We recently had a situation where a client had his website taken back by their web designer due to a dispute over fees. The contract which was prepared at the time of the design of the website clearly stated that it belonged to the web designer and that title never transferred back to the party who paid for the website. This is a common situation and most people are not aware that they don’t own either the website or the domain which they have just paid for.
Prior to entering into an agreement for a website to be build you need to understand exactly what you will own at the end of the process, this needs to cover the domain, the intellectual property, shopping carts and google adwords accounts, all of these need to be considered and you need to ensure that you are in control.
Often the contract for supply may be silent on issues such as control and ownership, what is required for a transfer of the intellectual property and what happens where there is a dispute over fees or costs.
Failing to review the contract prior to the work starting can be costly, ask us for a contract review and ensure that your website is yours.
