[consulting] copyright policies

[Kevin Amerson]

Does the non-compete cover this scenario?

Client A pays you for a solution to problem A that directly ties to their
business.  You retain the ability to reuse the code as you stated.

Client B is a direct competitor to Client A and comes to you for a solution
to the same problem.

You gladly hand them the same code tailored to them.

Who is competing with who?  In essence, Client A just paid to help out their
competitor, Client B.

I was a consultant for over 4 years and never under any circumstances would
we be allowed to reuse a solution built for one client for another client.
We were expensive, however, the client kept everything always.

On Jan 24, 2008 10:28 AM, Bill Fitzgerald <bill at funnymonkey.com> wrote:

> Hello, Robert,
>
> We have a developer's agreement that we have clients sign as part of the
> process of starting a job. In that, we clearly identify who gets what.
>
> A quick breakdown (and as we are a US company, this is based on US law
> -- our lawyers are familiar with Open Source law, and actually do some
> work with the OSL) -- Our goal was to ensure that the code we wrote
> would always be available to us to reuse, and would always be
> released/covered under the GPL:
>
> Client's pre-existing IP remains their property.
> Our pre-existing IP remains our property.
> Project IP (ie, any solutions derived as a direct result of the work)
> belong to the client.
> Any code that executes the Project IP belongs to the client, as it is
> work for hire.
> Any code we develop for a client, while remaining the property of the
> client, is licensed back to us for re-use in perpetuity. Our contract
> also has a non-compete clause, so that we can't set up (or become)
> competitors to our clients. It seems obvious, but some clients are
> actually worried about that :)
> Any code we develop is also licensed under the GPL, and we usually
> negotiate the mechanics of the release with the client.
>
> When our lawyers first generated this, it seemed overly elaborate to me,
> but it gets the job done, as we are never in a situation where we can't
> access our own work.
>
> WRT "Are you having similar conflicts with the businesses hiring you as
> developers and their copyright policies?" -- we have had situations in
> the past where people have balked at developing GPL code. For us, it was
> a clear flag that the client might not be the best fit for us, and I
> communicated that very clearly to the client.
>
> Good luck -- it's a sticky issue for some people, particularly those who
> are unfamiliar with the benefits of working in an Open Source ecosystem.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bill
>
> Robert Garrigós Castro wrote:
> > I'm having a bit of an issue with a new employer on the copyright of
> > the code I will write for them and I wonder what copyright policies
> > other freelance drupal developers have.
> >
> > I tend to ask to keep authorship of the code and have my name into the
> > code as the author, although I yield all other rights to the employer.
> > Is this a normal procedure for anybody else? Are you having similar
> > conflicts with the businesses hiring you as developers and their
> > copyright policies?
> >
> > --
> >
> > Robert Garrigós
> > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> > Pàgina professional / /Professional web page/
> > http://garrigos.cat
> >
> > drupal punt cat: Grup d'Usuaris de Drupal en Català
> > http://drupal.cat <http://www.drupal.cat>
> > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> >
> > P * Si no és necessari, no imprimeixis aquest correu.*
> >
> >
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>
>
> --
> Bill Fitzgerald
> http://www.funnymonkey.com
> Tools for Teachers
> 503.897.7160
>
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