea he has no claim. I actually had the same idea a few years back but there was much confusion with a few other bodies and some marketing... do I now claim IPR from you? No, and that's because there's no proof that I thought of the idea before you, gave you the idea and you stole it, or that you caused me financial loss by that theft. His claims are useless in court unless backed by irefutable proof, and if he's worth his salt he'll be trying to register his IPR with a solicitor ahead of you - in which can go to a solictor's office and get them to time stamp and store a document for you that proves your ownership of the concept before he can. However, above all this, I should tell you that this isn't a unique product and it already exists in many organisations - it's not actually a concept that either of you have ever owned so tell him where to go :-) He also sounds just like a person I contract for... I'd LOVE to know if it's the same person!!!

[Mintox]

If you use this persons PC / Software that he bought you to make it then I thik he has a say. But if you were brought in from the outside to make this - Do all the work on your own pc with your bought software its yours. It seems the reason he went for the 50/50 deal is he knows its not his so rather than take it all he wants to appear to offer a deal and make some money for both. But talk to a solicitor. Or quit, go to some one else, and sell it to them :D

[Ricky martin]

Hi friend!
Here is a link I suggest you which is all about contract management software - Its features, its benefits.etc.
And I hope this will help you a lot

Contract Management software