Is custom-written software considered the property of the customer if it has not been paid for?

Question

Intellectual property

Good night all.
Question on topic. I understand that without a contract and payment for the work, the contractor can safely sell the created software to other people or use it for their own purposes?
Thank you.

Answer 1

that no contract

What are we talking about then? Of course, then there is no question of any rights and obligations.

Answer 2

Is if there is a contract. And you can demand money from him under this contract.
No contract, no rights.

Answer 3

Paid, not paid - it doesn't matter. What matters is what's in the contract.
It is even more important that such moments be stipulated in advance - the rule of good form.

Answer 4

I am not a lawyer, but I used to be interested in such moments.
In the Russian Federation there is such a thing as copyright.
Here is the code - this is the result of labor, creativity and implementation of the programmer.
Those. the rights to the code originally belong to the programmers, i.e. To you.
Further, you can sell the result of your work/creativity and transfer these rights according to the contract. Or sell only one copy, without transferring the rights to the seller, retaining them.
Those. according to common sense and law, the truth is on your side.
But if you want, then you can squeeze everything. For example, register a trademark. Then, through the court, to wring out the domain, still bend you for money because you used the brand in your commercial interests, as a result, the plaintiff will have a domain, money.
Again, if copyright is not protected, then you still need to prove that it was you who wrote the code. undergo examinations, get expert opinions. All this will cost you a pretty penny. And not the fact that it will help.
Not the fact that you are right even morally and ethically. Maybe you did something bad, the terms of the agreements were not met on your part, etc. Maybe it was you who failed to organize the process.
Or maybe you just decided to throw it yourself, because you want to squeeze out the project yourself? Then you can be turned away for fraud, illegal business activities, violation of consumer protection law, etc. etc.
Therefore, learn to negotiate with people. Find compromise options.

Answer 5

If you haven’t paid, you can do whatever you want with the software, sell it to competitors, make it publicly available, etc.