I'm new to this and have a question about what my client needs. They say that they need the .story file for their LMS. I thought that the published version is all that a client would need. Am I missing something? I want to give them what they need, but also want to protect my work so that they can't just use my files as templates. Need answer asap!

Maybe it depends on whether they've engaged you for a service (to design) or for a product (the final output whether it's published or source file). I'm more concerned about breaching a licence agreement with elearning assets then having the client update the module themselves. I rather they update it themselves to be honest.

I have no problems with that, my clients get the source files at the end of every project. I have no reason to be protective of my content that was developed for them. As far as IP is concerned I have a contract that indemnifies me. What the client does with the source files after they are handed over is beyond my control and I do not worry about it. I am sure I have said above that I hope I add more value to a clients business than just delivering a course/module. I would hope that same client would want to come back to me because of this, if they do not, I don't want to make it any difficult for them to use another freelancer/developer/instructional designer. I costs include the source files being handed over, there is no reduction if they don't want them. I think one of the issues/problems here is that people in our industry get emotionally attached to their files or are frightened that someone will come along and steal their breakfast, the key thing to look at is what value do you bring to the table, and it is that which will keep the client coming back for more.

Yes, I agree Phil. Anyone wanting to become a freelancer doesn't really need my source file to do that. They can learn most of what they need to do that right here on this site! What they can't learn from a source file is reliability, creativity, punctuality, professionalism, etc etc etc. and these are, as Phil says, the very reasons why my clients hire me, us, time and time again.

The point about the camera is valid. Face it, if the client is good enough at design and creation, and nefarious enough in intent to want to use your design to steal your business, they are good enough and nefarious enough to steal it by looking at your finished product. They hired you because they can't or don't want to do this sort of thing; after all, they have a business to run. When I was much younger, I did some opinion writing for newspapers. My biggest worry starting off was that editors would change my output and maybe make it say things I didn't say. An editor who was also a friend laughed at me. His point was that the last thing the editor wanted was more of that kind of work, any editor that has that kind of time and inclination will write the pieces himself. That said, if it is as much work for them to get a product from you, and in the end it looks like something they would have done, then yes, they probably don't need you. There is something to be said about being good enough to make it look easy, but in the end Phil is right. When they look at your product, they need to say "We couldn't do that," or "We couldn't do that that fast," or "We couldn't do that that well." Those are the reasons they hired you in the first place, and if you prove them correct in that original assessment, your work is safe.

The customer dictates the terms of the contract. These types of issues should have been worked out prior to acceptance. For my part, I would hand everything over to the customer, and if they need help making things work, or understanding javascript, then I would offer them that assistance in good faith. I think the only time that becomes an issue is in cases where it had been worked out beforehand that the customer did not get the rights to the source file, then maybe you could charge them an additional fee for that.

Client wants .story (unpublished files) - do they need this?

39 Replies

JeremyKelley
Community Member
5 years ago
I do have an issue giving away my story files.

Let’s say, I pay a local baker to bake me a cake for my daughters’ birthday. Upon pick up of this cake, I pay the baker the amount agreed upon. The baker does not hand over his recipe to me when I pick up the cake. This is the baker’s intellectual property. The baker has spent years and years developing this recipe that’s popular with his customers, which is why they come back to him to get more cakes and how he stays in business. Handing over that recipe to another person can very easily jeopardize his business. His client and anyone that client shares the recipe with can easily duplicate his delicious cake without ever having to go through years and years of training, trial and error and countless hours of hard work improving their skills to get to where the baker is now. In addition, the customer may decide to start making their own cakes, leaving the baker with one less customer.

Another example, when you buy a movie from target, you do not get the get the source and developer file with the CD. Doing that would jeopardize all the years of experience it took for the artistic crew to create an award-winning movie. I could take that file and insert my own media and now with little to no experience could recreate an academy award winner for design putting hundreds and hundreds of artistic developers out of work.

When you ask for the developer file itself you’re also asking to purchase the years and years of experience it took for that developer took to get to that point to be able to create a dynamic course that the client loves. As you can imagine that is costly. This should be industry standard for all professional content developers to keep the source files as their own intellectual property.
MathNotermans-9
Community Member
5 years ago
Although i symphatize with all opinions and do feel everyone has solid points, personally i always want to make projects where i actually can handover source files, so the client can do small changes themselves when needed. In fact i think its the greatest succes if i am not needed anymore :-) I donot want to make small changes myself. I love the challenge of new innovative solutions.

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Client wants .story (unpublished files) - do they need this?

39 Replies

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