Open Source/Proprietary - An Issue of Two Codebases?

g00mba_b0y asks: "For the past year I and a small team of developers have been working on an open source targeted, general business application framework. I say targeted because we have not yet selected a licensing model and placed the code in the public domain (we are working on some specific functional targets). I recently demonstrated the framework to a potential client who liked what they saw, and wants to use the software for their flagship product. In addition, they want to hire me to further the development of the framework as well as participate in the development. The sticking point is the structure of the legal agreement. I'm really interested in two things: the experiences of developers who are doing something like this (how did you address the IP issues); and links to any information on this subject."

"We agree in principle that the framework related development that they will be funding should be available for open source licensing, while code related to their business should remain proprietary. The tough part is coming up with a legalese definition of where the boundary lies, and a means of addressing disagreements when they occur.

I've done my homework and found a ton of information on licensing strategies, motivations for OSS, etc., but nothing so far that addresses how companies, who are funding open source initiatives alongside commercial development efforts, draw the line between the two."

Comments

Public Domain?

[panda]

The person asking this question needs to hire a lawyer who knows a little something about copyright. He obviously has no understanding of what releasing open source code means and what releasing something to the public domain means.

My suggestion to him, other than hiring a lawyer to explain a few things to him, is to just sell his code and his soul the the corporate devil. At least that way, he'll have some money.

Hey, if he wants to release his code to the public domain, that's great, too. However, then he'll have lost all control over who uses it and how.