Hi,

I'm the process of talking to various web developers for a site that I'm getting made. One of them mentioned that I would 'own the code', what exactly does this mean and what would be the difference if I didn't own the code. I would assume it would be better to own the code so you could make changes if you wanted to or take it to another web designer in the future to make alterations.

It's a CMS based site so for me to own the code would the developer have to create a bespoke CMS? I asked another developer and they said that I couldn't own the code as it was their CMS that they had developed themselves.

Can anyone help me to understand this properly? Thanks =)

If you pay someone money to build you a website, then you should own the website and coding, if they tell you that they own the coding to the website that you payed for i would look for another developer.

Originally Posted by littlemoomin

It's a CMS based site so for me to own the code would the developer have to create a bespoke CMS? I asked another developer and they said that I couldn't own the code as it was their CMS that they had developed themselves.

Can anyone help me to understand this properly? Thanks =)

You answered your own question

The developer in question (the one proposing the full rights) would have to build something for you exclusively from ground up. If they are suggesting that you will have full rights then you have the advantage of fully modifying it, rebranding it and/or reselling it as you please.

But if the CMS was created by someone else and developer #1 is saying you will own the code; he is most likely referring to you owning the rights to the modifications and design after the default installation.

So for example; if he installed Joomla! and modified it with a theme and a special module - you will have the rights to the theme and the module but obviously not the CMS, Joomla! itself.

Knight13
If you pay someone money to build you a website, then you should own the website and coding, if they tell you that they own the coding to the website that you payed for i would look for another developer.

Not necessarily. You might own the intellectual rights and branding but sometimes the source code is not up for grabs.

Company X charges £2000 to set-up a e-commerce store for a client Y but that doesn't mean that client Y owns the source code. They will not have permission to resell the store since the code itself is worth thousands more.

I guess it all depends on the business practice. Ask all the right questions when you get in touch with a developer to understand your privileges. I have clients who think that by default, they own the source files (PSDs) to anything I design but I always charge a release fee XX% of project price to release source files.

True but the developer would have to prove that the code from that website is the code that they wrote and that would be really hard to do since all coding is basically done the same.

Originally Posted by Knight13

True but the developer would have to prove that the code from that website is the code that they wrote and that would be really hard to do since all coding is basically done the same.

The basic structure and outline is usually very close. If however you load files from two different sites into winmerge and find out that the structure, all lines of code and all variables are exactly the same then one have a defacto case that someone stole something from somewhere.

No two people are going to pick the same exact names and write exactly the same code line for line on anything other than the most simple of routines.

True but variables and functions and any other coding can be changed to the point where someone could not tell if they wrote it or if someone else wrote it, if someone really wanted to steal someones coding then they can.

And honestly if someone is good enough to change names and coding around to steal someones code then they are probably good enough to write their own code and would not need to steal.

Also i do not think that i answered Alexandra's question right..
When you own the code to a site that means that you can do whatever you want with the code, and if a developer said that you do not own the code mainly they mean that you can not take the site they built you and then clone it and resell it for a profit.

If i were you alexandra i would look for a developer that sells you all rights to the cms that you paid for that way you can do what you want with it.

thanks all really helpful!

I saw a situation like this few years back. A company hired a guy to make an e-commerce website and paid him around $60,000 for that. The website was developed in ASP .NET. After the site launched the company wanted the source code to have another guy work on it do some modifications.

Guess what the programmer said. He said its his intellectual property, if the company wants it he is willing to sell it for x amount of money.

Unless its mentioned on the contract that you would own all codes, you really don't own the code.

Originally Posted by webcosmo

Guess what the programmer said. He said its his intellectual property, if the company wants it he is willing to sell it for x amount of money.

Unless its mentioned on the contract that you would own all codes, you really don't own the code.

Yeah, something very similar happened with one of my [now] clients.

The client hired a team in North London to develop a CMS/website, a few months down the line after the project completion, I met this client and he had me look at his website. I made a suggestion on a function so he asked me to make this modification but when I found that the code was encrypted, the client requested the source code from the original team however the original team said it would cost the client £25,000].

The client paid £6000 for his project so to see a cost of £25,000 was understandably shocking to the client.

The client was going to take legal action but I gave the client an analogy; Windows; buying the software, having the rights but not the source code - he understood and just got me to do the whole project again for a lesser price

That is really messed up, what did the developers think the owner of the site was going to do if they needed to fix the code or a part of it became deprecated.

That story you just told proves that you can not really trust people, and whoever done that to the site owner seems very unprofessional to me.

Originally Posted by Knight13

That is really messed up, what did the developers think the owner of the site was going to do if they needed to fix the code or a part of it became deprecated.

That story you just told proves that you can not really trust people, and whoever done that to the site owner seems very unprofessional to me.

What the web developer did is legally legit. I would say, its the ignorance of the owner.

Now not all developers could do that. If the website is on PHP I think all the codes would be deliverables; so the owner would get everything pretty much. Its more like programming languages that uses compiled code would cause this situation in most cases i think.

I did a small website few months ago. Before I started, the owner had me signed a contract made by a lawyer, and yeah that mentions he would own the code

^ Yeah, I would agree that it was mainly down to the ignorance of the client.

As for contracts. I haven't really signed many - probably about 3 on a freelance basis.

Just because something is legal does not make it right, and calling someone ignorant is kinda harsh i mean most people would assume that if they pay for a website they get the code, and any good developer would sit down with a client and explain what was going on.

Also who ever that developer was is a bad person and a bad business person and most likely they will not be in business long if they keep taking advantage of clients.

^

Yeah, I understand your point and I feel there is no right or wrong in this - just unfortunate miscommunication although I do disagree with the practice of indirectly tying down a client without them knowing but this is just how business is. Microsoft do it. Intel do it. Coke do it. Sony do it. Apple (!) do it. They don't want to give away the business and also the freedom. They want to hook you and keep that hook there so that you're gasping for that very company-X oxygen whenever you're out.

Also who ever that developer was is a bad person and a bad business person and most likely they will not be in business long if they keep taking advantage of clients.

It was a company and they were small-medium back then but now they're medium-big - definitely doing well... probably because of their ruthless no nonsensical business first attitude.

I wish I had that.