Re: Web site vs. Web designer

From: <JIMMOS[_at_]cliffy.polaroid.com>
Date: Sat, 07 Sep 1996 09:11 -0400 (EDT)

Duncan and ALL,

     This is very pertinent question to many of us, and I hope that anyone who has the knowledge can and will assist.

     I for one am going through something very similiar, where I have a client who has contracted me for a major development. Since begining, this client has filed chapter 11, and to date I have collected $0.00 (since March). I am also under a court order to continue development, one day per week, as without this application, this client is unable to process their orders, credit card and electronic check information. Now, this past Wed., this same client has called in a friend of mine to assist in filing Chapter 7, and closing, with the intention of re-opening and marketing this application.

     Who owns the application? According to oone of the lawyers, mine has brought in this is a very gray area, and will be very costly to persue. In light of the fact that they have filed Chapter 11, if I'm lucky, I'll get 10% of monies due. But since no money has changed hands, who is the owner of the application? Even if a portion of money is paid, does this make the client the owner of the application? The contract does not specify ownership, only the work to be completed and amounts.

Steve Jimmo
<jimmos[_at_]cliffy.polaroid.com>

---

Duncan McKeever <dmck[_at_]islandmm.com> wrote:
>
> Question: Due to the fact that no work-for-hire agreement was signed
> *before* the work was completed, is it possible for the designer to
> grant and the Web site owner to acquire full copyright ownership of the
> work completed?
>
> (Back to the first person)
>
> I am the Web site owner. This is an important issue because any of the
> graphics work I use may become an integral and recognized part of my Web
> site and marketing efforts in the future. Also, the replacement
> designer might integrate any new work with the work in question. I want
> to be sure that I own the work before I invest any more time and energy
> into using them on my site.
Received on Fri Sep 06 1996 - 13:43:11 GMT