HW10: Chapter 15

15.10 The reuse of software raises a number of copyright and intellectual property issues. If a customer pays the software contractor to develop a system, who has the right to reuse the developed code? Does the software contractor have the right to use that code as a basis for a generic component? What payment mechanisms might be used to reimburse providers of reusable components? Discuss these issues and other ethical issues associated with the reuse of software.

These are really interesting questions.

For generic components, I don’t see any major cons of code reuse affecting the customer. Generic components would not be recognizable to the customer’s brand, so trademark laws likely wouldn’t come into play. These are components that can be configured for a particular system as Chapter 15 describes. For something really significant to the customer brand like a specialized user interface, the customer may have a more serious issue with code in other projects as it could dilute their brand.

Of course, the reason code reuse is so desirable to begin with is its potential to save time and money. Since software components are paid for by the original customer, the contractor gains assets with that customer’s money. Hence, the customer could demand a right to the software even though the copyright technically belongs to the code author. One approach to keeping this fair would be adding a section to customer contracts that offers a discount upfront if the customer signs away their rights to generic components. This would formalize the agreement and (hopefully) keep both parties happy. Of course, the contractor may not always be able to reuse enough code to earn back the discount, but other times they will greatly profit from it. On the other side of the coin, what if the customer demands a right to access the code and send it to a new group of developers who work on their next project? In this case, the contract may include an additional upfront charge to the customer for this future access. The author of the code will always be the owner of the copyright, but the initial agreement should include additional parameters about how (and by whom) the code can be used and distributed in the future.

That said, the most important factor here is communication. Whether included in the upfront contract or discussed throughout the project’s lifespan, the contractor should always disclose reuse and ensure fairness to the paying customer.

• 2021 11
• 2020 22