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Comment by throwaway5 | Hacker News Reader

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throwaway5·

I didn't write the code & the copyright hasn't been explicitly signed over. So, yeah, they own it.

What if I get new code written?

I designed the system that the code implemented. Does that count for anything?

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Copyright should only apply to the code body that was written - re-writing the same functionality from scratch should be fine but it might be wise to take extreme care to ensure that none of the original code gets included by mistake or that any similarities are anything more than superficial.

If you are going to have to take on new developer resources anyway then a re-write from scratch might not be such a bad thing.

I don't know where you are, but I've been involved in fairly serious litigation on that very point in the UK and the legal opinion was that unless the person claiming ownership of the code was literally dictating everything that was typed in then they don't own the copyright.

I worked for many years as a freelance developer in the UK market. I own all my code - it is only licensed to the end user who paid for my time developing applications to their specification (if any such formal thing existed which was rare enough).

this makes a big difference from 'just an idea'. I would do two things: 1) offer them some equity based upon what would have been fairly vested (you will have to negotiate this, but start with room to get to "fair" but not insultingly low. base it upon hours invested) 2) offer them a chance to invest cash in your new venture so that the 'idea' can live on with a dedicated team and some cash resource. im assuming that they just lost interest or don't have the time, but may have cash.

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