>Case 3: You develop an application "for hire" but as an independent contractor, not an employee. This is your case, right? Who owns the code. As a general rule, your customer does. Contrary to all the advice you have received otherwise in this thread, that is the rule. And it makes good legal and moral sense.
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Jim,

That's interesting in that it is in direct conflict with what my attorney told me when I was dealing with a state agency as a contractor. Of course I had a contract that said I owed the software and graned them an unlimited license to use it. But the attorney said that even if I didn't have that contract that the rights to the code were mine unless I was an employee or a contract existed that said otherwise and that contract would need to have explicit consideration for the copyright. He said the consideration had to be in addition to payment for time worked.