[OT] Contract Language for free software

[Ed Phillips <ed...@homewarehouse.com>]

Hi All,

This is very OT, but is related to mod_perl.  I have a contract as yet
unsigned
with a Web Company to possibly rewrite their horrible perl 4 era CGI
apps
as nice  clean mostly OO mod_perl apps. It's a simple job, rather
generic.

I usually license my code with the Artistic License, so this is not a
Licensing
question, exactly. In the contract, they have sent me, they have a
paragraph
that signs the rights to all inventions over to them.

Re: [OT] Contract Language for free software

[Ed Phillips <ed...@homewarehouse.com>]

Please excuse the horrible formatting,
The version below should be more readable.


Ed Phillips wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> This is very OT, but is related to mod_perl.  I have a contract as yet
> unsigned
> with a Web Company to possibly rewrite their horrible perl 4 era CGI apps
> as nice  clean mostly OO mod_perl apps. It's a simple job, rather generic.
>
> I usually license my code with the Artistic License, so this is not a
> Licensing
> question, exactly. In the contract, they have sent me, they have a
> paragraph
> that signs the rights to all inventions over to them.
>
> From my perspective, what little invention there might be in these apps,
> is drawn directly from freely available documentation and advice, and
> the apps will of course rely heavily on CPAN modules, as well as
> things I've written before. So, what I'm looking
> for is advice or a paragraph that establishes that the greater part of
> invention
> is already public, that these programs use free software, and that
> non-specific
> to their business inventions, if any should be returned to the community,
> etc.
>
> I'm not a lawyer. :-) In the past, I've just ignored such paragraphs and
> I've
> lowered the boom in a banner at the top of my code.  But, I'd like to put
> something
> in any contract that I sign and these people have no idea how to deal with
> free software.
> They want me to sign an NDA now that I've seen their hideous spaghetti,
> which is
> of course full of copyright notices.  I told them that if anyone stole
> this code, they would
> need their head checked!
>
> If someone has crafted any pro free software contracts that cover
> invention and
> they would like to share, I'd be grateful.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ed