Who legally owns the content on a website

I have been doing a freelance seo and web design contract for a client, this has gone on many months lomger than it should have due to them messing me around. I finally got the finished site up a couple of weeks back and when i emailed them an invoice last week for the paypal them did not reply, i have emailed them several times a day since and no reply.

I still have the ftp information for their server, so would i be in legal safe ground to remove all the work i have done for them form their server and store it until they have paid me the fees? The way i view it is that the content is legally mine until they pay me, in which case the ownership transfers to them.

Anyone got any thoughts on this please

 

It really depends on the contract you had with them. If they have provided FTP information to you to complete your work, you could just take your work down and upload a password protected zip file with your contents back to the server. Once they pay you you could provide the password and the case is closed. The thing is: I am sure you got the FTP info to "deliver" the project, so I would do just that and deliver a password protected zip til you get the payment. After all you are not "guessing" their access data etc so you should be safe since it's not like hacking etc.

Good luck!

 

i think i will try a sutle approach and rename the index.php file so the site loads ith a 'fiel not found' error. Be interesting to see how fast they contact me then! they even had the check to forward on a domain renewl email the other day and ask if they still needed that. Replied in a polite manner im here to do one domain for you, it is up to you if you want to keep the others. If you want it renew it, if you dont then dont renew it

 

They don't pay you. You have the right to do what you want. He won't be able to do anything, he never paid you.

 

I would delete everything off the server until they pay, definitely.

 

As usual, IANAL. Ownership of the content should have been spelled out in any contract or agreement you had with your client. In most cases i've seen like this, where the client takes delivery of content but fails to pay, the law sees that you delivered good/services to the client, so the client owns the materials. But your fees are now past due for services rendered. I'm afraid the only recourse you have is to hope the client pays or attempt to file a Small Claims depending on your state and the amount of the transaction.

Oh, you cannot just ftp back into the clients site and change or delete files. That's so not legal. The client can turn around and counter-sue you for trespassing and tampering.

Again, im not a lawyer and your best bet would be to investigate small claims court proceedings and/or speak to a qualified business law attorney.

 

Why would he sue him? He never paid to begin with!

 

This is tricky without a contract. You can't go into the server and delete files that you did not create. I'm not sure if it's trespassing if you go into the server and take the files you did create. Did they specify when you are not allowed to access their server? If they have not paid you, then the job could be considered in progress, in which case you would still have legitimate server access according to the agreement you made just by taking on this job.

Since the job was not paid for, there has not been a transaction, and that content should therefore still be your property. What happens when you don't pay your credit card bills? The agency sends repo men to take away the stuff you bought. I don't see how this is any different unless they change the login on the FTP, in which case they have clearly attempted to prevent you from altering the content. Then it's time to go to small claims court.

IANAL