Who Owns My Website?
You might assume that if you have a website, you own that website, but that’s not entirely true. You’re the owner of any content you create, photos you take, or code you write. But a website is made up of many components, and you can only own some of those components.
If you make your website with one of the Big Name Web Builders, you’ll have less ownership over your site and may lose it altogether if you cancel your subscription. We’ll explain how to make sure you actually have website ownership in the ways that matter.
Copyright Law and Website Ownership
Who owns a website comes down to copyright law. By default, the content, design, and source code belongs to the person who created it. So if you hire a website developer to create your website, the developer legally owns the parts of the website they created, unless your contract specifies that they are transferring ownership to you.
Understanding your website contract
If you want to hire someone to make your website, first make sure you have a written agreement with them and review it carefully. In order for you to have ownership of the website they create, the agreement must transfer ownership from the website creator to you. Otherwise, they retain ownership and are simply licensing the site to you.
The contract should specify that the website is “work made for hire,” which means it belongs to the person or company that hired the website developer, rather than to the developer. Work that is created by employees on behalf of their employer is also usually considered “work made for hire.”
If possible, it’s a good idea to have a lawyer review your website contract before you sign.
Open-Source vs. Proprietary Website Platforms
Another factor of website ownership is whether your site was built on an open-source or proprietary platform. Open-source software is free for anyone to use and modify. So if you build your website with open-source software, you can keep your website even if you switch web hosts.
However, proprietary software is owned by an individual or a company. Most of the Big Name Website Builders use proprietary software, which means:
- If you cancel your subscription, you lose your website.
- The website builder can use, reproduce, or modify your content and share it with third parties.
- The website templates, designs, and source code belong to the website builder and cannot be used on any other platform.
- Your ability to customize the website is limited.
Learn more about WordPress vs. Website Builders.
Why open-source software is better
With open-source software, your website belongs to you, and your customization abilities are limitless. You’ll never be locked into a subscription with a website builder. You can run your website using any web hosting service or even self-host using your own server.
Our website service uses open-source WordPress software, so you can keep your website even if you cancel our service.
Get an Open-Source Website
Parts of a Website You Can Own
You own any parts of your website that you create, whether that’s text, designs, photos, or code. If someone else creates these things for your website, the creator is the owner by default, unless you have a written agreement in which they pass ownership rights to you.
Here are some website components that you can (and should) own.
Content
You own any text content on your website that you write yourself. If the content was written by a person or company you hired, the content is owned by them unless you have a written agreement transferring ownership to you.
Design
Just like with text content, you own any visual design elements, like the layout, colors, and fonts, that you create yourself. Design content belongs to the creator, unless a written agreement transfers ownership.
Photos and videos
You own any photos or videos on your website that you took yourself. Otherwise, they belong to the person who created them. There are a lot of free stock photo websites where you can get photos, videos, and designs to use on your website. While stock photos and videos can typically be used by anyone (depending on the licensing agreement), they’re still owned by the photographer or videographer.
Domain (sort of)
In a technical sense, you can’t “own” a domain. Domains are registered through a domain registrar and need to be renewed (once a year in most cases). However, for simplicity’s sake, the person who registers a domain is commonly called the domain owner.
You can find out who has registered a domain by searching the Whois database and looking at the registrant contact information. If the domain is registered to you, your name or your business name will be listed, unless you’ve chosen to have your registrant information listed as private.
If you aren’t listed as the registrant for your domain (or you aren’t sure), it’s a good idea to reach out to your domain registrar.
Parts of a Website You (Usually) Don’t Own
There are some website components that you don’t typically (or ever) own, including:
Web server
A web server is a computer that stores your website data and makes your site available online. Typically web hosts either run their own servers or use third-party servers like AWS or Google Cloud.
You can own your web server, but that means you’re responsible for maintenance, security, and the electricity costs of running a server 24/7, so most site owners use a web hosting service instead.
Content management system (CMS)
A content management system is a platform used to create the content on a website. There are open-source content management systems, like WordPress.org, and proprietary ones, like Shopify and Squarespace.
You can’t own a CMS unless you created the source code. However, if you use an open-source CMS, like WordPress.org, you can freely use, transfer, and modify the CMS software without being locked into a subscription service.
Third-party widgets
Third-party widgets can be added to your website to provide additional features that your CMS doesn’t have. For example, there are widgets for analytics tracking, SEO (search engine optimization), or adding website features like a search bar, calendar, or live chat bot.
Third-party widgets, as the name suggests, are owned by the third-party company that offers them.
Website Ownership FAQ
Who owns AI-generated content is a complicated question with an answer that’s still evolving. As of 2026, US courts have ruled that completely AI-generated content isn’t owned by anyone and can’t be copyrighted. However, human-created work that contains some AI-generated material may be copyrighted.
If you want to dig deeper into this topic, the US Copyright Office is currently issuing a Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence that explains their policies.
It’s sometimes possible to trace the owner of a website by searching for the domain name in the Whois Domain Lookup. This database typically includes the name and contact information for the person who registered the domain.
However, some domain registrars (like ours) will help domain registrants conceal their name and contact information in the Whois database, in order to protect their privacy.
Who owns the content of a website depends on who created it. You own any content on your website, such as text, photos, and videos, that you created yourself. If your website content was created by a person or company that you hired, the content belongs to them and is licensed to you, unless you have a written agreement that transfers ownership of the content to you.
You automatically have copyright protection for any original content, design, or code that you’ve created for your website.
Many websites, including ours, have a copyright notice at the bottom of the page. Adding a copyright notice to your site can deter people from using your content without permission. However, your original website content is automatically copyrighted, whether you include a notice or not.