Source for paid software and web site contract templates

Question

Related to this question looking for free software programming contracts, what source do you recommend for paid software contract templates? I have not found decent free ones on the web that cover contracts for custom software development, web site development and web site hosting. So I am considering ContractEdge which provides a paid set of templates that cover those topics. Does anyone have recommendations for alternative contract providers? If you have used ContractEdge and would recommend it?

Answer 1

Ask yourself if this is really something you wish to place in the hands of a free template you found on the internet.

Before you know it you could find yourself;

1. Granting rights to your work you never intended, including redistribution ones.
2. Liable for issues caused by your software, regardless of the manner in which it was used.
3. Contractually bound to provide support long after your initial contract has expired.

Answer 2

I would recommend whatever whoever your local Bar Association recommends recommends.

Seriously, if you're going to do this for a living, you want to be sure you've got contracts that will essentially say what you want them to, and the most reliable way to do that is to get help from a lawyer that's working for you. It probably won't cost more than a few hundred dollars, it's almost certainly a deductible business expense, and it could save you far more than that to get any of this stuff wrong.

Make sure the contract template sells the rights you want to sell (you may wish to sell all rights to what you write, or some sort of perpetual license), what liabilities you will accept (probably none), an acceptable payment schedule, criteria for payment, whatever. Your lawyer will know more gotchas than I do.

Remember, if you get stiffed by one client on even a fairly small project, or brought into court even once (even if you win), and that could have been avoided by a legally watertight contract, you've lost far more than the lawyer would have cost.

Answer 3

David, I'm the developer responsible for the ContractEdge software. The software itself makes it easier to fill out the contract templates. And to that extent it works quite well, if I don't say so myself.

The contracts were written by lawyers who specialize in IT-related language. I'm no lawyer, but everything I've seen working here indicates that they are solid, well-written contracts. You could definitely do worse with a lawyer who doesn't understand everything about the industry you're in. I know a lot of people have been happy with ContractEdge though. As I'm starting my Micro-ISV this year I'll eventually be buying some ContractEdge templates for myself. The thing I know I'll need is a click-wrap agreement. But I'm sure I'll eventually have the need for others.

Of course, if you need anything very specialized involving complex partnerships and such then you may have to fork over some money to a lawyer to help you out. Just make sure you find a good one.