
Code Sharing agreement - alelordelo
Hello community,<p>I am making a collaborative code development with a company. We agreed that:<p>1- They send me the code, I get back whatever I make using their code.<p>2- Neither of us would be allowed to redistribute the other&#x27;s code without the agreement of the other.<p>The issue is they are not comfortable with just a handshake agreement, neither are willing to open source.Also, getting lawyers involved would kill the project because of cost and bureaucracy involved.<p>Is there a license model that I could use on Github (or elsewhere) that contemplate this situation?<p>this is critical to build my MVP, so I SUPER appreciate if someone can help!<p>Thanks!
Alexandre Lordelo
======
jeffmould
Honestly, and IANAL, but I would never do a handshake agreement when it comes
to code. Paying several hundred now for an attorney will be worth it if
something happens to go wrong. You are only protecting yourself. Even a simple
agreement, reviewed by an attorney, is better than just grabbing something off
the internet and hoping it works for your situation. It's all fine till a year
from now when you hear about them redistributing your code, then you are out
thousands of dollars to try and defend a handshake agreement, where it is your
word against theirs. Or worse, a year from now when someone from their company
says you are violating the agreement and they go after you.

~~~
alelordelo
Thanks Jeff!

But isn't there an existing open source license model that contemplate this
case? Involving lawyers would surely kill the project, as the developer of the
company already mentioned...

~~~
jeffmould
You can probably find a software license fairly easy on Google or try
RocketLawyer. I can't emphasize enough though, to have an attorney review
anything prior to signing. A few hundred now, can save you thousands down the
road. It sounds like the company you are trying to work with knows this and is
insisting on a licensing agreement. Why not have them write up an agreement,
and you pay an attorney to review it for you. That shouldn't cost you more
than several hundred dollars.

I am not sure I understand why you think it will "kill the project". There are
really only two reasons you would think that. First is you are afraid of the
cost, and any cost alone would kill the project. The other reason is that the
type of project and agreement is so confusing and one-off that any formal
agreement is impossible, in which case I would seriously reconsider the
project itself.

~~~
alelordelo
jeff, sorry if I didn't make myself clear...

The company itself don't want to go bureaucratic and involve lawyers into
this. They want something like a standard open source license, were we can
just copy and paste into a file on a Github private repo.

~~~
jeffmould
Got ya. Without knowing all the details, it really sounds kind of shady not
wanting to have a licensing agreement that is reviewed by attorneys. I would
be a little skeptical.

