Member Article

Do you own your own website?

Yes of course I do; it was commissioned, there were contracts signed and the bill has been paid…

Sakura Berry, Brand Protection Specialist at UDL, one of the UK’s leading firms of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, based in Leeds, helps you ask the right questions to determine if, you do in fact, own your own website.

If you didn’t read those little Ts & Cs for what is probably the main communications channel for your business, you may be in a vulnerable position, as by law, web developers retain the rights for your site unless they are transferred to you.

It is sometimes difficult to comprehend what the contract actually says or what rights it gives to each party. Just to be on the safe side, it’s definitely worth checking the following areas:-

1. Who owns your Domain Name?

Is it registered in the name of your company, in the name of an employee or in the name of the web company who set it up for you? This could be an issue when it comes up for renewal and you’re not in control of it.

2. Are you aware of when it’s up for renewal?

Knowing when your domain name is due for renewal is vital. If you don’t renew it, your url could be taken by someone else perhaps a competitor. It’s a good idea to have your domain renewal set up automatically on a yearly basis.

3. Server use and CMS systems

If your website is built on a system that the web company has developed themselves there could be a clause that states only they can manage your site. This means, that if you wanted to move away from the web company that created your site, you’d have to start again from scratch as they wouldn’t give another company access to their systems. This could be an expensive move.

4. Is the brand that you use on your website free to use?

It is always advisable to conduct an inexpensive trade mark search prior to beginning to use a new brand. By simply using the brand without any background checks you run the risk that you may be infringing third party rights.

5. Can you use ® or TM?

Yes – the TM sign is used to notify third parties that you are claiming rights in your chosen sign. You do not need to have a trade mark registration in place in order to use the letters TM. The ® symbol can only be used in relation to a registered trade mark. Under UK law, it is a criminal offence to use the ® in relation to an unregistered mark.

6. Do you own or have a licence to use the images on your website?

If you are using photographs on your site do you know if you own them or have permission to use them? This is an area where you can very easily get stung. It’s important to read up about image rights and copyright. Licensing an image means you only pay for what you need and is cost effective.

7. Have you downloaded images from the internet?

As a general rule, the creator of the image is the owner unless they have transferred it to a third party. So, before you use an image you must seek permission. You can’t simply download images from the internet to use on your site. Stock photo websites charge a fee or sites such as ‘Flickr’ will usually indicate whether the creator is happy for the image to be downloaded or not.

8. Who wrote the content of the website?

Any text on a website is owned by the person who wrote it- ideally you should try to use your own content as much as possible. Whenever guest content is used, make sure they are fully aware their content is being uploaded to your website. If you’ve used an outside consultant to create the content of your website they will own what they’ve produced for you (unless there is an arrangement in place to assign the copyright contained within the work to you – this would be our recommendation). This means that if your relationship sours, they could potentially stop you using it.

9. Are you pulling in content from other places?

If so, check that this is permitted or if you need to credit the source of where the content is coming from. You can not simply use other people’s work without any reference.

10. Do you have a contract/contracts with developers, copywriters?

Drawing up a contract between you and your web developers will outline specifically what you do and do not have the rights to and sets out how you go about changing or terminating your business relationship.

Do you still think you own your own website?…

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gabriella Smith .