[OSI Board of Directors snipped from distribution.] Quoting Walter van Holst (walter.van.holst@gmail.com): > It is hard to provide help if you're this thin on the details, especially on > the terms of the contract under which Ladislave et al provided their > services. If said contract states that any copyrights arising from their > work is assigned to the client, the client's lawyers may have a, albeit > somewhat twisted, point. In United States jurisdictions, a conveyance of copyright title must be in writing and signed by the owner (impliedly identifying some extant property to be conveyed). I very much doubt that a judge would agree that a contract saying "Stuff you make for the next N months shall belong to me" qualifies in that department. (My opinion; yours for a small fee and disclaimer of reverse-engineering rights.) As detailed earlier, such an agreement _can_ be created and enforced between contractor and payer, provided that contractor specifically agrees to such "work for hire" treatment, but only in a specified, limited set of fields of endeavour, that do not happen to include software. (Sorry, but some contract terms are just not enforceable. Surprise.) However, I am not going to make pronouncements about the merits of Ladislav's particular case, and probably you shouldn't, either. For that, he needs to consult good professional legal counsel.