Delivery of Final Project
Sep 12, 2012
Hi All,
What does it mean to own a
license of a project, in this case of an e-learning course? If the course is sold to my customer and I retain the project's license, what does that entitle me to own?
For example, if you sell an e-learning course to a customer, how do you prevent him/her from selling it to someone else?
In addition, which are the files you provide your customer with when you are delivering the course to him/her? Will this customer be able to publish the files without owning the Articualte software ( I assume the answer is yes, but I have not done this before and would like to be sure).
Thanking you in advance for your insight.
18 Replies
hi helena, I'm not a freelancer but I am interested in the topic because some day maybe that might be a direction i take. Anyway i bookmarked this discussion page a while back: http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/909/3511.aspx, maybe you have you seen this already? I really like what Rob Tait and Cathy Moore shared. Rob's graphic. is really helpful.
Hi, Helena:
I think I can answer the second part of your question. As far as I know, your client can't do much with your course until you hand over the presenter or storyline files. Sure, if you've sent them a preview web-version they can view it forever, but they're not going to be able to put the web review version on an LMS.
Thank you Daniel for your reply. Once they do have the presenter files from me, will they be able to publish the course even without owning the Articulate software? In my case, my client will not be placing them on an LMS, but will have them available on a specific laptop designated for viewing the course.
Helena,
Clients (IMHO) expect to get 2 things:
1> The compiled course
2> The files that were used to build it.
If they want to change the course they will need Presenter/Storyline software.
I often build to this model, "...I build in a way that makes it easy for you to buy the s/w and maintain the changes yourself. Heck - I will even come in for a day or two and teach you how to use the software...".
They then slowly get value, and I get re-employed to do more and more complex pieces.
More fun that way.
Bruce
Saenna,
Thank you for the link. It is very informative and helpful.
As with Bruce, I will hand over the source files and the published course. I believe my skills give added value and o not want the client to be forced to come back to me for updates. I also don't want to act as a backup service for the client, this way they are responsible for the files and I don't have to worry about their files.
i do keep backups on dropbox but they don't need to know that!
The only reason they'd need Articulate would be if they wanted to make edits to your files. Because of the cost, they'd probably go to you for that anyway.
While I'm thinking about it, here's what I deliver at the end of a project:
1. Articulate files
2. PowerPoint files (if done in Articulate Studio)
3. Published to web version of course
4. All audio files
5. Storyboard
6. All images/graphics used
I put all of this stuff on a CD and ship it off to them. I save a copy. If something happens to me, I'd like to think that they could carry on the version of the course.
Phil,
I agree with you in handing over the files and the published work. Now in my case, my customer will not be placing it on an LMS or web site, therefore, I should be publishing it to a CD. Here is my first question... Can you e-mail the published work to yourself in order to place it on a CD from a computer that contains a CD-ROM drive? Here is my second question... Do you charge for each of the CD-ROMs that you customer is creating in order to provide it to his/her teachers? Thanks!
Daniel,
How do your Articulate files differ from your PowerPoint files (if done in Articulate Studio)?
Bruce,
Thank you for your input.
I guess they are not different until they are published. Maybe I don't need to include them. I guess it's more of the articulate.ppta file that I'm thinking of.
Hi Daniel,
What kind of a storyboard do you share with your customer? Does it contain the narration you have used in the course? Thanks!
Thoughts, anyone?
This is something that needs to be understood/agreed with the customer at the start of any project.
Who owns what, and at what point.
Bruce
Yes, Rebecca, if the client has paid for the images. I assume if you purchase a photo of a stock site, it's not cool to give it away, say as a free asset on a blog or whatever.
Question to the Heroes: Where it makes sense to do so, do you insist on purchasing the stock photos so that you can use them for other projects? Of course, maybe it doesn't matter a heck of a lot, because you will probably not want to have much image overlap among projects.
I think you need to be very careful.
Whenever you start a project with a client, you should explain the situation to them.
I have a number of "stock" images I use, which are multi-purpose/multi-course, (e.g. people holding empty banners that I then fill with text).
If I intend using them in a course, I will explain to a client that they can either buy another copy for themselves (for this project, and their own reuse), I/we buy something similar, we use mine and go on "trust", i.e. if they re-use it it is at their risk.
Bruce
Daniel, no, it's not cool to give it away AND it's illegal. Just try reading between the lines on the usage directions that come with most of this stuff!
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