So if 2 mates started a business and other one left the business as he did not wanted to be a part of it and had his money pending promised in good faith with promise to transfer the domain when payment is made. Can he be challenged till then on that ownership if it’s owned in personal name ?
Who Owns The Domain Name ?
dealover on 17/06/2020 - 07:40
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But the answer in these questions is almost always google shotgun clause.
Thanks I just did in comments
Is the name trademarked or resembles a company name?
Not trademark but resembles the company website and has its info on it along with emails
Is it a .com.au domain?
Yes please
@dealover: Not a lawyer. But I think in this case he has to transfer the rights to you as he no longer works at the company and is committing theft by using an ABN that does not belong to him.
- 2 mates start a business
- One does not want to be part of the business anymore
- He is owed money and promised in good faith and because he did not want a fight he walks with that
- He owns the domain name in his personal name
- They commit once the payment is made the domain will be transferred
- Can he still claim the domain name through any means even if it’s under personal name ?
- seek legal advice.
Are you the one owed money or the one who doesn't want to pay?
Sounds like the person who owes the money wants to see if they can get away with taking back the domain without paying up the money that was promised in good faith?
I’m the one owed
I think you are saying somebody who is no longer with the business owns the domain, and is owed money.
And they have agreed to sell the business the domain when they are paid.But you want to know if they can change their mind.
The answer is definitely yes. If you have a contract that says the above, you might be able to litigate, but even then, the domain owner can do what they wish until a judge says different.
Offer him an admin fee of $150 to transfer it to you, which will cover the transfer fee and his time in dealing with the registrar chat support. Make your own account with the same registrar in advance to save time and stay on the line if you're asked for a code. Maybe his time is worth a bit more per hour than that, but just offer him what you'd have to pay another website guy to do for you anyway. Get a quote from a highstreet website dealer first and offer him that same price, seems fair.
Given the circumstances above, if I was the domain guy, I’d say sure, but pay me what you owe first.
Does OP plan on not paying him? But OP wants the business to go on, he sees value in it.
I’m the one owed
Who owns the ABN and is the ABN registered under the domain? I've seized dozen of domains on behalf of companies where the web host has gone under or dark to get back their website.
No it’s under my personal account
It's not about who's account it's under. if it's a .com.au domain as you say, then an ABN(or ACN) would have been used to register the domain.
you can check here:
https://whois.auda.org.au/If the ABN used is yours, then you're still safe. they can still challenge you through AUDA, but you can still rebut, AUDA usually sides with the current owner(if you have a legitimate reason). With that being said, I'm not sure if things have changed since Afilias has taken over AUDA.
If the ABN is theirs, then they can put through a request with your registrar to transfer the domain name out of your personal account and into their own account. They will need to provide evidence that they are the owner of the business attached to the ABN that is in turned linked with the domain name.
The answer is yes, he who owns the domain name can be challenged at auDRP to have the domain name transferred to the "company" that is having the same name as the domain name without having the money owed transferred to him.
If this happens, he will need to get legal advise to have the money owed return first before transferring the domain name.
There are also things that you may consider,
1) Was the domain name registered before the formation of the company, if yes, the he personally owns it. If not then the company owns the domain name, he was just merely the administrator of the domain, and upon leaving a company, the company can have it transferred.
2) Was there any documents stating that he was just loaning the domain name, or using the domain name as his capital to form the companyWithout having known the whole complete story, anything is possible.
100% matter for the courts
The name is owned by the registry. Domains are just registered to users.
If its .com.au you can start a dispute with AUDA www.auda.org.au. To win the dispute and get the registration transferred you will need to show that the name directly relates to your company. The process usually takes 2months as the other party is contacted for a statement and are give 31 days to reply.
Yes, you are right that the name is not owned by the individual or company. He or the company basically has the license to use the domain name. I think to make the matter easier with OP's hard to understand wording and situation, when OP says "own" we should refer it has the ownership of the license to use the domain name.
That's right. My top section about that was probably unnecessary but is what makes it allowable for the registry to re-register the domain if he so happens to want to dispute it.
business asset. for the courts/arbitration
Since the domain is owned personally, you as a business entity need to purchase it from him to own it. Otherwise you can go on legal battle and argue how the business owns it. Good luck.
Thanks guys , appreciate all the guidance
Please rewrite with more clarity.