Copy my software

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TSpeed

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Wrote a program for a spesific industry, installed and maintained the system for about 18 years, and when i raised
my maintenance fees, i was cut off and another software company was called in to rewrite the program.

This software company makes screen shots of my system, and print reports from my system to design their system. Their end product will basically be a replica of my program with a few changes here and there.

This will be the 2nd time this same company is copying my idea, and earn big money with it.

What my legal right here, and how can i stop them. Any advice will be appreciated.

thanks
 
If you are paid to write software for a company, and you're paid for it, you have no legal rights to that software, as it then belongs to the company that you wrote it for.

The exclusion to the above is of course if you wrote the software, and they paid to use it, in which case the software still legally belongs to you. In this case you'd be best off seeing a lawyer, because that would by copyright infringement on intellectual property.
 
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Froot, thanks for the reply. I designed the program before i started with this company, and after installing the system, they
hired me as consultant to customize the system as and when required. This system is running at other coy's as well, and we do the
same with them. We sell the base framework, and hire ourselves out as consultants to customize according to their spec's.

We charge our clients an annual license fee to use our system.
 
So in your case the second option applies: your software, license fees applies to use it.

I suggest you get your lawyer in on this then.
 
I would suggest you consult a lawyer on this matter. It does sound like a case of derivative copyright since the new company is basing their system on yours. You have a case.
 
TSpeed said:
This software company makes screen shots of my system, and print reports from my system to design their system. Their end product will basically be a replica of my program with a few changes here and there.
Click to expand...

You can also have copyright in the design of printed reports and the GUI.

However, it all depends on the extent they copied your code. They can copy what your software does as long as they develop the code themselves and have exercised their own skill in doing so.
 
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Burn, thanks

The company who is copying my system actually sells an accounting package for a living, and is using my program as an add-on to
strenghten their package. This accounting company has recently been bougth out by an international company, and since 2008 when they first copied my program, is using my idea in their advertisements.
 
Tricky one, generally speaking a contract for a custom system usually states who owns the code.

If the client owns the code they are free to do whatever they like with it.

If they are only licensed to use it the third party developers have to code from scratch BUT as the client had input into the customised solution I doubt the manner in which data is presented is protected, besides which I don't see how you can patent or copyright a debtors printout or inquiry screen format for example.

All boils down to what contracts are in place.
 
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burn said:
You can also have copyright in the design of printed reports and the GUI.

However, it all depends on the extent they copied your code. They can copy what your software does as long as they develop the code themselves and have exercised their own skill in doing so.

Did you sell the software to the company or did you licence it to them? If you sold it to them then the company can probably modify it as they like. As soon as they try sell it on to someone else, then you may be able to claim infringement (if there is infringement). Just checking up on this quickly though.
Click to expand...

It will depend as the poster above says on the extent they copy your code, gui design etc. It will also depend on the license agreement between you and them when you sold them the product.

I would go see a lawyer, they can send a letter advising of potential legal action if they follow this course of action. Sometimes even the threat of legal action works wonders.
 
fonoi said:
It will depend as the poster above says on the extent they copy your code, gui design etc. It will also depend on the license agreement between you and them when you sold them the product.

I would go see a lawyer, they can send a letter advising of potential legal action if they follow this course of action. Sometimes even the threat of legal action works wonders.
Click to expand...

+1.

Legally there is a little loophole in the copyright of online works....
You have to have written it to a physical medium for the copyright to be valid, ie you must have written it to a DVD. I don't see how this is all that practical, but that's for some reason how the law was written.
 
If they are re-writing the software from scratch... even if they use your screen shots as guidance, i'd assume that you have no claim. Companies write competitive "duplicate" products all the time.

Best see a lawyer though, they'd know better than anyone here. Please let us know how it goes, this is an interesting topic.
 
shogun said:
If they are re-writing the software from scratch... even if they use your screen shots as guidance, i'd assume that you have no claim. Companies write competitive "duplicate" products all the time.

Best see a lawyer though, they'd know better than anyone here. Please let us know how it goes, this is an interesting topic.
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem last year.... we were employed by a company to develop for them.... company got sold, we got fired (new owners had their own devs), they took all my code.... I let it go though, the code in question wasn't worth that much to me.
 
I suggest you see a legal firm that specialises in copyright and patents (such as adams&adams). Even if they cannot help in this case, you'll be able to get advice on how to protect yourself in future.
 
froot said:
I had a similar problem last year.... we were employed by a company to develop for them.... company got sold, we got fired (new owners had their own devs), they took all my code.... I let it go though, the code in question wasn't worth that much to me.
Click to expand...

Anything developed while being employed by a company, belong to that company, not the employee.
 
froot said:
+1.

Legally there is a little loophole in the copyright of online works....
You have to have written it to a physical medium for the copyright to be valid, ie you must have written it to a DVD. I don't see how this is all that practical, but that's for some reason how the law was written.
Click to expand...

The Copyright Act requires that the work be reduced to a material form. They did so that you couldn't copyright an idea without first producing it. However, producing something on the Internet counts :)
 
Thanks all for your valued input, my personal opinion is that this is proprietary software and they are reverse engineering my system to strenghten the accounting package they are selling. I don't know how many copies of my orignal idea have been sold to date by that company. I will keep you posted, just need to get all my evidence in place.
 
Definitely chat a lawyer if it makes financial sense.

You said you licensed it. Did you have contract dictating what happens when the license ends? The general idea is that a license gives the other party the right to use your software, that right is now gone and as far as I can tell they are still using the software. I'd go after them on this first. Easiest to prove.
 
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