Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois
Right of ownership for web site
I've read of web developers removing their work from a client's site after the client has been slow or refused to pay. Does a web developer have this right? Or is the content, the graphics, the design, etc. owned by the client even before paying in full?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Right of ownership for web site
I see lawguru is getting way behind on sending inquiries to attorneys for response. Yours just came today, nearly two months after you submitted it.
The content created by a web developer is owned by the developer. Content created by the client is owned by the client. The service of putting the content on the website is a service of the web developer which the web developer would be free not to provide without payment. So, yes the web developer should be able to take off content if the client fails to pay, regardless of who owns the content. It is kind of like the electric company turning off the lights if you don't pay your electric bill or the ISP turning off your site if you don't pay your web hosting bill. This one is really just common sense.
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