Ask HN: How can I maintain rights to software I develop for clients?

1 point·kakadu··2 comments

I have been developing enterprise software for a while now, I have a steady stream of clients which pay me on hourly basis.

I am interested in creating a few software assets for myself, and for that to happen I need to own the software I create for the clients and license usage to them.

What kind of arrangement - legally - am I looking at? Partnership? Licensing?

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You might look into "joint ownership". You and the client(s) both can do whatever you want with it. In the contract, you might want to agree that the clients do not go into the business of selling the software to others, since that would compete with you. You need a contract, and a lawyer.

If you've finished the software and are not heavily customizing it for a client, then I believe that is more of a licensing plan. Just sell it. Again, lawyer.

I would not mess with a partnership. I don't have a good reason for this, but it seems to involve tighter coupling than I'd want.

Note: I'm not a lawyer (but I have sold semi-custom software to companies, without a lawyer; I would do it differently now but it worked out fine).

You specify ownership of the work product in the contract. I believe the default in most jurisdictions is the client owns the work product (called work for hire) but the contract should always spell that out to avoid any misunderstanding.

You may have to consult an attorney to write the contract so you own the IP and grant a license to the client. The client may ask to pay for the license rather than pay for your time to write code they don’t own.

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