Hi everyone,
Over the last year I and my team built a B2B SaaS app on Bubble. I am quite a fan, and hope to stay on Bubble for a long time.
However, as we start to gain traction, acquire users, generate revenue, and pitch investors, the question of who owns the app/IP keeps coming up. More importantly, what happens if Bubble is no longer a going concern aka goes out of business? How exposed are we to that risk?
After doing research into the various Bubble policies, terms, and other forum posts we understand that Bubble has said the following:
On IP:
- “The basic rule: you own your data. This includes the design of your application and the data that your users upload (pursuant to your own agreement with them, of course).”
- “Bubble apps don’t exist as code in the traditional sense, and can only run on the Bubble platform. There’s currently no way of exporting your application as code. If you decide to move off the Bubble platform, we can provide a raw dump of your application logic and visual design as a JSON file to speed the process of converting your app to a different platform.”
On Bubble as a going-concern:
- “We want to make sure you feel secure about building on the Bubble platform, so, although we plan to be around for a very long time, here’s our guarantee: if for some reason we ever have to close down shop, we will release the Bubble source code under an open-source license so that you can set up your own Bubble server and keep your app running.”
Claims about IP ownership & transferability seem to be adequately addressed in Bubble’s terms, but is there any contractual/legally binding document explaining what happens if Bubble shuts down and how/when they will go about publishing their code base?
I want to continue to build on Bubble with confidence that our work and our business will be protected/secure no matter what happens. I believe in the company, but anything could happen.
Thanks in advance!