Copyright and Hotel Websites: What Every Hotelier Should Know
September 1st, 2025A high-performing website is essential for any hotel today. It is the digital calling card, the place where guests find inspiration and where direct bookings are made. Many hoteliers therefore choose to outsource their website development to a specialised agency. What is less well known, however, is that there are risks when working with partners who do not handle copyright properly.
Why copyright matters
Website designs and templates are protected by copyright. This means it is not permitted to copy or create near-identical websites without permission. In practice, however, this happens more often than one might think. For hoteliers, the consequences can be significant:
- Liability: as the client, you may be held responsible if your website infringes the rights of others.
- Legal consequences: this can lead to claims, forced adjustments or even having the website taken offline.
- Reputational damage: the last thing you want is for guests or partners to associate your hotel with an unreliable website provider.
How to recognise the risks
Not every agency is transparent about the origin of their templates or designs. As a hotelier, pay close attention to the following signals:
- Websites from the same agency look almost identical to each other or to existing sites.
- “Quick solutions” or “budget packages” are offered without clarity about the design process.
- There is a lack of transparency about who owns the template or design.
How to protect yourself
Fortunately, there are clear steps hoteliers can take to avoid problems:
- Always ask about the origin of the template or design. Is it the agency’s own work or a licensed third-party product?
- Make sure it is documented who owns the rights and what permissions you as the hotel have to use the design.
- Work with reliable partners who are transparent about their process and who take responsibility for protecting their creations.
Our approach at Porter
At Porter, we design and manage our own templates, such as the Paris template and a range of other designs. These are protected by copyright and made exclusively available to our clients. This means hoteliers working with Porter are assured of a unique, reliable, and legally compliant foundation for their online presence.
By actively acting against copies and misuse, we protect not only our own work but also the interests of our clients. This allows them to focus entirely on what truly matters: welcoming guests and generating direct bookings.
By Thomas Dieben
Founder
Overview
Frequently Asked Questions
Because a hotel can be held liable if its website infringes on someone else’s copyright. This could result in legal claims, forced changes, or even having the site taken offline. Beyond legal risk, it may also damage the hotel’s reputation.
How does Porter ensure copyright protection for its clients?
At Porter, we develop our own templates and designs, which are fully protected by copyright and used exclusively by our clients. This ensures every hotel we work with has a unique, legally compliant website.
Copyright can cover the overall design, layout, templates, and original content of a website. If these elements are copied without permission, the original creator’s rights are being infringed.
Ask your web agency about the origin of the design and whether it is their own creation. Reliable partners will be transparent and able to confirm that the design is unique and does not infringe on the rights of others.
Both the web agency and the hotelier can be held accountable. Even if a third party created the site, the hotel that uses it may also face legal consequences.
Red flags include templates that look nearly identical to other sites, vague “fast and cheap” offers, and a lack of clear answers about ownership of the design.
