>Just out of curiousity, those of you who are independant contractors and developers; how much of your source code do you normally give over to clients? Most people (prospective clients) I've talked to want rights to the code, which is understandable. But how do you protect your class libraries and other custom methods? If they "own" the source code as "work for hire", custom class libraries need to be turned over in addition to forms and .prg's, right? Otherwise they can't modify the application in the future.
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>If a client hires you to develop an app, and then gets someone else to help out or build a different part, what's to keep the other developer from copying your stuff? Or is that just a part of the business?
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>- Brian

I love these threads! One thing you haven't heard (and I'm surprised no one has beat me to this). Make sure you have an attorney involved. Not just your ordinary lawyer but one who works with intellectual property laws. One with experience in software would be best.

Another thing you might want to examine is business insurance like "Errors & Omissions". Many places will require this and it's a good thing to have.

Paul