[BklynJay]

Thank you for the feedback. I suppose my question was operating under the assumption that once I decide how I want the contract structured, I would have a lawyer write it up sufficiently. Its more a question about do I want to share ownership of the source with the client, fully assign, etc. What is considered reasonable in the freelance development contracting space.

[brudgers]

In part, I was contradicting the post which stated the code belongs to the client...while lessening the odds of a pissing match. My industry benefits from standardized agreements (AIA) developed over the past 100 years.

The issue with passing ownership of the code is that it probably increases (and in all cases changes) your risk exposure. This is a matter to discuss with your insurance agent. You may be moving from services to products, or vice versa, in a way that is not obvious.

In general, assigning copyright is something for which you should be compensated. I would suggest that in software development, retaining copyright offers more potential for repeat business via new versions, whereas providing code may turn a happy customer into an angry one when his 17 year old nephew says he can't modify it because it is junk.

good luck