Joint ownership of domains

[SpongyBob]

Hi,

I'm curious about a certain legal situation when it comes to domains. It's generally accepted/the norm that one registrant is listed on the whois as the owner of a domain. But what happens if two (or more) individuals, friends or whatever, have agreed to joint ownership of a domain? To make this legally sound, do all parties have to be listed under registrant name, say 'Person1 & Person2'? Or is demanded that only one individual/company/entity can be listed as the official registrant/owner?

And say in a situation where there are two joint owners, but they've decided to only list the majority stake owner on the whois, say Individual1 has 60% of the ownership and is listed as official owner on the whois, and Individual2 has 40% and Individual2 is left off the whois because of their minority stake. If then Dividual2 then pays Dividual1 to say, take a 90% stake, and Individual1's stake is reduced to 10%, and this results in the whois being modified by them to reflect this, and Individual2 is then listed as the whois owner, no longer Individual1, does that signify an official change of ownership as far as legality goes?

Hope that made sense :D.

I guess what I'm asking is, is joint ownership of a domain officially deemed legal in the eyes of ICANN or is officially only one legal registrant/owner allowed (individual/company/entity)? Has there been any legal testing of this situation, examples in law? Has joint ownership ever been legally accepted as valid?

Thanks

 

[Kate]

The best would be to incorporate, so the company will be listed in whois as the owner. A partnership is a form of incorporation too. The individual stakes can be reflected in the number of shares assigned to each party.

It's like any business, the members involved have to agree on a common strategy and business plan. One single member can ruin everything. It's like in a couple: the wife (or husband) can drain the bank accounts or mismanage the funds.
Partnerships can go sour.

In case of a dispute, then I think the whois record will be used to determine who is entitled to the domain. Registrars tend to follow this rule.
That's why you should never let your webmaster register domains on your behalf. If he/she puts their name instead, they would be considered the ultimate owner and you would be left with no recourse, other than going to court.

If the stakes are significant enough, you should work out a formal, binding plan. Consult with a lawyer and/or a CPA. Again, it's like in a relationship. As long as everybody agrees, there is no problem

 

[Billy Bradley]

This is very unique question I have heard because mostly even if the business or work is joint there is never anything like joint domain one has to have it while other should support him and trust him as it’s not possible for anyone to work without trust so that’s what I feel while about legal stuff I am not too much aware of that.