Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Code

The Question Most Business Owners Ask Too Late

Not sure who controls your domain, hosting or website files? Talk to us and we'll help you work it out, whoever built your site.

"Who owns my website?" usually gets asked at the worst possible time. The web designer has stopped answering emails, the site is down, or you've decided to move to a new provider and discovered you can't log in to anything. At that point, the answer depends on paperwork and account settings that were decided years earlier, often without anyone thinking about them.

A website isn't one thing. It's a bundle of separate pieces, and each one can be owned or controlled by a different person. This guide explains each piece, what "ownership" means for it in Australia, and how to make sure your business controls what it has paid for.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For a contract dispute or a specific agreement, speak to a lawyer.

The Five Parts of a Website

Think of your website as five assets:

1. The domain name: your address, such as yourbusiness.com.au.
2. The hosting: the server where the site lives.
3. The code and design: the theme, templates, custom development and the visual design.
4. The content: your text, photos, videos, logo and documents.
5. The accounts: the logins for the domain registrar, hosting, the website's admin, analytics, Google Business Profile, email and any plugins or subscriptions.

You can have full control of some of these and none of others.

1. Domain Names: Licensed, Not Owned

In Australia, .au domain names such as .com.au are administered by auDA, the .au Domain Administration. Technically, you don't buy a .au domain outright. You hold a licence to use it for a registration period, and you renew it.

What matters is who is listed as the registrant, the licence holder. For a .com.au, the registrant must meet auDA's eligibility rules, which generally means an Australian presence such as an ABN or ACN.

Problems arise when:

• A web designer registered the domain in their own name or their company's name.
• The domain is registered to a former business partner or employee.
• The contact email on the registration belongs to someone who has left, so renewal notices go nowhere.

What to do: look up who your registrar is, log in (or request access), and confirm that your business entity is the registrant and that the contact email is one you control. Turn on auto-renew, and keep your payment details current.

2. Hosting: You Rent It

Hosting is a service, not an asset. You pay a provider to keep your website files on a server. The key question is whose account the hosting is in.

• Hosting in your own account: you have a direct relationship with the host. If your web designer disappears, you can still log in, take a backup, or give access to someone new.
• Hosting in your designer's account: common, and not necessarily a problem, especially when it's bundled with maintenance. But you rely on the designer to give you a copy of your site and help move it if you leave.

What to do: if your designer hosts your site, ask what happens when you leave. Will they give you a full backup of files and database, and in what format? Get the answer in writing.

3. Code and Design: Check Your Contract

This is where many people are surprised. Under Australian copyright law, the person who creates a work generally owns the copyright in it, unless there's a written agreement that says otherwise. Employees are treated differently: their work is generally owned by the employer. A freelancer or agency that builds your website is usually a contractor, not an employee.

That means, without a written assignment, the designer or agency may own the copyright in the custom code and design, and you may only have a licence to use it. Many reputable agencies assign ownership on final payment. Others keep ownership of reusable frameworks but give you a licence. Both can be reasonable, as long as it's clear.

There are also third-party pieces:

• Themes and plugins (for example, on WordPress) are licensed from their developers, often with annual renewals. You don't own them, and the licence may be in the designer's name.
• Website builders such as Wix and Squarespace let you use their platform under their terms. You generally can't move the site's design to another platform. You can only rebuild it. If you're weighing this up, see our article on signs you've outgrown Wix.
• Open-source software comes with its own licence terms.

What to do: read the contract or quote you accepted and look for clauses about intellectual property, ownership or licence. If there's nothing, ask your designer to confirm in writing what you own and what is licensed.

4. Content: Usually Yours, With Exceptions

Text you wrote, photos you took and your logo (if it was designed for you under an agreement that assigns copyright) generally belong to your business. But watch for:

• Stock photos: these are licensed, often to whoever bought them. If your designer bought the licence, check that it covers your use.
• Copy written by a copywriter: the same contractor rule applies. Make sure the agreement assigns it to you.
• Photos by a photographer: photographers often keep copyright and license usage to you. Read the terms.
• Images copied from the web: these are a legal risk regardless of who uploaded them.

5. Accounts: The Practical Side of Ownership

Even if you legally own everything, you can be stuck without the logins. Make a list of every account connected to your website, and for each one record who has admin access:

• Domain registrar
• Hosting provider
• Website admin (CMS)
• DNS provider, if different from the registrar
• Business email
• Google Analytics and Google Search Console
• Google Business Profile
• Social media accounts linked from the site
• Plugin, theme and software subscriptions
• Payment gateways and booking tools

Wherever possible, your business should be the owner of the account, with your designer added as a user. This is easy to set up in Google's tools, and it means you can remove access when you change providers.

A Website Ownership Checklist

Use this to audit your current situation:

• The domain registrant is our business entity, and the contact email is ours.
• We have our own login to the domain registrar.
• We know who hosts the site and can get a full backup on request.
• Our contract says who owns the code, design and content, or we have it confirmed in writing.
• Theme, plugin and software licences are in our name, or we know how they'll be transferred.
• We're the owner of Google Analytics, Search Console and Google Business Profile.
• Logins are stored in a password manager the business controls.
• Someone in the business is responsible for renewals.

What to Ask Before You Hire a Web Designer

Before signing, ask:

1. Who will be the registrant of the domain?
2. Whose account will the hosting be in?
3. Who owns the code and design on final payment?
4. If I leave, what do I get, and in what format?
5. Are there any licences, such as themes, plugins or fonts, that I'll need to renew?
6. Will I have admin access from day one?

Our guide on what to look for in professional web design services includes more questions to ask. If you're planning a new site, a clear website brief is a good place to record your answers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my web designer own my website?

It depends on your agreement. Without a written assignment, a contractor generally keeps copyright in the code and design they create, and you have a licence to use it. Many designers assign ownership on final payment. Check your contract or ask for written confirmation.

Can I move my website to another provider?

Usually, yes, if the site is on a platform that can be moved (such as WordPress or custom code) and you can get the files and database. Sites built on proprietary builders generally need to be rebuilt elsewhere.

What happens if my domain is registered in my designer's name?

Ask them to transfer the registrant details to your business. If they won't, or can't be contacted, contact the registrar and auDA's complaints process for guidance.

Do I own my Google Business Profile?

Your business should be the primary owner of the profile. If someone else set it up, ask them to transfer primary ownership to an account your business controls.

Get Clarity on Your Website

If you're not sure what you own or who controls it, contact BudgetByte. We can help you audit your accounts and, if you're moving, plan a clean handover. See our services for what we build and maintain.

Related guide: .com.au Domain Eligibility Explained

Related guide: Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for Business

Related guide: How to Transfer a .com.au Domain Safely