Code protection against freelancer
Do you realise, that they the developers, hold the copyright of any code they write (and not you)?
Do you realise, that you are not allowed to sell the product either without their express permission to do so?
It may be your idea but it is their code. Both sides are "locked" and need permission from the other.
Freelance projects are supposed to be for personal use only, not commercial. So, either side can't sell the product if there is no permission granted from the other.
If you sell the product without their clear agreement, then it is only fair that they can do the same.
For the prices practised in the Freelance section and without any legal documentation to backup any claims, neither side can claim authority over the other.
Do you realise, that they the developers, hold the copyright of any code they write (and not you)?
Do you realise, that you are not allowed to sell the product either without their express permission to do so?
It may be your idea but it is their code. Both sides are "locked" and need permission from the other.
Freelance projects are supposed to be for personal use only, not commercial. So, either side can't sell the product if there is no permission granted from the other.
If you sell the product without their clear agreement, then it is only fair that they can do the same.
For the prices practised in the Freelance section and without any legal documentation to backup any claims, neither side can claim authority over the other.
I beg your pardon, but copyrights should be normally stipulated in the agreement which can be (and in many cases is) other way round: the rights to the source codes go to the customer. Of course, it's hard to verify, that developer will not use this code and overall approach in other works, but this would be a violation from the developer part. nevertheless, the rights are not so unequivocally belong to the developer.
It's pretty frequent practice, that the source code is developed specifically for a product to sell.
Freelance is not limited to personal or commercial or anything else, except for breaking law.
Of course, a clear agreement is required to understand rights and possible uses for both parts.
Under the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U.S. Code):
- By default, the author of a work (the "freelancer/developer") owns the copyright.
- However, if the work is created as a "work for hire" the commissioning party (the "client/customer") may own the copyright, but this requires an explicit written agreement.
Other countries/jurisdictions have similar regulations.
Need to check MQL5's Terms for clarity on ownership and rights.
Long story short, there’s no good news here for the topic starter (quite the opposite) - no simple way or reliable measures exist that would fully prevent "selling it outside the platform without authorization". Unless, of course, you split the task into modules (as suggested above) and later assemble them like "Lego".I beg your pardon, but copyrights should be normally stipulated in the agreement which can be (and in many cases is) other way round: the rights to the source codes go to the customer. Of course, it's hard to verify, that developer will not use this code and overall approach in other works, but this would be a violation from the developer part. nevertheless, the rights are not so unequivocally belong to the developer.
It's pretty frequent practice, that the source code is developed specifically for a product to sell.
Freelance is not limited to personal or commercial or anything else, except for breaking law.
Of course, a clear agreement is required to understand rights and possible uses for both parts.
By European law, unless there is officially authorised documentation, signed by both parties in which they are clearly identified with real names and ID's, Freelance development work is always considered for personal use only.
Any commercial or distribution rights needs to be ceded in a legally binding manner. The freelance section on this website does not offer that.
Obviously, both the developer and the customer here in the freelance service are free to act in which ever way they choose, but if any legal dispute should arise between the parties, neither side is allowed to make commercial use and the copyright belongs to the developer and the customer will have no property rights protection to the idea either given the nature of how freelance services works.
The only way for both the customer and developer to be fully protected, and have commercial licensing and distribution rights and intellectual property rights covered, is to follow the traditional methods with legal procedures (usually handled by lawyers).
Under the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U.S. Code):
- By default, the author of a work (the "freelancer/developer") owns the copyright.
- However, if the work is created as a "work for hire" the commissioning party (the "client/customer") may own the copyright, but this requires an explicit written agreement.
Other countries/jurisdictions have similar regulations.
I agree totally.
Yes, but then the customer would be violating copyright laws by selling the final product without the express consent of each individual module's developer (which is a even worse in legal terms).
In summary, there is no clear solution, because Market products are supposed to be created and developed by the sellers themselves as individuals, or as a team or a company. It makes no sense for a seller to be providing products for which they lack the knowledge or skill to be able to support their customers properly, with bug fixes, updates, etc.
Split your product into several modules exposing APIs (functions/events/buffers/etc) - each should do just a part of work, which is useless without other parts. Then hire different freelancers for different modules.
A great idea for a parallel universe. But if the customer is not a programmer, he will not be able to think through the architecture correctly and divide it into modules. And if the customer has sufficient qualifications, he will program everything himself.
It is also worth considering that amateurs who quickly write shit code for a couple of dollars will fail such a project. And a team of several good programmers will cost the customer a lot.
But there is a problem: if the programmers do not know each other, then they are not a team.
And one more thing: who will fix integration bugs? But you will be lucky if you manage to understand that this is an integration bug. What if the adviser simply crashed in runtime and it is not clear which module caused the error? Who to contact?
In summary, there is no clear solution, because Market products are supposed to be created and developed by the sellers themselves as individuals, or as a team or a company. It makes no sense for a seller to be providing products for which they lack the knowledge or skill to be able to support their customers properly, with bug fixes, updates, etc.
The only solution is to hire a trustworthy coder, and to make it clear in the agreement the code will be used for a commercial product.
Or to learn to code yourself.
It's the same as in all business.
Hello everyone,
I hope you're doing well!
I wanted to ask for some advice or insights on a concern I have as a seller. What kind of protection or safeguards are available to prevent freelancers we collaborate with from taking our product (e.g., indicators, tools, etc.) and selling it outside the platform without authorization?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Best regards.
Split your product into several modules exposing APIs (functions/events/buffers/etc) - each should do just a part of work, which is useless without other parts. Then hire different freelancers for different modules.
This is the best advice. But be prepared to pay 3 times more!
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Hello everyone,
I hope you're doing well!
I wanted to ask for some advice or insights on a concern I have as a seller. What kind of protection or safeguards are available to prevent freelancers we collaborate with from taking our product (e.g., indicators, tools, etc.) and selling it outside the platform without authorization?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Best regards.