Consumer Law, Warranties verbal contract

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softwaredev

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I am a software developer that was hired by a small company to write a program for them. We had a work for hire agreement that consisted of only the first version. I wrote the program and was paid according to the terms of the agreement.
Then I was verbally told by the 2 managers of the company that I would be paid $20K for the next upgrade to the software. I was not told of specifics with regards to what the upgrades needed to be. It was pretty much left up to me since I knew the software and had good communications with all of the clients as to their needs and wants. I proceeded with the upgrades and released them to the existing client base. What I was told by management also shows up in the minutes of a company meeting held around that same time. I have been doing various upgrades for about 4 years. There is no work for hire agreement after the initial version was written.
I have decided to end my relationship with this company and have asked for my money. I have been told that since there is nothing in writing, they don't owe me a dime. "Just because it was 'mentioned' in the minutes does not make it binding."
Do they owe me they $20K and if they decide not to pay me, do I own the upgraded software?

Thanks
 
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Not only is it binding, if you ever took it to court based upon the facts represented, you could very possibly obtain punitive damages and attorney's fees. A verbal contract is binding in the same way that a written contract is binding -- it is just more difficult to prove. A very important matter would be to review your original contract with them and any attorney would want to see this.

You may want to write a very brief letter, certified return receipt demanding payment as agreed. You may be beyond that state and it is possible that you may want to hire a lawyer and subpoena their records. If the record of your agreement appears in the board minutes, they would have significant problems, including fraud charges if you pursued the matter with the DA (which may not go anywhere but is likely to pique their interest).

Regarding ownership of the upgrades, it is diffcult to say who owns what and they could have a problem the same way you do in that the work done for them was not paid for and nor may they have a license to use the parts of the code that you may own. It is possible that you could purse damages for infringment, although this case will probably be settled long before.
 
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