I'm having my webdesigner building me two stores which would just sell products using a simplified payment structure. If he built one store at one price, why can't I just take the index files change the logo and a few colors and create my second store? I have full control over my hosting with 2 domain names.

"...why can't I just take the index files change the logo and a few colors and create my second store?"

Because then, you might be the one screwing your web designer.

The whole business of web design and maintenance is a bit more complicated than, "I pay you $1000K, write code for me so I can do what I want with it." So much depends too on the software licensing agreement that you and your designer have.

Think of it this way, if you buy Windows XP and have a license to install it in one machine; for each additional machine you want to install it to, you'll have to pay Microsoft a certain fee鈥?even if you use the same installer CD that you already have. Otherwise, it will be seen as piracy (in many places).

Now, a web design and maintenance agreement can work that way as well. If a designer makes software for your website and allows you to have only one copy of that software for use in a specific website; then each additional website where you aim use the same software, will incur a fee.

One thing you can do from here is to find out if your designer really did write the code that you supposedly paid for. Because if not鈥?if he did what many others do, copy-pasting other people's code and violating their copyrights鈥?then maybe you can complain that the designer charged you unreasonably, in court if necessary.