Who Owns Your Website (and How to Check)

You’ve been paying for your website for years. But if you decided tomorrow to switch providers, what could you actually take with you? For many business owners, the answer is: almost nothing. The domain name is registered under the agency’s name, the hosting lives in their account, the source code was never handed over.

The real owner of a website isn’t always the person who paid for it. And most businesses find this out at the worst possible moment — when the relationship with their provider starts to break down.

This article shows you how to check, in a few minutes and without any technical skills, who really holds each piece of your website.

A Website Isn’t One Asset — It’s Four

When we talk about ownership, we picture a single object. In reality, your website rests on four distinct assets, and each one can belong to a different party:

• The domain name — your address (mycompany.lu). Registered with a registrar, under a specific holder’s name.
• The hosting — the server where the site’s files live. Tied to a customer account with a hosting provider.
• The source code — the files that make up the site itself. Protected by copyright.
• The content and media — texts, photos, logo, videos. Each with its own legal status.

Losing one of these assets doesn’t mean losing everything. But any one of them can become a point of leverage if someone else controls it. That’s why it’s worth checking all four, one by one.

Check Who Holds Your Domain Name (WHOIS)

The domain is the most important asset — and the easiest to verify. Domain ownership is recorded in a public database called WHOIS.

For a .lu domain, go to the Luxembourg registry’s lookup tool (whois.dns.lu) and type in your domain. For a .com or a .eu, use ICANN’s tool (lookup.icann.org).

Look at the “registrant” field:

• Your company appears: good sign. You are the legal owner of the domain.
• The agency’s name appears: the domain belongs to them. You use it, but you don’t hold it.
• The data is hidden: ask your provider for a screenshot of the registrar account showing the registrant.

A domain registered under the provider’s name isn’t necessarily malicious — it’s often just convenience. But as long as the registrant isn’t your company, you depend on their goodwill for every renewal and every transfer.

Whoever Pays for Hosting Controls Your Files

Hosting isn’t something you own — it’s something you rent. So the question isn’t “who owns the server?” but “who controls the account?”.

A simple test: look at your invoices.

• You pay a hosting provider directly, with an account in your name: you’re in control.
• You pay a flat monthly fee to your agency: the site most likely lives inside the agency’s account, alongside other clients.

The second situation is common and perfectly legitimate. But it has one consequence: if the relationship ends, you have no direct access to your files, your backups, or the email addresses tied to your domain. Ask now where the site is hosted, and whether you can get access or a recent backup copy.

The Source Code: Where Is It, Really?

This is the part nobody sees — and the legal point almost everyone gets wrong: by default, code written by a provider belongs to the provider. Copyright arises with the creator. Paying for the work does not automatically transfer intellectual property — that requires a written assignment clause.

Three questions to ask your provider:

• Where is the code stored, and can you receive a complete copy?
• Does the contract include an assignment of rights over the code?
• Does the site run on the provider’s own proprietary platform?

The third point is decisive. If your site is built on an in-house tool that only the agency operates, there may be nothing portable at all: if you leave, you start from zero. Better to know that before you need to.

Content and Media: The Grey Zone

Texts, photos, logo, videos — each element has its own status.

• The texts you supplied belong to you, no debate.
• The texts the agency wrote follow the same rule as the code: without a written assignment, copyright stays with the author.
• Stock photos are often licensed — sometimes purchased through the agency’s account, which makes the licence non-transferable.
• Your logo: if the provider created it, check that an assignment of rights exists somewhere.

A simple habit: keep your own copy of every text and every image on your site, along with proof of purchase for any licences. It’s ten minutes of work that can prevent weeks of deadlock.

The Contract Nobody Reads

Most ownership disputes are won — or lost — on a document signed years earlier. Dig out your contract, quote, or order form, and look for four things:

• a clause assigning intellectual property (code, design, texts);
• an exit clause: what gets handed back to you when the contract ends;
• a mention of who holds the domain name;
• the conditions for returning access (hosting, analytics, email).

No contract at all? That’s common, especially for sites ordered a long time ago. In that case, the default rules apply: the content you supplied is yours, the rest is debatable. All the more reason to clarify things in writing now, while the relationship is still good.

Taking Back Control, Cleanly

If your checks reveal that you don’t hold much, don’t panic: the situation can be fixed, and the best time to fix it is while the relationship with your provider is still workable.

In this order:

1. The domain first. Ask for the registrant to be changed to your company’s name, or for a transfer to your own registrar account.
2. Access next. Hosting account (or a complete copy of the site), analytics, Google’s search console, email accounts.
3. A copy of everything. Code, texts, images, database if there is one.
4. Something in writing. Even a simple email confirming ownership of each element is better than nothing.

A serious provider handles these requests without difficulty — it’s your website. If the answers are slow, evasive, or suddenly come with a fee attached, read our guide on recovering your website when the agency stops responding: it walks you through the process, step by step.

How We Work at Slash.lu

At Slash.lu, the rule is simple: everything belongs to you, from day one. The domain is registered under your company’s name, all access is handed over, and ownership of the site is put in writing. A website you don’t own isn’t an asset — it’s a rental in disguise.

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