Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tvnews!dougs From: dougs@tvnews.tv.tek.com (Doug Stevens;6272540;58-594;2283061) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer Subject: Re: Programming obligations Keywords: legal contract obligations programming source code Message-ID: <1991May20.171309.24301@tvnews.tv.tek.com> Date: 20 May 91 17:13:09 GMT References: Organization: Tektronix TV Measurement Systems, Beaverton, OR Lines: 19 Your legal obligations are spelled out by any written contract between you and the firm, or by any oral contract witnessed by a third party (the oral contract is much harder to enforce). I doubt that this firm has much of a chance against you. The lack of a written contract works in your favor in the case of the source license. The fact that they have let such a long time lapse before asking for the source would indicate that they believed they received at delivery time everything for which they had orally contracted. The lack of a written contract works against you in the case of subsidiary licensing, because you have no documentation that there was an agreement to restrict such licensing. The point: when you do business, make sure that there is a legal written contract. If you have any doubt about what constitutes a legal contract, hire a lawyer; it's worth it in the long run. Even in this case, with no written contract, you will need a lawyer to know your legal obligations; the difference is that his job is much tougher without the contract.