Who Owns Your Website?
Leading service and support outfit, Icomm Technologies, is advising SME’s across the West Midlands to make sure that they are the sole owners of their company website.
Ian Callens, Icomm Sales Manager
A website is an essential business tool for SME’s. We”re regularly urging many of our customers to invest in a well developed, well presented online presence.
“One of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of getting a website designed however is the issue of copyright; who owns the finished website, you or your web designer?”
According to Callens, Icomm’s role as on site service and support specialists to a wealth of SME’s in the Birmingham area has meant they’ve been privy to a number of incidents where companies have been burnt by copyright issues.
“Many firms hire an individual or company to design their website and assume that on completion they own it. This, in fact, is rarely the case. We’ve witnessed a few examples recently where businesses have approached us after losing their website to their last design company when they’ve decided to change designers.”
Icomm is now encouraging local SME’s to sidestep such eventualities by drawing up simple contracts or agreements when outsourcing their website design. “Make sure your contract or agreement with your design firm includes a clause that assigns the ownership of the firm’s work to your business. This agreement must be in writing and you should always make sure the assignment clause gives you complete, unquestioned ownership over every aspect of your website.”
There is a notable exception to this rule, according to Callens; "If one of your employees builds your website, then the business owns that work. If you're not sure whether a web developer qualifies as an employee or as an independent contractor, play it safe and require them to sign a copyright assignment form.
“The bottom line is talk to any potential web designer and make sure you know up front what you will own when the website is finished. A professional web designer should be open and up front on the issues of copyright and ownership and be happy to explain anything you don’t understand.”
If you require any more information please contact our Sales Team on 0121 248 7931.
2007.09.11 (AH)
