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Speaking as a freelancer myself, I would be kicking myself if I were in your shoes, but I think its a bit tasteless to go back and ask for royalties now. I'd keep this option in mind for similar systems you plan on building (or if you sell the system to someone else and make it a subscription platform.)

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You might have trouble selling that same system to other clients, the first client will claim they own it. Without seeing your contract(s), the client is probably right.

If you can create a 2.0 with substantial improvements, then you might have an opportunity to shop it around and rent it out yourself. But you'll have to do all of that at your own expense.

Totally agree - it would have to be a 2.0 version to do it right.

tasteless? who cares? this is business, and as a developer you should get whatever you want out of it.

If you are a contractor/freelancer, reputation counts for a lot. Most sales are to (happy) existing or former customers (in this or any business). Charging royalties is fine if you said so up front/beforehand, but not afterwards. Even if you failed to make it stick, legally, you would lose a lot in reputation.

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