Recycling Work

[zharrt]

Whats the forums consensus of opinion with "recycling" work from one gig to a next? In my field a lot of the process work is the same, benefits, risks etc so if I have a document I proced from a previous gig, would it be moreally questionable to recycle it and use it as a template for this gig?

[AtW]

It depends if you hold copyright to that document and it's further usage is not restricted by any prior agreements.

In short - most likely not.

[northernladuk]

The only thing worth doing with most of my work is recycling it

[Moscow Mule]

Do it all the time. Usually other people's though, mine crap

[NickFitz]

The only thing worth doing with most of my work is recycling it

WNLUKS

Or, as Fred Brooks has it in The Mythical Man Month: "Build one to throw away; you will anyway." These days it's better to recycle than throw away, so the client gets the first attempt, leaving the working attempt available for Plan A

[TheFaQQer]

If you are the copyright owner, and there is nothing which prevents you from re-using it (e.g. it wasn't produced for a specific client who owns the rights to the work), then there is nothing wrong with re-using work.

I have a code library of common utilities which I wrote in my own time, on my own kit - if they are relevant, then I'll reuse them. The same for common documents which can be used as templates.

If you have produced something for a specific client, and they have paid for it, then you have no legal right to re-use the work for a different client.

[d000hg]

Whats the forums consensus of opinion with "recycling" work from one gig to a next? In my field a lot of the process work is the same, benefits, risks etc so if I have a document I proced from a previous gig, would it be moreally questionable to recycle it and use it as a template for this gig?

Make sure your contract says you own or have unrestricted license to stuff you create or you can't do this. Standard contracts will award all IP to the client so not only do you have to get it in the contract, but make sure the client knows this and won't come after you.

[EternalOptimist]

This is actually a very interesting question.
Assuming there is no IPR angle, and there are no other legal or moral reasons for carring stuff forward, is it a good idea ?

If you dont, you will end up reinventing the wheel, if you do, you can hit the ground running and make a BIG impression.

So its a no brainer - carry your best code/docs with you from gig to gig.

Well thats what I used to believe , but I dont any more. I'll tell you why

I got caught out many years ago, without my disks. So I had to redo all my standard stuff from memory, and when I had finished, I realised that the new stuff was better than my library stuff. because I was more experienced, more aware of maintainability, more aware of self-documentation
etc.

So nowadays, I deliberately do not make and carry a library of my 'golden oldies', I reinvent the wheel every time