Who is the legitimate owner?

[laboroflove11]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
a few months ago, I was offered help from my friend "Jane Doe" because I had a business Idea that needed a website. She said she could make the website happen and I had a secured domain name and she set up a hosting site arrangement with a company called Homestead. She was not keen on my website name and asked if I minded using a name which she suggested. I liked the name and agreed to let her set up the site, I paid for the domain registration in a Master Card Debit card, which she used with my permission. She proceeded to set up the site and I was not given access, and I asked if I could and she said no. A few weeks later, 3 I believe, over a personal dispute we had not involving business she pulled the site, and I contacted the Host company and because I am the one that was listed by them as the client monetarily I was granted full access. She tried to log in and found out that the site was now inaccessible to her and became irate and made threats of the defamatory kind, and I calmed her and assured her I would be happy to grant her access again if she would just repost the site. As a token of appreciation I was offering her a percentage of the net revenue for life. Now yesterday I gave her an accounting of the revenue and it is not much but we are babies and the business is just now starting to get hits, and calls. She wanted me to give her a car for the work she has done, and I told her that I have thousands in equipment and software invested and she has sweat equity. She feels entitled and now she is saying that because she created the name that she is entitled to the site and any future development and has change the password and access, removed my number, and she thinks that she is entitled to controlling it and the company's future. She has threatened a suit if I did not agree. I have not agreed. I had filed with the IRS as a sole proprietor under the name of the web business, weeks ago. My question is can she claim ownership for creating the name?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
a few months ago, I was offered help from my friend "Jane Doe" because I had a business Idea that needed a website. She said she could make the website happen and I had a secured domain name and she set up a hosting site arrangement with a company called Homestead. She was not keen on my website name and asked if I minded using a name which she suggested. I liked the name and agreed to let her set up the site, I paid for the domain registration in a Master Card Debit card, which she used with my permission.

You and Jane Doe didn't get your business arrangement in writing, did you? If the domain name is registered in your name, the domain name remains yours.

She proceeded to set up the site and I was not given access, and I asked if I could and she said no. A few weeks later, 3 I believe, over a personal dispute we had not involving business she pulled the site, and I contacted the Host company and because I am the one that was listed by them as the client monetarily I was granted full access.

Disputes are not uncommon when friends try to form a business together. This is why it is important to get agreements in writing. Did you pay your friend for creating the website for you? It is possible that your friend retains all rights in any creative or original elements of the site that she created, absent any agreement to the contrary.

She tried to log in and found out that the site was now inaccessible to her and became irate and made threats of the defamatory kind, and I calmed her and assured her I would be happy to grant her access again if she would just repost the site. As a token of appreciation I was offering her a percentage of the net revenue for life.

Was your offer a written offer, agreed to and signed by both of you, that noted your friend was entitled to the percentage of the net revenue and that she was entitled to this revenue "for life?"

Now yesterday I gave her an accounting of the revenue and it is not much but we are babies and the business is just now starting to get hits, and calls. She wanted me to give her a car for the work she has done, and I told her that I have thousands in equipment and software invested and she has sweat equity. She feels entitled and now she is saying that because she created the name that she is entitled to the site and any future development and has change the password and access, removed my number, and she thinks that she is entitled to controlling it and the company's future.

Your partnership with this friend is certainly not working out, is it? I assume you did not give her a car.

She has threatened a suit if I did not agree. I have not agreed. I had filed with the IRS as a sole proprietor under the name of the web business, weeks ago. My question is can she claim ownership for creating the name?

Your friend can threaten to sue and your friend could file a suit against you. Nothing can really prevent that. And, if you have nothing in writing to say what part of the business belongs to whom, you might have a difficult time regaining control of the website.

Because this is a relatively new business, and it is obviously not working out with both of you fighting to be at its helm, it could be smartest for you to call the whole mess a loss, walk away, and start over. If you choose to start over, you will want all aspects of this next business arrangement in writing, understood by all parties, and dated and signed. It is best to have the written agreement (contract) drafted by a lawyer so that it meets the wants and needs of everyone involved and addresses sufficiently what will happen when disputes arise.

You can also sit down with a business law professional in your area now, for a personal review of what has been created by you and your friend. After a personal review, this lawyer can better sort out the various aspects of the business that can be enforced should the matter wind up in court, and what can't.

Good luck.