Re: FN-FORUM Rights of a site

date posted 1st March 2002 12:14

When we sell a site, we build it in a test area where the customer can
see it and comment on it. Once he is happy with the finished product,
we send an invoice. When we receive payment, the site goes live. The
system works well - we usually get payment by return of post. In
particular, it saves the sort of problem you've got now.

It's worth clarifying who owns what in the initial agreement. We say
the customer owns the site and can move it if they want. Once it's off
our space, they can modify it in any way they like including reusing
any of our components. But the copyright in our design remains ours so
they can't sell any of it to anyone else and we are free to use
anything we created in another site if we wish. We work largely with
authors who are very copyright conscious and they seem very happy with
that arrangement.

I'm not a lawyer but my feeling is if they've paid the design fees,
they own the files. However, if they haven't, it seems reasonable to
hang on to them. It's the only leverage you've got although going to
the small claims court (or at least threatening to) can work well.
Doesn't the contract specify what happens in the event of non-payment?

I sympathise about the contract problem. We've just asked a solicitor
to check our terms and conditions (which our customers like but our
insurers thought we should have checked) and he's come up with an
absolutely rubbish agreement which would leave us much worse off
legally. Maybe he wrote yours.

Good luck
Diana

Steve and Diana Kimpton
The Word Pool
www.wordpooldesign.co.uk
www.wordpool.co.uk
www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Neelesh" [EMAIL REMOVED]
To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 9:51 AM
Subject: FN-FORUM Rights of a site


We've recently turned off a site due to non payment and inspite of our
offers of good will to clear up the debt the client has still not
offered
anything in return. Unfortunately the contract is a bit of rubbish
drawn up
by a complete fool and does not say anything about the digital rights
of the
site artwork and files. It does go on about the database which is part
of
the site and the licencing of the data and does state clearly that
this
cannot be altered, copied, redistributed etc by the client but nothing
about
the appearance or interface.

Who has the rights on the files?
They've approached a third party to host the files and want them, I've
offered them with a release fee and they are contesting that fee.
Considering they breached the contract by non payment don't I have the
rights to tell them to stick it?
Anybody have any words of advice on this...

Please...


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