Terry...

This is not true. There are a number of factors, most of which turn on whether the person is an independent contractor. If a person is not an employee, it is NOT a slam dunk that the person in the eyes of the law is an independent. You are correct in that if the person is deemed to be an IC, then the issue turns to the contractual arrangement that is made. If you are the customer, the battle is not lost because you will then argue the issue on contract law principles.

The legal hypothesis would run something like this:

The software copyright belongs to the customer because the programmer is legally not an independent contractor. However, even if the programmer is deemed to be an IC, the contract (both the oral and written parts) specify the ownership rights are assigned to the customer upon project completion.

The leading cases regarding intellectual property are in the art world. However, there are a number of cases in the software world as well. 100% of the time, the threshold issue is determining IC status. If you are NOT an IC, what you create is work product. The issue can also turn on whether you are creating a new system or adding to an existing system. And if you think this is a cut and dry issue as well, you would be wrong. Remember, when defining the word system, it can mean business processes as well as software.


A note to anybody reading this, please do yourself a BIG favor and not solicit legal advice on the UT. Most of the time, what folks say is the law is patently wrong. You need to look at the state that has jurisdiction. In many cases, this can be a difficult issue to resolve and can turn whether you are the plaintiff and defendant. How you resolve conflicts of law is a tough question. Also, many folks asking these questions are not in the USA. Your milage most likely will vary depending on your country. In the USA, the issue can turn on whether state or federal law is involved. And often, federal courts will still cede to state law in diversity of citizenship cases.





>Without a signed agreement, ownership of the copyright defaults to the author.
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