As the author of the WWW FAQ, I regularly answer questions about the workings of the Web. If a question is frequently asked, I simply add an article to the FAQ. But sometimes a question is more detailed, more in-depth— not really a FAQ, but still of interest to others. You'll find those questions, with my answers, here in Innards along with commentary on other web-technology-related topics.

Q. I am webmaster and creator of a .org website. It belongs to a nonprofit organization. I have done all the work for free. If someone else takes over the website can I legally erase all of my own work from the server?

A. You built a site for a nonprofit organization. You did it for free. That's admirable.

They don't want to work with you anymore. That's unfortunate.

But if you want to get professional web design work in the future (and possibly a good reference from them) you should be a grownup about it. Even if you don't like the way you were treated.

Hand them the keys to their site and move on gracefully. Build a good portfolio for yourself and learn from each web development experience. If you're asked about it in the future, be polite; if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all. Just don't work with those particular people again.

As for whether you could legally delete your own volunteer work from the site: maybe, if you never had a contract with them. You need a lawyer to answer that one definitively, and I am not a lawyer.

But you're asking the wrong question. Here's a better one: why run the risk of ruining your reputation and getting yourself tied up in a legal mess when you could have a nice line on your resume instead?

The situation is different when you are paid to build a site. If you are paid to build a site, you control the hosting account, and the client is not paying you, shutting down the site temporarily is perfectly reasonable and legitimate. However, always be sensible about this: tell them what you did, be polite, bill them for what they owe, and never delete the site permanently. You should always have a copy of the site ready to go live again the moment you are paid.