A disproportionately high number of clients at our monthly IP clinics are web designers. Most of them come to us because they had a dispute with a customer though some consult us upon the recommendation of a Business Link or other business support agency advisor.
A website is essentially a computer program that generates text, sounds and images on a browser. Accordingly, a web design contract is a special type of software development contract (see “Computer Supply Contracts”). As with all software development contracts, a web design agreement must provide for acceptance, payment, ownership of intellectual property, warranties and indemnities. We draft and review web design agreements as can be seen from the case histories below.
Web designers often provide other services such as hosting and search engine optimization. We draft terms and review terms and conditions for those services as well. Sometimes, they ask us to draft website access terms, privacy statements and terms and conditions of business for their customers. We discuss these in more detail in “E-Commerce” and “Data Protection”.
Whenever there is a significant development in the law relating to web design, or whenever we discover a point of law that we would like to share with the industry and its other professional advisors, we will at least blog it. If we think it is sufficiently important we may even publish an article or special feature on the topic. Also, from time to time we hold conferences and seminars on the legal issues affecting web design.
If you would like to receive updates on IP law relating to web design and news of our conferences and seminars, please complete this form.
Case Histories
Jane Lambert “Drafting Terms and Conditions for a Web Designer who provided other Services”
Jane Lambert “Reviewing Terms and Conditions for a Web Design, Web Hosting and Internet Marketing Service”
NIPC Law 