General Discussions

**ORIACO** · 05-06-2007, 06:15 PM

I've been approached recently by a local business owner who is unhappy with his current webmaster, and is looking for somebody new to manage his site.

Before I agree to the job though, I need to get a feel for any possible legal issues that could arise from this. The guy who currently manages the web site designed it himself, and takes care of the hosting. If we pull the files from his server and move them to a different host provider, but the the content essentially unchanged (at least, for now...), am I opening myself and/or the business owner up to a possible law suite from the person who originally designed the site? The posted copyright denotes the business name, and not the name of the webmaster/host provider.

Thanks for any advice you may have for me.

**KML9870** · 05-06-2007, 11:28 PM

You have to check the written agreement he has with his current provider. If the copyright is in his name, strictly speaking there shouldn't be an issue, he should be the legal owner of the content. That can change however, based on an agreement he signed when the site was designed. Is the domain registered in his name? How does the agreement stipulate ownership? These are the questions you need to get answers to.

**ADAM Web Design** · 05-07-2007, 12:09 AM

I can give you a partial answer, but this will depend on the state/province under which your prospective new client does business.

In Ontario, any work that is commissioned is the property of the person/company that commissioned the work, not the person who actually did the work. Even if the commissioner doesn't pay the designer/developer, it still belongs to the commissioner.

Other than that, what Kandi said.