I have some questions..

Hi ,

Question 1 : I worked as a freelancer php programmer for a while and now i got a job at a company. I've build a CMS system and they want me to give them the source code in case one day i leave to hire a new programmer and the new programmer to be able to modify the program. What should i do? Im thinking to tell them NOT to remove the credits in the CMS Source code so i can have prove i created it. If i leave and they publish my CMS under a new name then all my work is gone. Is there any way i can "secure" the source code without encoding it?

Question 2 : Its kinda based on the previous one. Lets say i created a CMS and i want to sell it . Am i forced to leave the source code unlocked? I dont want to lock the source code because this will limit the user not to make any changes but, will have my name on it. On the other hand , if i leave it unlocked how can i be "safe" from the case that a smart guy publishes my CMS under another name and sell it?

best regards

If you do work for hire, like you did in this case, the source code belongs to the company you work for. They have every right to the source code and if you leave and they hire someone new, they can continue the development of it, which includes changing anything about it. What I would do: give them the source code and make a copy for yourself. If they let you go, or if you go on your own, take your copy with you and continue to improve it and then do something like release it as a package. Then your hard work doesn't go to waste.

Be careful though, sometimes companies have you sign statements saying that you cannot do what I just said. If they don't have you sign anything, take the source code, package it up, and sell it. Make a few bucks, close that chapter of your development life, and move on to the next. Then you won't feel like you wasted all that effort to make something that the company kept.

thanks for your comments Adrastea0413. Lets say i sign a contract saying that blablaCMS comments about the author should not be removed by the company after i leave . The company removes the comments and publishes it under a new name. How can i prove that the new cms is my work with some changes? i guess i cant

Well, technically, you are not the author or the copyright holder, the company is.

Let's look at an example: in short, my current job is writing software for a state government. Without getting into specifics, every document and piece of code that comes out of our office says "Prepared by XYZ Committee; John Doe, Chairman." There is no one specific author. I also maintain a lot of code that past software developers wrote, and in the code, there are comments like "Written by Joe Smith on 6/1/05" or something.. I, as a software developer, keep this information because I know who to go to if it doesn't work. So, if I change the code, I append "Module modified by Adrastea0413 on (date) to fix string parse problem" or something like that.

Add your name in the code, and if someone after you takes your job duties and works with that code, hopefully he/she will have enough sense to keep your name and put theirs in. It's not illegal for them to replace your name with theirs, but at the same time - it's also not good practice to cover up any kind of log that can trace who did what and when.

Put your name in the comments. But unfortunately, you can't do much if they take it out other than bite your lip and say "oh well."

thanks for your advice.