intellectual property rights?..vb6 program..

Go Vince!

Since the project is a group project for school, technically ALL the work involved in the project belongs (a) to the school and (b) collectively to all the members of the group (unless you signed anything specifically to the contrary). Since it is group work, all members of the group should, by right, have a copy of all the code and documentation. If, however, they intended to use the code (or to modify it) for 'personal gain' (in other words, in order to sell it or make money out of it) then they would certainly need the permission of the other group members and probably of the school as well. It is a well accepted principle in business that, if a programmer is employed by a company and produces code for that company in company time, it is the company that owns the code, not the programmer (unless the contract specifically stated otherwise). The same principle could be legally argued to be true in the case of a student or students producing code (or anything else) for coursework. Most schools and colleges would not, in fact, be opposed to someone using the code elsewhere but it would only be fair and polite to ask for a letter from the school allowing its use. It would certainly be proper to ask for the permission of the other members of the group who cooperated in the project, in whatever way.