southwestngr:


WHY ARE YOU SO PAINED? on top another person matter. blame the OP not the developer abeg, WHY I GO AGREE TO WETIN I NO UNDERSTAND?

@lincolnpix this your term get as he be oh. as a professional developer you should find a way to keep your code safe from others not this method you are using. e.g developing your own framework that only you can understand, encryption, hosted css on your side e.t.c

The contract not only addresses the copyright issue, but makes it extremely clear who has which type of rights to what. It boils down to this:

You (the client) retain copyright to content you provide to me for use on the web site (text, images, graphics, logos, etc.)

I retain copyright to the overall web design (which I define as layout, color palette, font selection, etc.) and to the underlying HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, and any other code.

I had an unfortunate situation a few years ago when a client stole my design and code before paying me. It was partly my fault because
1) I didn't have a written contract in place,
2) He was savvy enough to know how to grab the source code.


I have legal rights to my work product. As long as i made it clear to the clients how that works.

Broda, the truth is that no developer will give you access to cpanel cox he wrote those codes himself unlike just installing wordpress and the rest. he is not duping u but just protecting his hardwork except you are willing to buy the script from him. so relax and enjoy your website. you that is not a web developer, what are you doing on the database, can you write sql or mysql codes? so let the guy be.

wethebest:
Broda, the truth is that no developer will give you access to cpanel cox he wrote those codes himself unlike just installing wordpress and the rest. he is not duping u but just protecting his hardwork except you are willing to buy the script from him. so relax and enjoy your website. you that is not a web developer, what are you doing on the database, can you write sql or mysql codes? so let the guy be.

Thank you. Really the situation is very clear, why do you need access to the DB?
I've given him access to all other sections of the Cpanel apart the Database page.

goodwill from a client can get you tens of other jobs, ethics might allow your action but always do biz with a good heart.
after all he gave you the job as a friend!

lincolnpix:


Thank you. Really the situation is very clear, why do you need access to the DB?
I've given him access to all other sections of the Cpanel apart the Database page.

Am a web developer, what i always do is built an admin panel for clients, so u won't dare ask me for any section of the cpanel cox i won't give u. if you want cpanel and knows what to put in it, u won't contact me. is bcox of all this rubbish, you see clone sites everywhr cox immediately u gv dem access, dey download the script you laboured for and start selling online.

Rumin8:
Licolnpix, quite clearly you seem intent on running yourself out of business with this I WILL SEIZE DATABASE OR CPANEL mindset. You do not have the right to withhold access to the database of a website you built for a client. Absolutely not. Building a website for a client is not the same as running software as a service.

Besides, what 'codes' are in the database? Databases hold no codes. They hold data. You instead write codes to insert, modify, delete or pull data from a database. Codes are not stored in databases. You can tell that to your clients, not in a forum where there are other web professionals.

If your codes are so important to you, build a platform where the client can have access to the complete database records, along with the means to modify and export the data. With a highly functional CMS, no client will have the need to access phpMyAdmin on a remote server. Unless he or she wants to modify database structure (which surely would mean having a qualified staff).

I have been in the business of website development since 1999 and have had no need to restrict clients from accessing CPanel, regardless of scope or complexity of work done. I have worked with clients in the manufacturing, health, sports and engineering industries, with very demanding projects and have not, nor will ever restrict CPanel access.

I do not want to go into the request, or demand for monthly retainers as that is another unprofessional conduct that underscores your lack of experience, expertise and wisdom but I'd leave it to your client to decide how to progress on that front.

In closing, if majority of the posters here, including web design professionals have insisted that your action is wrong, forget the contract grammar, then it is. If you choose not to deal with your client on a friendly and helpful basis, on a basis that shows goodwill, regardless of your need for money, then you should not be in the business altogether.

Thanks Rumin8 for the constructive words.
I disagree with the fact that some of the posters have insisted that i'm in wrong, simply because they aren't on point, check the contract and tell me what's wrong.

lincolnpix:


Hello 4llerbuntu,

Made a mistake not making this clear earlier... Paschal have access to the CP with majority of the features, what he doesnt have is the permission to access the Database.

Once again, guys no need of blatant attack that’s clearly rude and outrageous, go through my response.

Cheers.

Your are wrong, if the Database is in the Paschal CP, then everything in the Cpanel belongs to Paschal.

emmatok:


Your are wrong, if the Database is in the Paschal CP, then everything in the Cpanel belongs to Paschal.

Hello emmatok,
The hosting company control panel section is not based on the famous Cpanel, it's an alternative.

elohorayodele:
goodwill from a client can get you tens of other jobs, ethics might allow your action but always do biz with a good heart. after all he gave you the job as a friend!

Hello elohorayodele,
he's not really my friend, but i got what you mean. This is my first time experiencing such a cowardice.

lincolnpix:


Hello emmatok,
The hosting company control panel section is not based on the famous Cpanel, it's an alternative.

What do you mean by the bold.

Is the site a Sub-domain ?

Did you select the hosting company for the Job?

Are you saying the database got different login details apart from the Cpanel.?

I know most hosting company will mail you the Cpanel details even before the site is fully propagated.

I will like to know that HOSTING company.

emmatok:


What do you mean by the bold.

Is the site a Sub-domain ?

Did you select the hosting company for the Job?

I know most hosting company will mail you the Cpanel details even before the site is fully propagated.

emmatok ,
Cpanel is the most popular, but there are other free alternatives or home made solutions too.

lincolnpix:



The contract not only addresses the copyright issue, but makes it extremely clear who has which type of rights to what. It boils down to this:

You (the client) retain copyright to content you provide to me for use on the web site (text, images, graphics, logos, etc.)

I retain copyright to the overall web design (which I define as layout, color palette, font selection, etc.) and to the underlying HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, and any other code.

I had an unfortunate situation a few years ago when a client stole my design and code before paying me. It was partly my fault because
1) I didn't have a written contract in place,
2) He was savvy enough to know how to grab the source code.


I have legal rights to my work product. As long as i made it clear to the clients how that works.

Bro, I am not blaming you but the way you took this does not sound right to many. I advise to find other ways to secure your codes.


The general rule is the author of the work owns the copyright: what you create, you own.

There are exceptions to this. The most obvious is work created by an employee. The other exception (Copyright Act of 1976, 17 USC 201) is in the "work for hire"-doctrine which says that the work is owned by the person who paid for it. But for WORK FOR HIRE to happen, all of the following must be true:


Work was ordered or commissioned. True.

There was an agreement that the work would be considered a WORK FOR HIRE. False.

Work is part of a set of nine specific categories of work: a translation, a contribution to audiovisual work, a contribution to a collective work (such as a magazine), as an atlas, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or a supplementary work. False.

So in this case you are not required to hand over anything per say.

Did I see right? Is the contract sum ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY MILLION NAIRA? (N150,000,000)??
That must be some bad Ars*e typo because WHICH HOST COMPANY charges TWENTY MILLION NAIRA as Annual hosting fee?

[size=18pt]that is why they are joking about buhari certificate[/size]




[size=18pt]Why is david Cameron bowing to the Queen, people with pride in africa cant overcome the pride in their heart.[/size]

inikamoze:
Did I see right? Is the contract sum ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY MILLION NAIRA? (N150,000,000)??

There was a typo

subset:

He may have used his own hosting plan for it and if so, he probably have other websites there too. In such a case I personally wouldn't give you the cpanel access. if this is the case, buy another host and transfer the files.
Hope you find this helpful

For a second, when i saw this topic on FP, i thought the OP was referring to me until i clicked on the thread to realize that it wasn't me cos i and a client i developed a website for is undergoing the same problem right now just that my client is a woman.

She happens to be the wife of a friend who said she wanted a website and we reached some terms, she paid and i got to work but while i was on it, wahala started...

1. She started making outrageous demands like wanting to have a chat interface on the website (we never talked about that when before i started o) which means extra work for me...but due to the cordial relationship i had with her husband, i obliged.

2. I was making use of Wordpress in developing her website and each time i use a theme, she would complain she did not want it and i would have to change only for her to complain about the color which i would change and then she would complain about something else again. ( i ended up using about 6 different themes in the end)

3. Finally after 3 torturing months, i finished the site complete with a forum using Simple Machines (the type that powers Nairaland) and everything was working perfectly well until she started making demands for the admin Username and Password. I as a developer do not under any circumstances give those credentials to the client because of professional reasons so i decided to just give her the Wordpress Super Admin access instead though i created an account on Wordpress which allowed her to post articles as the owner but she was not contented with it.

Giving her the Super Admin for the site was my greatest undoing because just days later, she defaced the site, the logo which was neatly positioned by the left corner became bloated and covered one-third of the website and the worst...THE FORUM DISAPPEARED!

She kept calling me and pestering me to do something about it and by then, i had gotten a contract that saw me developing like 4 other major websites and that became a problem because i had less time to rectify the mess she made on the site. I tried in my spare time to fix it but discovered that the whole plugins were no longer functional and whenever i tried to deploy any script, it gave me a Database Error with Depreciated PHP values.

I had to kill the Wordpress on her account and start the job all over again and came up with something better but left the site with the usual "Hello Dolly" post and told her to kindly start reposting the posts that were previously there and she went beserk insisting i should give her the C-Panel rights to the website.

(Note: the domain and hosting expired last month and i had to renew it for her just to calm her down) but she still insisted that she wants the C-Panel which i made her understand that i could not release it to her because her domain is not the only one being hosted on my account (i make use of DreamHost) but she would hear none of it.

So when she sent me an SMS just this morning, i politely reminded her that i renewed the hosting for her out of my benevolence but if she insists she wants the C Panel Admin rights, then she should pay me first for the renewal before i move the hosting to another company and furnish her with the credentials.


So you see OP, don't blame the developer because these are the kind of problems we encounter. I wonder why you want the access to the database while you are not a developer yourself.

prince3009:
For a second, when i saw this topic on FP, i thought the OP was referring to me until i clicked on the thread to realize that it wasn't me cos i and a client i developed a website for is undergoing the same problem right now just that my client is a woman.

She happens to be the wife of my friend who said she wanted a website and we reached some terms, she paid and i got to work but while i was on it, wahala started...

1. She started making outrageous demands like wanting to have a chat interface on the website (we never talked about that when before i started o) which means extra work for me...but due to the cordial relationship i had with her husband, i obliged.

2. I was making use of Wordpress in developing her website and each time i use a theme, she would complain she did not want it and i would have to change only for her to complain about the color which i would change and then she would complain about something else again. ( i ended up using about 6 different themes in the end)

3. Finally after 3 torturing months, i finished the site complete with a forum using Simple Machines (the type that powers Nairaland) and everything was working perfectly well until she started making demands for the admin Username and Password. I as a developer do not under any circumstances give those credentials to the client because of professional reasons so i decided to just give her the Wordpress Super Admin access instead though i created an account on Wordpress which allowed her to post articles as the owner but she was not contented with it.

Giving her the Super Admin for the site was my greatest undoing because just days later, she defaced the site, the logo which was neatly positioned by the left corner became bloated and covered one-third of the website and the worst...THE FORUM DISAPPEARED!

She kept calling me and pestering me to do something about it and by then, i had gotten a contract that saw me developing like 4 other major websites and that became a problem because i had less time to rectify the mess she made on the site. I tried in my spare time to fix it but discovered that the whole plugins were no longer functional and whenever i tried to deploy any script, it gave me a Database Error with Depreciated PHP values.

I had to kill the Wordpress on her account and start the job all over again and came up with something better but left the site with the usual "Hello Dolly" post and told her to kindly start reposting the posts that were previously there and she went beserk insisting i should give her the C-Panel rights to the website.

(Note: the domain and hosting expired last month and i had to renew it for her just to calm her down) but she still insisted that she wants the C-Panel which i made her understand that i could not release it to her because her domain is not the only one being hosted on my account (i make use of DreamHost) but she would hear none of it. So when she sent me an SMS just this morning, i politely reminded her that i renewed the hosting for her out of my benevolence but if she insists she wants the C Panel Admin rights, then she should pay me first for the renewal before i move the hosting to another company.


So you see OP, don't blame the developer because these are the kind of problems we encounter. I wonder why you want the access to the database while you are not a developer yourself.

Thanks, we're on the same boat.

lincolnpix:


Hello 4llerbuntu,

Made a mistake not making this clear earlier... Paschal have access to the CP with majority of the features, what he doesnt have is the permission to access the Database.

Once again, guys no need of blatant attack that’s clearly rude and outrageous, go through my response.

Cheers.

You have a very unrepentant personality, and you make it seem as if you have done or doing the right thing. Something tells me you are nothing but an average software developer. So, in the first instance, why has your client paid you? If you would be confiscating all the necessary resources which were supposed to the the project's deliverables? Of what essence is them paying you? I didn't read any part of the so-called contractual agreement where you were being recognized as a top stakeholder of the startup, but a mere, low-level stakeholder (developer) who the site's development was only being outsourced to and paid for the same service rendered.

I'm sure you are holding onto the fact that all your terms of service were spelt out in an ambiguous manner as contained in the bogus contractual agreement you lured your client to sign, whom out of sheer friendship had banked so much on your honesty, reliability and professionalism to deliver a great job upon the project's completion date, despite several schedule slips which is a failure from your own side as the project's developer.

The fact remains, you took advantage of your client's naivety and trust, which is a dent to your image as a human, how much more a professional as you'd wrongly called yourself.

lincolnpix:


Hello elohorayodele,
he's not really my friend, but i got what you mean. This is my first time experiencing such a cowardice.

Mr., if you were very explicit about what you mean about who owns the codes, there's no way in the world he will agree to it.

Meanwhile, that contract still has a lot of holes that is not in your favor, its just that stress of following it through might not be worth it for OP at the end of the day.

Licensing something to somebody doesn't mean the person can't posess it.

Now you say you are only keeping the DB, is that a source code too? I thought you are concerned about people copying your codes. Why not be plain that you want to hold him Ransome.

ghettodreamz:


You have a very unrepentant personality, and you make it seem as if you have done or doing the right thing. Something tells me you are nothing but an average software developer. So, why has the client paid you, if you would be confiscating all the necessary resources which were supposed to the the project's deliverable? Of what essence if them paying you?

I'm sure you are holding onto the fact that all your terms of service were spelt out in an ambiguous manner as contained in the bogus contractual agreement you lured your client to sign, whom out of sheer friendship had banked so much on your honesty, reliability and professionalism to deliver a great job upon the project's completion date, despite several schedule slips which is a failure from your own side as the project's developer.

The fact remains, you took advantage of your client's naivety and trust, which is a dent to your image as a human, how much more a professional as you'd rightly called yourself.

Hello ghettodreamz,
thanks for the kind words... infact i'm an average developer.
A question, can you read simple ABC? Go back and go through my replies.

olyivy:

Mr., if you were very explicit about what you mean about who owns the codes, there's no way in the world he will agree to it.

Meanwhile, that contract still has a lot of holes that is not in your favor, its just that stress of following it through might not be worth it for OP at the end of the day.

Licensing something to somebody doesn't mean the person can't posess it.

Now you say you are only keeping the DB, is that a source code too? I thought you are concerned about people copying your codes. Why not be plain that you want to hold him Ransome.

Thanks for ur contribution, i disagree with your conclusions.

lincolnpix:


Hello elohorayodele,
he's not really my friend, but i got what you mean. This is my first time experiencing such a cowardice.

Hi Lincoln,
truth is you know he won't have agreed to the contract if he saw/understood those clauses, can't blame you as its a contract though

How is holding access to the database protecting your copyright? Did you "write" the database engine?

elohorayodele:


Hi Lincoln,
truth is you know he won't have agreed to the contract if he saw/understood those clauses, can't blame you as its a contract though

I will blame him. If he is honest, he should make it verbally clear to the guy before even presenting the contract.

I almost gave this same developer a job a couple of months ago. What put me off was his quote. I for enter one chance

lincolnpix


Whatever it is you're doing, he must not pay you monthly,

And you have no right to shutdown the site because of payment, I hope you know that?

elohorayodele:


Hi Lincoln,
truth is you know he won't have agreed to the contract if he saw/understood those clauses, can't blame you as its a contract though

No no, contract accepted 5 months prior to site launch a year ago.

lincolnpix:


Hello elohorayodele,
he's not really my friend, but i got what you mean. This is my first time experiencing such a cowardice.

i won't call it cowardice, he was simply negligent by agreeing without reading properly.

To avoid these situations its better you always explain to your intending clients your terms so they don't feel short-changed after the job's been done. Trust me, few would agree to these terms if they are explained to

Imanuelle:
lincolnpix


Whatever it is you're doing, he must not pay you monthly,

And you have no right to shutdown the site because of payment, I hope you know that?

Hi Imanuelle,
sure you've went through this thread?

lincolnpix:



No no, contract accepted 5 months prior to site launch a year ago.

yeah i understand that, but you and i know he won't have agreed if he understood it.

olyivy:

Licensing something to somebody doesn't mean the person can't posess it.

Now you say you are only keeping the DB, is that a source code too? I thought you are concerned about people copying your codes. Why not be plain that you want to hold him Ransome.

I want to believe he was being paid to work on the project ground-up, which means it wasn't agreed upon for him to deliver the project as a service (meaning, client subscribe to using the service, with monthly/annual payment). If he had developed the application by himself before his client had approached him for the same, it's a different thing. That way, he can sell the developed app to them at whatever agreeable fee between them; and as such he has the right to withdraw or terminate such service if the same client failed to respect the agreement between them or defaults.

An e-commerce app is a DB-driven software application, and without the DB, the website is useless. For an e-comm web app, DB is as important as the mitochondria which is the 'powerhouse' of the cell.