Re: Re[2]: Web site vs. Web designer

On Thu, 12 Sep 1996 JIMMOS[_at_]cliffy.polaroid.com wrote:
>
> Now the question arises - Who owns the application, and at what point?
> Case in point:
>
> Development of a very involved application geared to the Internet
> Service Provider, tracking subscribers, perform billing, create files
> for Credit Card and Electronic Check processors, etc... There is a
> contract in place which specifies various amounts to be paid. No money
> has been paid for development, and the client has since filed Chapter 11.
>
> Question: Who legally owns the application?

This sounds like a pretty straightforward call. In the absence of a written contract either making it a work for hire, or assigning the copyright, when a non-employee developer makes a work for a client, the developer retains copyright.

--
Terrence J. Carroll 
Attorney at Law                                      ph: 415/843-5090
Cooley Godward Castro Huddleson & Tatum             fax: 415/857-0663
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