[thelist] Copyright of the Web Site Design

[Iain Godsman]

Not wanting start a semantic battle, however "... a question of copyright
that is addressed in my contract" is misleading. If it was addressed in your
contract, you would not be asking this question.

I always lay out the terms explicitly in the contract, and I get the client
to initial each point as well as signing the bottom. Additionally, I
reinforce key terms of the contract verbally so that there is no confusion.
My advice is to approach it the same way as you would if you were selling a
car. Assume the customer knows nothing about the legal agreement he is
entering into, and do your best to explain it thoroughly. Everybody will be
happier in the end.

To address your specific question, let's stick with the car analogy. Do you
want or lease or own? There are benefits to both, but the initial cost of
purchasing a vehicle is higher than leasing. In other words, if a client
wants to buy the design I charge them more for it. They get all the source
files and full rights to do whatever they wish with it. Otherwise, I keep
the source files and lease the rights to them. If you are uncomfortable with
selling your work, make the cost prohibitive to the client. Tell them the
lease price is $5K and the purchase price is $25K.

I'm not a lawyer obviously, and the answer will vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction, but my understanding is that unless it is specifically
indicated otherwise you retain the rights to the design. "intellectual
property" is the correct phrase I believe.

HTH

Iain


On 5/19/05 2:55 PM, "Minh Lee Goon" <evolt at goonies.info> wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> I'm hoping someone can help me with a question of copyright that is
> addressed in my contract. I understand that the content of the web site
> belongs to the client, but does the design of the web site (whatever
> that may entail)? From looking through other web developers' contracts
> online, it seems common and clear that the _design_ of the web site
> belongs to the developer.
> 
> Should I be fighting for copyright to the design of web sites? Or does a
> hired job mean the client owns everything, including the design?
> 
> Maybe, more importantly, are the repercussions (if any) of letting the
> client own copyright to the design. What would you be giving up by
> letting the client own the copyright? What part of the layout would you
> NOT be able to use again?
> 
> Hope you can help me answer some questions.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> Minh Lee Goon
> 
> digerati design studios
> www.digeratidesignstudios.com