The six parts and who owns each by default
| Part | Owned by default by | What can go wrong | What to insist on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | The registrant named at the registrar | Designer registered it in their name; you cannot renew, move or take it | Registered in your business’s name, at a registrar you can log in to |
| Hosting account | Whoever holds the login and pays | Site lives in the agency’s account; leaving means asking nicely | Your own account, or a written right to a full copy and the credentials on request |
| Code and theme | The author, under copyright, with an implied licence to you | You cannot legally have another developer modify it; you cannot take it elsewhere | Written assignment of copyright, or an explicit perpetual licence to use, modify and move it |
| Design | The designer, as above | The look is theirs; a rebuild elsewhere must start again | Assignment or licence as above |
| Content: text, photos | Whoever wrote or shot it; stock images are licensed to one party | Agency copy cannot be reused; stock licence was in the agency’s name | Assignment of anything written for you; stock licences in your name |
| Accounts: Search Console, analytics, ads, Business Profile | Whoever created them | Years of data and ad history in an account you cannot access | Created under your Google account with the agency added as a user |
Source: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (first ownership vests in the author, with commissioned work not automatically transferred); registrar and platform terms; Cybrial’s own terms, correct at 5 September 2026.
The copyright point most people get wrong
In the UK, paying for creative work does not make you its owner. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act gives first ownership to the author, and commissioned work is not automatically transferred; the client gets an implied licence to use it for the purpose it was made. That covers websites. Unless your contract assigns the copyright in the code, design and content to you in writing, your designer owns them and you have permission to use them, which is not the same as being able to take them to someone else or modify them freely.
Most disputes never get that far, because most designers hand everything over. But the default is the default, and it is why the question belongs in the contract rather than in goodwill.
Platform sites: licensed, never owned
A site on Wix, Squarespace or Shopify is not owned by anyone but the platform. You licence it monthly. You can export your content and, on Shopify, your products and orders; you cannot export the site. That is a fair trade for simplicity, provided you know it before you build three years of pages there. The CMS guide sets out where each platform sits.
How to check yours in twenty minutes
- Domain: look it up on Nominet’s WHOIS (.uk) or any WHOIS/RDAP tool. Is your business the registrant? Do you have a registrar login?
- Hosting: do you have a login to the hosting account? Is the invoice in your name? If not, who would you email to get a copy of the site?
- Code and content: read your contract or the designer’s terms for the words “assign”, “licence”, “intellectual property” or “copyright”. Silence means the default.
- Stock images: were they licensed to you or to the agency? An agency licence does not cover your use after you part.
- Accounts: who is the owner (not just a user) on Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta Business and the Business Profile? Owner is the role that matters.
- Write down the gaps. Then ask for each, in writing, while the relationship is good.
If you find you do not own it
Ask, in writing, for the domain to be transferred into your name, for hosting credentials or a full copy, for a written assignment of copyright, and for owner access to the accounts. A cooperative supplier does this in a week. If they refuse, the domain has formal dispute routes (Nominet for .uk, ICANN-accredited registrars for .com) that favour the business trading under the name; the code and content are harder, which is why a rebuild you own outright is sometimes the cleaner answer. Do it before a relationship sours, because that is when leverage exists.
