Hi All,

For a client of mine I hired a programmer who makes use of Drupal. Nothing wrong so far ;-)

Since the collaboration is far from a perfect marriage I'm taking my business elsewhere. Now this guy won't hand over the admin rights to the Drupal CMS and database. He has some lines in his business terms about everything he develops being copyrighted. But I am curious if this isn't against the Drupal GPL? Especially section 8 of the licensing FAQ, which states:

---------------------------------
8: If I write a module or theme, do I have to give it away to everyone?

No. The GPL requires that if you make a derivative work of Drupal and distribute it to someone else, you must provide that person with the source code under the terms of the GPL so that they may modify and redistribute it under the terms of the GPL as well. However, you are under no obligation to distribute the code to anyone else. If you do not distribute the code but use it only within your organization, then you are not required to distribute it to anyone at all.

However, if your module is of general use then it is often a good idea to contribute it back to the community anyway. You can get feedback, bug reports, and new feature patches from others who find it useful.
---------------------------------

Is a programmer allowed to act in this manner? Do self applied terms overrule the Drupal GPL? Does handing over source code equal handing over the admin rights (user/pass)?

He has been paid for the job of course...

Thanks in advance,
Bob

Comments

Jaypan’s picture

He cannot copyright Drupal code. That is against the GPL. However, the question is whether or not he has to give you the source code (Drupal files). You would think yes, but that I suppose would depend on the contract and the law in your neck of the woods. It seems to me that if you hired him to build a website for you, and he is only giving you admin access to the website, he has built a website for himself and is letting you use it. I'd talk to a lawyer in your area for more specifics.

ryivhnn’s picture

If he's given you the files and database (which he should have done because he was making it for you), can you import it to your server, change the creds in settings.php to your server, and then change the email for user 0 to yours and then through the web interface request a password reset?

works at bekandloz | plays at technonaturalist

Jaypan’s picture

That's a good point. I may have misunderstood the original post. To the OP - do you have the files and database, or do you have the admin login info?

Dr.Drizl’s picture

Thanks for the feedback all,

Actually my main question is if this guy is allowed to make any claims on the admin access of the CMS?

Jaypan’s picture

What has he given you, admin access, or the file system?

Dr.Drizl’s picture

I have access to the server/ftp. Also I got a user account to the CMS from him. Just so my client can edit her website content.

Jaypan’s picture

Ok, you're in a good position then. You should be able to bypass this guy altogether.

What don't you have access to right now?

Dr.Drizl’s picture

I have no access to the Admin interface of the CMS… right now I only have access to a stripped down drupal cms interface. Just enough to edit content.

[edit; I'm a graphic designer btw… so I'm not all that deep into the coding matter]

Jaypan’s picture

Do you guys have an agreement? What is the wording of the agreement?

Can you get SSH access to the server? Is it a server you've arranged or him?

Dr.Drizl’s picture

The agreement we have is that he would provide a Drupal based CMS for my client. For the rest he is basing his claims on his terms and conditions which state that the end user is permitted to make use of his work as an exclusive license, but he is the owner of the copyright.

The server can be accessed by me. I changed the ftp access.

Jaypan’s picture

He cannot copyright it as the site is under the GPL, which doesn't allow individual copywriting. And as he has already provided you with the file system, he can't do anything if you take control of the system. If you can get SSH access to the system, or you have access to the database, send me a contact through my contact form and I'll help you recover admin access.

ryivhnn’s picture

Can you get into the database with phpmyadmin or something similar?

eta: or just get Jaypan to help you :)

works at bekandloz | plays at technonaturalist

earnshae’s picture

Admin access is granted to the operator owner of the CMS.

If it is on his hardware or in an instance that he is running on an account he owns. It is his right to restrict access.

If it is on your hardware or in a host that you control, admin access is yours you just need to go through the process of reclaiming it.

Jaypan’s picture

That would not necessarily be true. If the agreement was to provide a site, then only providing partial access to that site would be outside that agreement.

Dr.Drizl’s picture

Thanks so far for your energy people... and thank you Jaypan for the offer. I might take you up on that :) Right now I'm waiting for my legal advisor to give me some advise.

Jaypan’s picture

That's always a good move.

But I'd say the fact that the code is on your server, meaning he has provided it to you, doesn't give him a leg to stand on due to the terms of the GPL, which he does not have the right to override. Hopefully your legal advisor will agree with me! Whatever he tells you, please follow up here with more information (as well as your country). The more information we have, the better we can know how to act ourselves in the future, as well as provide advice to others who may run into similar issues.