Hello,
I've got a complicated issue regarding a software I wrote. The software in question is a commandline firewall configuration tool for openbsd including webbased gui. It was a commercial project, but I never had a written contract with the company I wrote it for. They paid me a little bit for it, but at the end of the last year they stopped paying. Some months later I abandoned the project and stopped working on it. The company is no more interested in the project.
The question now is, who owns the copyright on the software? From my point of view it is me, but I'm unsure. And, would it be legal to publish the software as opensource (say GPLed)?
I'm located in germany, so german law applies.
Thanks in advance, Thomas Linden
Thomas Linden tom@co.daemon.de [...]
The question now is, who owns the copyright on the software? From my point of view it is me, but I'm unsure. And, would it be legal to publish the software as opensource (say GPLed)?
If the writing of the software was done *for* that company, I think they may hold (some of?) the copyright. Whether it's legal to publish as free software (I'm not sure which "opensource" you mean) depends on what copyright or licence you have. If you were freelance or they broke whatever agreement you had, that may change things, but I'm no lawyer so I don't know.
URL:http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/crashcourse/ownership/ Arnoud Engelfriet's site may explain this better.
I'm located in germany, so german law applies.
You may find asking a German-centric list gets more informed answers. Try http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-de
Best wishes with that,
On Mon, Oct 17, 2005 at 12:38:15PM +0200, Thomas Linden wrote:
I've got a complicated issue regarding a software I wrote. The software in question is a commandline firewall configuration tool for openbsd including webbased gui. It was a commercial project, but I never had a written contract with the company I wrote it for. They paid me a little bit for it, but at the end of the last year they stopped paying.
A verbal contract is also a contract.
Some months later I abandoned the project and stopped working on it. The company is no more interested in the project.
The question now is, who owns the copyright on the software? From my point of view it is me, but I'm unsure. And, would it be legal to publish the software as opensource (say GPLed)?
The one who owns the exploitation rights can publish the software as Free Software. So the question to solve is: Who has the rights.
I'm located in germany, so german law applies.
In Europe you are the author of the work. This does not automatically give you the exploitation rights, though.
Wether the company has the exploitation rights will depend on the nature of the business relation you have had. Easiest for you would be to get the company agree on the view that you hold the rights and always did. Best would be in written form. If they are not interested in the project anymore, this could be doable and would clarify the situation best.
(Note: I am not a lawyer.)
Bernhard