Make sure you have copyright and control over your website
These shocking quotes are from a local web design company’s FAQ:
Q: Copyright?
A: All website designs, logo designs etc come under the copyright of (company name) and no unauthorised use of any image or any other design feature may be copied, reproduced or referenced without prior authorisation.
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Q: Who owns the website once completed?
A: All website designs are the property of (company name), the client owns the ‘domain name’ and rents the host space Unlike other web designers we offer our clients the right to buy the website design should they ever wish to leave (company name).
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Q: How long will I be committed to (company name)
A: Any website design deal undertaken by (company name) will require, as part of our terms and conditions and per the detail of each individual website design deal, the commitment of a 12 month period, after which any client can leave (company name).
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These terms and conditions are simply horrendous and we cannot believe any business would agree to engaging a company that offers such terms. If you are thinking of doing so then please be aware that this is NOT industry standard practice and is possibly not even legal.
How can this company get you to pay them good money to design a website and then tell you that you don’t own the design, don’t own the copyright to the content and cannot transfer the site to another hosting provider? They say this is ‘unlike other web designers’. Damn right it is. How can they have the cheek to offer to sell you a website you have already paid for?
Compare this with our T&C:
All files created, html, graphics and any other, remain the property and copyright of Webcraft UK Ltd until the final invoice is paid in full. Once payment is received full intellectual title to all files, graphics, HTML and site structure will transfer to the client.
We also allow and will facilitate transfer to another host at no charge to the client any time after the final invoice has been paid.
Please don’t accept any lesser terms when choosing a web design company. There is no point in paying good money to have a website built only to discover it is not actually yours at all.