Who owns my website? I started a website on Wix, and then I registered a limited company later. How does my limited company own my website? I paid for the Wix website and the domain myself with my own money under my own name. If I was to seek investors how would they know that the company is entitled to ownership of my website and its proceeds? What would stop me from just operating the website as my own thing and not as a part of the company after I raise funding?
Who owns my website? YOUR website is owned by YOU. If you want it to be owned by your company, you need to transfer the ownership. The domain name registrant and the entity to pay Wix need to be the company, not you. Same applies to any intellectual property that is used for the website functioning and profit generation.
Do I need to create an LLC if I already own the domain? No. Can someone legally create an LLC with the same name as my domain? Yes. Just trying to understand what the difference is between an LLC and a business An LLC, a &quot;limited liability company,&quot; is a kind of legal entity that has a separate identity from the members of the LLC. The members' liability is limited with respect to the company's liability, hence the name. A business is a commercial activity. The two concepts are independent. A person can have a business without forming a corporation, or indeed many businesses. A single corporation can also have many businesses. Back to the question about someone forming an LLC using your domain name, this raises the issue of trademark protection. In the US, at least, you can't register a trademark unless it is &quot;in use in commerce&quot; (15 USC 1051(a)(3)(C)), which means explicitly that you cannot use the mark &quot;merely to reserve a right in&quot; it (15 USC 1127). But there are many subtleties of trademark protection that are widely misunderstood by most people, so if you anticipate wanting trademark protection for a name, you will probably want to learn about how trademark protection works and likely talk to a trademark lawyer.
I can't tell you there's nothing to worry about, but this sounds like a scam - possibly an attempt at blackmail. They may be looking to acquire your domain, or subsequent communication might ask for money for it all to go away. A local lawyer would be able to advise you far better than The Bloke On The Internet. Mention to them : That you were not responsible for the prohibited content That you removed the content as soon as was reasonably possible That you can provide details of the person you believe to be responsible (and, ideally evidence to show who posted the content, when it was posted, and when you deleted it) The lawyer may advise you to contact the local police. Tell them the same. It sounds like you are the victim here, and not the perpetrator.
You are free to sell or not to sell to whoever you like (unless it is illegal discrimination, like not selling to white Christians), but it doesn't make a difference, because anyone who buys the software from you can legally sell it on to anyone they want. So you cannot control who ends up owning the software. If I want the software and you don't sell it to me, and I still want it, I'll just ask a friend to buy it and give them the money. Other people would just get a pirated copy if you refuse to sell to them (and would have very little bad conscience since they offered you cash and you refused to take it). You can put terms into a license, and in the USA this is binding. The customer may not agree with the license, and in that case they have the right to get a refund for the software. In the EU, I don't think a license is binding, so you'd have to sign a legally binding contract with the buyer. Apart from all that, you have very little chance to find out if the software is used against your wishes and to do anything about it.
You ask permission, preferably with legal counsel to handle the details. It really is that simple. Unsurprisingly, most companies don't want to give their code away- especially to a competitor. If you even get a response, they will expect something in return i.e. money. Realistically though, it's unlikely they will respond, much less deal with you.
According to Josh Aas, Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) Executive Director, (the umbrella 501(c)(3) for Let's Encrypt): "It is not against our terms to charge for services using our certificates, though we'd strongly prefer that HTTPS just be part of every offering as a default with no additional fees." My host sells SSL letsencrypt certificates - Help - Let's Encrypt Community Support That said, what your old company is doing is charging for their time and expertise (aided possibly by their own automated software they developed) to install SSL certificates for their own webhosting customers on their own servers. The company is not reselling the SSLs; they are selling the service of installing the certificates. It's not easy to install and automate the updating of 90-day SSLs from Let's Encrypt. So what your old company is doing is making it easy - for a fee - for their customers to use a somewhat difficult to use free service with the rest of their paid webhosting. The customers are not getting any information about what certificate they are buying. That could be. Check the TOS and information that each customer gets when they use the webhosting service with an SSL from Let's Encrypt. Many customers may only be concerned with if the SSL works, or not. And I'm sure the webhosting company does not divulge all aspects of their services to their customers, especially concerning security of their webservers and other business systems.
Your quote from GoDaddy is based on ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). UDRP para 4(a) sets out the elements which must be proven for the complaint to be upheld: (i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and (ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and (iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. What if I register a domain when no trademark exists, but then someone registers the trademark? The UDRP does not explicitly address this. However, if the mark did not exist when you registered the domain, it would be difficult for the registration to have been made in bad faith. This has been considered by WIPO (who is one of the larger dispute resolution providers for the UDRP). In particular, WIPO's overview provides: Generally speaking, although a trademark can form a basis for a UDRP action under the first element irrespective of its date [see further paragraph 1.4 above], when a domain name is registered by the respondent before the complainant's relied-upon trademark right is shown to have been first established (whether on a registered or unregistered basis), the registration of the domain name would not have been in bad faith because the registrant could not have contemplated the complainant's then non-existent right. That is, unless the registration was done in bad faith knowing that a mark would soon be registered: In certain situations, when the respondent is clearly aware of the complainant, and it is clear that the aim of the registration was to take advantage of the confusion between the domain name and any potential complainant rights, bad faith can be found. Can that person sue me and take out the domain, which I bought before she acquired the trademark? Yes, though &quot;suing&quot; is probably inaccurate. There is no suit, but merely mandatory administrative proceedings occasioned by a complaint. If the complaint is upheld, the domain may be cancelled or transferred (UDRP para 4(i)). This is not as unfair as it might seem at first blush: if the domain was originally registered in good faith, it will not be transferred even if a trademark is registered later. What country must the trademark be in? It doesn't matter: there must merely be a trademark somewhere. By way of example, WIPO case D2016-2612 was a recent case where a .com domain originally held by a Canadian registrant was transferred to a Turkish complainant based on a Turkish trademark.
Legally, yes, if you get a license from Blizzard (unlikely, and if so, they'll probably want either money or a portion of your profits). Otherwise, not legally. This is exactly the situation that IP law (e.g. copyright and trademark) was created to address. Blizzard created the game and so they have rights to control and benefit from derivatives there of. There are some exceptions, but prints, buttons, and keychains are not likely to meet the requirements for those.