I have a scenario where i have coded a module for a client (who has paid for my time to develop it)

The module is to be used with osCommerce which as everyone knows is open source under the GPL licence.

I feel as the code was designed by me i should be free to release it to the community under the GPL licence as well.

The customer who paid for me to develop the script however doesnt see it this way, and the issue was never raised until after the code was completed and delivered, with the customer knowing that i am a developer of oscommerce modules and that everything i have developed for it has been released under the gpl.

without letting this get into a big discussions around the greyness of the GPL where do i essentially stand? in the right or wrong?

Actually, depending on where you coded the software, your code may come under the 'work for hire' clause which stipulates that all work done under a contract becomes the property of the employer (including rights to release) unless specifically stated otherwise in the contract itself.

So essentially, you do not own the copyright to the code -- especially if you didn't have it in writing that the code written will be released under the GPL before work started.

Also, depending on how you handing in the final code, it may or may not be considered a derived work. In either case, your client has the right to distribute it for money or for free. So for example, if you sold them your GPL code, they have the right to distribute it for free without asking you for royalties or such, although obviously they would not distribute it for free.

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
Have any questions?

Who Owns the Website you've Built?
The mere fact that the client paid for the work does not automatically assign him ownership of the site or give him the rights to the source files. But all too often, the question of who owns the Website and source files doesn't come up until the client either asks for the source files, or decides to hire another designer to do some work on the site you built. It's always better to establish this beforehand, during the initial sales process, rather than fight over it after the fact.

Avoid "Work for Hire"
To establish copyright ownership, the first thing you must address is whether the work is to be performed as an independent contractor or as "work for hire." In general, "work for hire" occurs when you are an employee and the work is performed within the scope of your employment. In that case, your employer, not you, has full rights to the work.

But be aware that there are circumstances in which work performed by an independent contractor can be classified as "work for hire." While these circumstances generally don't apply to Web design or development work, it's still best that your contract specifically states the terms under which your work is performed. If you want to retain ownership of your work -- even if you intend to transfer that ownership to the client once he's paid you -- then avoid "work for hire" situations.

For more information on "work for hire," see the U.S. Copyright Website.
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ9.html

In Australia you should look at your local Copyright Law.

More details here:
Bulletproof Web Design Contracts
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/bulletproof-web-design-contract

Just because you were paid does not mean it's classified as a work for hire.

If you made it clear that you would retain copyright either alone or jointly on the code you should be ok.

Otherwise with no documention indicating otherwise technically (&/or morally) it belongs to the client.

Is it worth risking a black eye to your reputation as a professional
(assuming you care)?

It belongs to the client if he pays your salary, your medical care, your computer, software, internet connection, and other things. On this way he is your employer.

As I understand, Snowman30 works as independent contractor and released his work under GPL license.

Not as I understand it:

Example: You paid him 500.00 to depelop a piece of software (module, etc)
when finished he wants to take what you paid him to do, and release it under GPL

This qualifies as a work for hire (atleast in the US)
The customer (the person whom retained him to do the work) retains sole copyright providing:

(1) account has been paid
(2) no stipulations/arrnagements were made to the contrary

My advise would be to contact an IP attorney in your area
or contact the client and request permission to release

The item can be released non GPL.

The Oscommerce GPL will not infect the licence of the script/module as long as it's not included with the release

Thanks for all the info guys

I will clarify the situation a bit more...

I do work as an independant contractor and all my work i have done to this date relating to osCommerce has been released under the GPL.

I also do tech support for a couple of companies and in the process of that i was asked to do take on this work. My employer pays me for my time on salary and the coding was done as part of this. He however allows me to retain my rights to the coding i do.

There was no written contract between the customer and my employer, just a simple helpdesk ticket asking can it be done, how much and please procced. The customer paid for the time to develop the module at a fixed hour rate.

Then fight for your rights :)

I think you can always do a mutual agreement with your client.

put profit into the scenario and see how it sounds: would it be appropriate to be paid by the customer to code something, then sell it for your own gain?

whos selling though? the customer paid for my time to develop a module for oscommerce... i dont sell my modules, never have and never will... ( i do offer an install service however) its the whole reason i joined the osC community...

My point is the customer aggreed to the osCommerce licence whenthey installed it, they made no reference they wanted the code hidden or anything, i used GPL code snippets in building the code so i already had to comply with the GPL licence myself and on the top of each file released it clearly states that its released under the GPL and they have edited those files so have seen this message and no secure or private info from the customer was released to the public...

Im not trying to be a P%#^K about it and im sure they arent either... i just need clarification that my position is for most intents and purposes correct.

Oh and the code i released doesnt help the customer make any extra money or give any strategic advantage over any other user of osCommerce...

This kind of stuff is what keeps people away from GPL software.

If someone paid you some amount of money to create something and you then turned around and released it to everyone simply because you could most people would be pretty upset to say the least. I'm sorry, I don't care what the GPL says; if someone pays you to write some code for them they own that code, not you. If you want to write modules for Oscommerce and release them to the public do it on your own dime or do what a previous poster does; release the module and then charge for the install service. If your intent was to release this code to the Oscommerce community all along you should have told your client before they paid you.

Unless you have paper somewhere stating you retain rights to the code you've been paid to written you're SOL as I understand it. Ink is about all that counts.

It does boil down to paper at the end, however it's also about ethics.

If anyone paid you to do work for them, they initially own whatever they have gained out of you. - Why? - Because they have paid you.
How do they secure this? - A contract.

Now, we know contracts rule the world, however, ethically it's *right* not to release the EXACT code he bought despite there being no contract around.