[thelist] Sub Contract Work

[alex lepingwell]

Hi All

I am pretty new here and have been lurking for a couple of weeks.

>All this hypothetical stuff and legalese is nice to talk about, but from my
> personal experience I prefer just handing the site over to the client when
I
> am done

I agree with Don. Simplicity is always the best way. The more complex the
contract, the more opportunity for cockups on both sides and more
importantly perhaps some one stitching you up if you are not au fait with
contract law.

The most important thing to have defined as exactly as possible is the spec
of the site. If you have a solid spec where the client knows exactly what
they are getting, there is little room for disagreement when the site is
finished. Getting phases or sections of a project signed off at pre agreed
points also means that there is less likliehood of unpleasantness when they
take possesion of their site as they have seen and agreed the site
throughout its development.

As to ownership of the code etc, i believe that the intellectual rights
remain with the author unless agreed otherwise, but again trying to define
this in a contract written or agreed by yourself is risky territory unless
you are very familiar with contract law. If the site is just a bog standard
'here is my poodle parlour' site why would you want the rights to the code
anyway. If on the other hand you are writing something groundbreaking and
potentially valuable one would expect you are getting paid enough to engage
a lawyer to draft the contract.

exit soapbox stage left