I work as an engineer for a pump distributor and have written an Excel
based spreadsheet program which will print out part numbers and prices of
the parts
for any selected pump/options combination of one particular pump
manufacturer whom we represent.

I am nearly finished with the program and am currently working out
small bugs in it. I would like to market and sell this program to other
pump distributors across the USA that also sell this brand of pump.

I'm an engineer and not too familiar with legalities. Is this legal?
Would I need a special license or permission to do this? Any advice is
appreciated.


Greg

As I understand it, anytime you create a spreadsheet it is automatically
your copywrite and you can market as you like. You just can't give away
Excel to your clients. They must purchase a copy of their own..

I create and sell excel projects to many clients.

--
Don Guillett
SalesAid Software

"Gig" wrote in message
...
I work as an engineer for a pump distributor and have written an Excel
based spreadsheet program which will print out part numbers and prices of
the parts
for any selected pump/options combination of one particular pump
manufacturer whom we represent.

I am nearly finished with the program and am currently working out
small bugs in it. I would like to market and sell this program to other
pump distributors across the USA that also sell this brand of pump.

I'm an engineer and not too familiar with legalities. Is this legal?
Would I need a special license or permission to do this? Any advice is
appreciated.


Greg

Sure. All you will be creating is either a workbook or an addin, not an
executable that can be run without Excel, so any purchaser will need to have
Excel on their machine to run it.. There are multiple examples of that in
these groups, such as John Walkenbach's PuPV6 addin, Charles Williams'
FastExcelV2 addin etc. Be aware though that there is no truly foolproof way
of protecting your data once it has been distributed. Regardless of the
level of protection you put on it, virtually any of the regulars in here
could be into your code in a matter of seconds once the workbook is open.
Don't let that put you off in any way, but do be aware of it.

--
Regards
Ken....................... Microsoft MVP - Excel
Sys Spec - Win XP Pro / XL 97/00/02/03

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gig" wrote in message
...
I work as an engineer for a pump distributor and have written an Excel
based spreadsheet program which will print out part numbers and prices of
the parts
for any selected pump/options combination of one particular pump
manufacturer whom we represent.

I am nearly finished with the program and am currently working out
small bugs in it. I would like to market and sell this program to other
pump distributors across the USA that also sell this brand of pump.

I'm an engineer and not too familiar with legalities. Is this legal?
Would I need a special license or permission to do this? Any advice is
appreciated.


Greg

Sure. All you will be creating is either a workbook or an addin, not an
executable that can be run without Excel, so any purchaser will need to have
Excel on their machine to run it.. There are multiple examples of that in
these groups, such as John Walkenbach's PuPV6 addin, Charles Williams'
FastExcelV2 addin etc. Be aware though that there is no truly foolproof way
of protecting your data once it has been distributed. Regardless of the
level of protection you put on it, virtually any of the regulars in here
could be into your code in a matter of seconds once the workbook is open.
Don't let that put you off in any way, but do be aware of it.

--
Regards
Ken....................... Microsoft MVP - Excel
Sys Spec - Win XP Pro / XL 97/00/02/03

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gig" wrote in message
...
I work as an engineer for a pump distributor and have written an Excel
based spreadsheet program which will print out part numbers and prices of
the parts
for any selected pump/options combination of one particular pump
manufacturer whom we represent.

I am nearly finished with the program and am currently working out
small bugs in it. I would like to market and sell this program to other
pump distributors across the USA that also sell this brand of pump.

I'm an engineer and not too familiar with legalities. Is this legal?
Would I need a special license or permission to do this? Any advice is
appreciated.


Greg

From Microsoft's standpoint, you can do this with no restrictions (they
must have their own legal copy of Excel installed).

I can't speak for the pump manufacturer or your current employer.
Generally, if you develop software as part of your paid employment, your
employer owns the software.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Gig" wrote in message
...
I work as an engineer for a pump distributor and have written an Excel
based spreadsheet program which will print out part numbers and prices of
the parts
for any selected pump/options combination of one particular pump
manufacturer whom we represent.

I am nearly finished with the program and am currently working out
small bugs in it. I would like to market and sell this program to other
pump distributors across the USA that also sell this brand of pump.

I'm an engineer and not too familiar with legalities. Is this legal?
Would I need a special license or permission to do this? Any advice is
appreciated.


Greg

Good point Tom. Must admit I've wondered about that myself before when the
effort had been done in my time and work had had the benefit of it. Trouble
is then there are mods that get made on work's time and so on, so can get a
bit grey I suppose.

--
Regards
Ken.......................


<snip

"Ken Wright" wrote in message
...
Good point Tom. Must admit I've wondered about that myself before when
the
effort had been done in my time and work had had the benefit of it.
Trouble
is then there are mods that get made on work's time and so on, so can get
a
bit grey I suppose.

Hi Ken,

It's been a while since I've looked into the legal ramifications of this
sort of thing. But the last time I did (and this is for US-based developers,
I have no idea how other countries handle it) I discovered that *any*
application development you do is owned by your employer as long as the
purpose of the application is related to the job for which you are employed.
It doesn't matter whether you develop the application on or off working
hours.

My gut feel is that the average employer doesn't have a clue about any
of this and probably wouldn't notice. But if they did notice and took you to
court you would end up on the wrong end of the stick.

--
Rob Bovey, Excel MVP
Application Professionals
http://www.appspro.com/

* Take your Excel development skills to the next level.
* Professional Excel Development
http://www.appspro.com/Books/Books.htm

Cheers Rob. I believe they are pretty hot on that kind of thing over there,
especially if it was done for a Gov't contract. I think anything that was
developed during a Gov't contract using contract funding, the IP
automatically becomes their property. I work for a UK company but with a US
parent and I know our Contracts folks often come across a lot of differences
in the way IP is handled over here vs the US.

--
Regards
Ken.......................

<snip

Maybe the thing to do would be to give the program to a good friend
with no software agreements with an employer and let him market it. My
employer has no knowledge of this program, so they can't lay a claim to
it.

Greg

Rob Bovey wrote:
"Ken Wright" wrote in message
...
Good point Tom. Must admit I've wondered about that myself before
when
the
effort had been done in my time and work had had the benefit of it.

Trouble
is then there are mods that get made on work's time and so on, so
can get
a
bit grey I suppose.

Hi Ken,

It's been a while since I've looked into the legal ramifications
of this
sort of thing. But the last time I did (and this is for US-based
developers,
I have no idea how other countries handle it) I discovered that *any*

application development you do is owned by your employer as long as
the
purpose of the application is related to the job for which you are
employed.
It doesn't matter whether you develop the application on or off
working
hours.

My gut feel is that the average employer doesn't have a clue
about any
of this and probably wouldn't notice. But if they did notice and took
you to
court you would end up on the wrong end of the stick.

--
Rob Bovey, Excel MVP
Application Professionals
http://www.appspro.com/

* Take your Excel development skills to the next level.
* Professional Excel Development
http://www.appspro.com/Books/Books.htm

As long he's a good enough friend to be willing to be a co-defendant
when you're tried for fraud, that may work...

Personally, I'd approach my employer and, without giving any details,
ask if they'd waive any rights to the application. I've had several
employers that were more than willing to do so...

Alternatively, get a good attorney.

In article . com,
"gig" wrote:

Maybe the thing to do would be to give the program to a good friend
with no software agreements with an employer and let him market it. My
employer has no knowledge of this program, so they can't lay a claim to
it.