DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) is one of the prime commandments of software development.
The problem I see with transferring IP/copyright on a 'work for hire' basis, is that certainly in my case
a substantial portion of the codebase is often code that is being reused for good reason.
Losing control of that code now effectively prevents the same code from being reused this elsewhere without getting into further messy contractual details.
Personally I refuse to do work for hire - instead the client gets unrestricted right to use code as desired but does not own copyright.
The problem I see with transferring IP/copyright on a 'work for hire' basis, is that certainly in my case a substantial portion of the codebase is often code that is being reused for good reason.
Losing control of that code now effectively prevents the same code from being reused this elsewhere without getting into further messy contractual details.
Personally I refuse to do work for hire - instead the client gets unrestricted right to use code as desired but does not own copyright.
Thoughts?