Rights of website files/pages for "creator of files/pages" vs "website owner"

[Yrag]

Rights of website files/pages for "creator of files/pages" vs "website owner"

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I had a friend express interest in starting a website to promote their business as a realtor. I told them if they bought the domain name and hosting services that I could prepare the website files/pages. I asked for no payment ... no payment was offered, nor made. It was something I enjoy doing, and I considered I was doing it as "a favor for a friend". We have since had a falling out, and I was considering taking back the files/pages, basically disabling the website. My question is, given the scenario outlined above, can I get in trouble for taking back the files/pages? What are the rules concerning the "rights" to such website files/pages for both parties? Thanks in adavnce for any advice.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I had a friend express interest in starting a website to promote their business as a realtor. I told them if they bought the domain name and hosting services that I could prepare the website files/pages. I asked for no payment ... no payment was offered, nor made. It was something I enjoy doing, and I considered I was doing it as "a favor for a friend". We have since had a falling out, and I was considering taking back the files/pages, basically disabling the website. My question is, given the scenario outlined above, can I get in trouble for taking back the files/pages? What are the rules concerning the "rights" to such website files/pages for both parties? Thanks in adavnce for any advice.

It is always risky for parties to operate without a written contract and why people continue to do this is beyond my understanding. Usually the creator of a website will own the website and this will be spelled out in the terms of the contract. Without a contract, ownership can become fuzzy.

Absent an agreement to the contrary, however, your friend does not own the website's visual design if this was created by you. You would be the owner.

In fact, your friend OWNS very little of his website.

In addition to not owning the website's visual design if you created it, your friend does not own the domain name. He has registered the domain name but the domain name is registered under contract with the domain registrar. Your friend only has exclusive rights to use this name. If images were licensed for use on his site, the license determines what rights your friend holds in these works but, typically, these are non-exclusive limited rights to the images and do not transfer ownership. Your friend also does not own the programming (source) code or the web application that is used to manage the content on the website.

What your friend DOES own is the website content (the text and images) if he has created this content.

So what this means exactly is this: You could breach your oral agreement with your friend and disable the website and, absent a written agreement to the contrary, a court would have to balance his word against yours.