Maybe not! Here is a clause I found in MANY sample web designer contracts I found online:
Copyright to the finished web design site produced by [web design company] will be owned by [web design company]. The Client will be assigned rights to use the Web Design Project as a web site, once final payment under this agreement and any additional charges incurred have been paid. Rights to photos, graphics, source code, work-up files, and computer programs are specifically not transferred to the Client, and remain the property of their respective owners.
Many web designers and programmers feel that the creative work they do on your web site is copyrighted by them and that they retain an ownership right. So they just license it to you to use without giving you the original files so you can make changes yourself later or change designers. This is especially true in cases of programming code where
Copyright 2005 by Garland Coulson 5 www.ebusinesstutor.comprogrammers feel they can use the code on their other client’s sites, but you can’t change or move the code.
To protect yourself, ensure that your contract with your web designer includes who owns the web site and all its components, including source code of any programming and that you retain the right to change designers and hosting.