>I neglected to ask in an earlier post whether you always use a written contact with your clients.

Mostly when I work through a third party or the project is with a commercial software shop. If there are equity issues - and the cost of my service is a function of copyright equity, there are agreements.

Clients do not seem to mind if I enjoy some moderate success from a project initially developed for them. The projects I work on are usually extreme integrations of 3 party data , local data and specialized bean counting. The nice thing about rich-niche markets is that the principals want you to be profitable.

I have been been a defendant in a copyright lawsuit. That action involed a project I wrote. After the project was completed, a third party vendor claimed they owned the source code. There were no signed agreements - but plenty of correspondence and offered agreements. The vendor had initialed my agreement Live and learn!

In short - a hand shake is the preferred method when dealing with principals. Business owners and executives running big businesses can usually apply the double-whammy and spot a con artist. HR can't - but they're bosses can! But projects through third parties or commercial projects usually require a contract.

Now I have attornies - one for copyrights and one for business:-)

>Terry,
>
>I neglected to ask in an earlier post whether you always use a written contact with your clients.
>
>If not you probably should. Take a look at http://www.levelextreme.com/VisualFoxPro/Articles/474.asp if you have not already.
>
>Regards,