Client FAQ: Software Development Contract

Ownership depends on Section 8. With Copyright Transfer, ownership passes to you only after full payment for the task.

No. Using or redistributing unpaid or unaccepted work is a copyright violation (Section 8.4.1).

The Developer keeps ownership of Background Technology but grants you a perpetual, royalty-free license (Section 9.2).

You receive a 90-day warranty. Defects must be fixed at no cost or refunded (Section 6.14).

You have 90 days. After that, work is deemed accepted automatically (Section 6.12).

You must test the software in your own environment and production system (Section 6.10).

Only with the Expert Package. Missed deadlines allow a 20% fee reduction (Section 13.3).

Priorities are proposed by the Developer but must be mutually agreed upon (Section 6.4).

Depends on your package. Expert includes ≥8 hours/week with no maximum (Section 13).

Prepaid and subscriptions require upfront payment. Postpaid is only available after €500 prior payments (Section 14).

Late payments incur interest at 9% above the ECB base rate after 5 days (Section 14).

Either party may terminate at any time. Swiss law applies, with binding arbitration in Zurich (Sections 4 & 15).

Yes, of course. We can adapt the contract or create an addendum to it, so that both you and me are fully satisfied.

Yes. You can change the minimum guaranteed hours at any time, even down to 0 hours, by contacting the Developer (Section 13 Intro).

After payment yes. This is a critical distinction in Section 8.4.1 (Clarification for Cumulative Workflows). Even if you own the "base" software, you do not own any subsequent modifications or extensions until those specific changes are paid for and accepted. You cannot use the new updates until payment is cleared, even though they sit on top of code you already own.