In software projects, the most expensive disputes are not about money but about who owns the code. A contract that does not say clearly where the rights end up leaves the question open exactly when the product starts to have value.
We work with software companies, agencies, content creators and publishers — on contracts, on intellectual property, and on liability for what appears online.
Situations in which we are called
- You are outsourcing development and want the rights in the code to stay with you
- A client disputes delivery and the contract does not say clearly what "done" meant
- You sell software as a service and need terms and a service level agreement
- Someone has copied your product, your copy, your photographs or your mark
- You have received a request to take down published content
- A former employee or contractor is using material produced at your company
What we cover
- Software development, maintenance and software-as-a-service agreements
- Licences, copyright assignments and clauses on pre-existing code
- Protection of trade marks and original content, including online
- Terms and conditions, acceptable use policies and service level agreements
- Liability for published content and takedown requests
- Copyright and unfair competition litigation
How we work
On contracts we start from three simple questions that few projects have written down: who owns the result, what happens to pre-existing components, and what acceptance actually means. Everything else falls into place far more easily once those are answered.
On infringements, we first assess what can be proved and by what means. A claim without evidence gathered in time is hard to sustain, and online evidence disappears quickly.
What helps us start
- The contract or the proposal under discussion
- Project documentation: specifications, acceptance criteria, correspondence
- Evidence of authorship: repository, source files, publication dates
- Screenshots and addresses of the copied material, if an infringement is involved
