You need to cite the circut court and rule for this one. It's brand new to me. The purpose of our copyright laws is to protect and promote creativity and invention. Without a signed agreement, the copyright defaults to the 'independent" developer or contractor.

If a secretary writes an email program (outside her work for hire), she could claim a copyright.

Read: "Legal Care for Your Software"

>Actually, in the US, the copyright must be signed over at the end of the project.
>
>>Without a signed agreement, ownership of the copyright defaults to the author.
>>
>>>>With custom made applications who owns the copyright, the software developer or the entity who paid for such software to be developed. Is there any difference with general software applications and custom made ones with regards to who owns the copyright?
>>>
>>>Everything depend on contract agreement.
>>>Usually copyrights are ownership of investor who pay development of the software.