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I believe that a person I previously hired to create an iPhone app has stolen the code (Objective-C), which I rightfully own and is using it in an app he released. What should I do? Can I prove that he is using the code? Will Apple care about something like this and take action? I should mention that the person who stole this is located in India (I am located in Europe) and I only have email records (Gmail) about what he did for me.

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27  
In the future, consider hiring local developers. – P.Brian.Mackey Jul 21 '11 at 16:10
1  
Your contract stipulated that you owned the code, not just the app? – DKnight Jul 21 '11 at 16:11
9  
Everybody loves outsourcing until it costs you... apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/20/175220/… – maple_shaft♦ Jul 21 '11 at 16:23
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How about gripe.stackexchange.com? – maple_shaft♦ Jul 21 '11 at 16:40
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@maple_shafte: Or maybe griperantvent.stackexchange.com ? – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Jul 21 '11 at 17:13
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7 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

Well, actually you're on a platform, that is basically fully controlled. If you can convince Apple that the code was stolen (to my knowledge they have the code for review, so it should be feasible), they might remove the app from the appstore.

This is your best take. An alternative would be to sue him in India. That will certainly cost money, time and patience and the outcome is most uncertain.

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1  
+1 for call apple, it is about the one good thing about the closed platform . . . – Wyatt Barnett Jul 21 '11 at 17:23
This answer is the best so far. Thanks! – David Jul 21 '11 at 17:24
up vote 16 down vote

Standard response: Consult an attorney. I would also contact Apple and see what information they can provide you with to help you. Even if Apple can't help you directly, they could point you in the right direction.

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3  
AppleDontCare, at least about this issue, they have no obligation to care about your issue; that's just like calling your ISP because your computer got a virus. – Lie Ryan Jul 21 '11 at 19:38
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@Lie Ryan: It is more like going to a casino boss because somebody at their poker table cheated you. – back2dos Jul 21 '11 at 21:00
up vote 4 down vote

Note: I am not a lawyer, but I have seen companies sue their contractors in India a couple of times and this is my observation. Also, I am in the US and this may or may not apply to European laws.

Bottom line is you might be able to get a ruling against this guy, but extracting money will be next to impossible since he is in another country.

What you might do is go ahead and sue him, and keep track of him in case he ever moves to Europe. Then go about taking action against him.

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The OP stated they are located in Europe. – Bernard Jul 21 '11 at 16:29
Your, right... changing my response. – aceinthehole Jul 21 '11 at 16:30
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+1 on never getting money from him. His standard of living is probably lower than that of an American Wal-Mart greeter. You will never see a dime from him. – maple_shaft♦ Jul 21 '11 at 16:42
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@maple_shaft this is an overgeneralization. Ferrari is selling cars in India at $420,000 a piece. Not everyone is walmart-greeter-poor as you so eloquently wrote. Plus they do have laws that are british-like (remember Ghandi was a lawyer, trained at the University College London) and they are a developing country where the rule of law is improving. – Christopher Mahan Jul 21 '11 at 17:10
I should also clarify that all I am saying is collecting money from a judgement from someone not located in the jurisdiction of the ruling is always difficult. It would be difficult even if the ruling was in the US against someone in Canada, much less India. – aceinthehole Jul 21 '11 at 17:32
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up vote 4 down vote

There are two things to consider here:

  1. Do you actually own the code which he wrote for you? What does the contract say?

  2. Are you sure he used any code? Can you prove anything? May be he wrote a similar program but he didn't use the same source code?

Point 2 is the key. In fact, you might not be able to prove anything. The only way to do that is to disassemble his code, and that might actually break a law or a TOS.

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1. I own the code. 2. I am 99% sure I can prove it if I could view his code. – David Jul 21 '11 at 18:33
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Then you need to investigate the ways to legally see his code. – Boris Yankov Jul 21 '11 at 18:58
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@David But how do you know you own the code? If there's no contract, and this guy has this source code he just wrote and sent to you, what's keeping him from posting it where he wants? You said all you have is some mail traffic. If it contains him explicitly agreeing to not release it or sell it, then you may have a case. – Philip Jul 21 '11 at 21:11
up vote 3 down vote

Keep in mind that copyright and ownership of code is intrinsically granted to the author of said code. If you do not have a contract stipulating that the programmer is deferring this ownership to you then you have no legal grounds (granted, copyright law is always a bit iffy with this kind of stuff, but that's the gist of it).

But, like other people said, your best bet is to go to Apple. They will be more likely to reject his app from their store based on simple liability concerns. However, this won't prevent the programmer from selling/releasing the app via other means.

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up vote 2 down vote

Send him a mail noticing the case and if his response is negative,better you approach a lawyer who have experience in handling programming related cases,hopefully he can help you. Good luck :)

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He is not answering when I contact him. – David Jul 21 '11 at 19:00
up vote 1 down vote

If you have a lot of cash to burn then you can go the law/attorney route. The benefits of this also depend on what type of application it is and if is successful or not.

If the app is not notable then apple is likely to not give as much attention to your complaints especially since you do not seem to have clear evidence of the theft. IMO the best thing to do at this point is learn from your mistake and make sure it doesn't happen again. The cost of hiring an attorney etc. is not worth it. However, if you feel the burning need to get justice then go for it!

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The app is successful with a monthly revenue of 36500 to 41200$ recently. – David Jul 21 '11 at 18:44

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