Wether the client knows it or not, all of the creative assets, text content, and programming methodologies is owned by the development company.

I have debated this issue for a decade now, and each time it comes up, I give the Wedding Photographer analogy...

When you hire a wedding photographer, you are paying for their services and you pay extra for the prints. The copyright and intellectual property is theirs and this is actually how they make a profit. The reprints from the negatives are the property of the photographer, and anyone who wants duplicates of the photos needs to go through them.

The same thing applies to web sites and other designed property... Unless the web designer signs a contract that says the sources files and code will be turned over to the client along with a transfer of copyright ownership, then the work belongs to the designer.

The only way the work is the property of the client is if the job was a "Work for hire"... such as being a full-time employee or having a designer do a commissioned piece... and their should still be a contract signed in both instances.

rp