If you have a website, you may be surprised to discover that you don’t actually own the domain name.
In order to use a domain name of your choice, you need to register it, supply your contact details and pay a small fee. That gives you the right to use the domain with your website for as long as you pay the yearly renewal fee. However, you never actually own it – rather you own the right to use it exclusively. It is rather like having a telephone number. For as long as you have a contract with a telecoms company, you have the right to use your phone number.
Wikipedia describes the process like this: “…domain name registration with a registrar does not confer any legal ownership of the domain name, only an exclusive right of use.”
Whose name should your domain be registered in?
You might think it doesn’t really matter, but the registrant contact is the person who has control over the use of the domain, so who you choose as that contact is really important. Many web designers will offer to register your choice of domain name for you and then register it in their company name. If you fall out with the designer or they go out of business, it may become difficult to gain control of the domain yourself. Similarly, you might set an employee to register the domain for you… which is fine until they become an ex-employee!
When you choose a domain name, you should always ensure that your business’s name and contact information are on the account and on the domain registrant contacts, no matter who registers it. Ideally that will include the business owner’s details.
You can check who is the registered keeper of your domain name by entering it into WhoIs.net
