Thank you for all of your comments, it is helping me to sort out the situation I've now found myself in. As for whether or not I'm an employee, I am not. He pays me weekly and doesn't take out any taxes. Furthermore, he claims me as a contractor to the IRS and gives me no benefits whatsoever, not even vacation time.

I too was under the impression that as a contract worker, I own any code I write, but unfortunately, impressions don't hold up in court or even in negotiations with my boss/client. He's my boss because he tells me what to do for him and I only started thinking of him as my client recently when I started working for more than one company.

I've sent the generic consulting agreement and a copy of my original post to an attorney specializing in software copyrights. I should hear something within a few days and I will post the results here when I get them.

Bear in mind though, I've asked the attorney to tell me who owns the code for this situation, here in Arizona and I'm sure it differs by location.

Thanks again,

Steve


>Hi Josh, Steve
>
>Look at this:
>
>http://www.longest.com/copyrightsoftware.shtml
>
>
>
>>It's not unusual for an agreement to state that the customer has the right to use the source code for their internal use, but can't sell the product. I think it really makes sense for the developer and customer to work together to market a product when it's appropriate. The developer knows the technology, the customer knows the market. Neither will be as successful alone as they can be together. However, the moral of these stories (and there are thousands of them) is get it in writing! Whether you're a consultant or you're hiring one make sure you have a contract and that you understand its ramifications.
>>
>>Even if you trust the other party, you may find that you have different ideas of who owes what to whom. Even though both parties may act in good faith, one could end up getting screwed.
>>
>>>Hi Steve
>>>
>>>I read your message I relate to your problem. My company three years ago hired a contractor/consultant to write a program for us. What we didn't know was that the company would never own the sorce code and if we did decide to end the relationship with the programer the program that we use to run our daily business leaves with him/her within thirty days.
>>>
>>>What would happen is we would have to have a program ready to replace our current program. Remember that we have been working on this program with the programer for three years. Our company personal have contributed to the developement of the program as has the programer. So who should own it?
>>>
>>>I have just started learning programing and at this point I have trouble writing some report programs. The company owns the data but with my lack of experince I can't take the helm.
>>>
>>>If we had it to do over again I would propose that we both have equal rights to the sorce code and equal rights to sell it.
>>>
>>>R.D.Black