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I was in a similar position several years ago. I had developed software for a medical billing company and I had it copyrighted. They decided they were going to sell it to another company some time later and I told them that would be fine after they paid me. I negotiated a nice tidy sum from them before giving it to them. Of course they went bankrupt within a year, but I got out with my money and eventually retained the software. Get a copyright, then go see them.
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Interesting... Did you actually register the copyright, or did you make the assertion as the author? The only enforceable copyrights are ones that are registered. When you negotiated with the medical billing company, did you retaining ownership of the underlying code, and I suppose the end product with you only licensing it to them - something they agreed to in writing?

These things always turn on the facts. Based on your responses above, I wonder how good a case you would have had if they went ahead and just sold the product to another company? Specifically, what if they brought suit against you for the code? All that said, it is good for you that you got your money? The real question I suppose is did the company actually have to pay you for the source code? If you negotiated the particulars up front, then I would say you are a good business man. If you did not, I would say that you were fortunate...< bg >

I have been searching for some relevant cases on clients suing for source code. I have found some cases that skirt the issue, but factually, are dissimilar from what we are talking about here. My guess is that that very few if any of these things are litigated. Rather, they probably settle prior to trial..

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