Terms and Conditions in General
What are Terms and Conditions?
Our terms and conditions lawyers regularly draft terms and conditions for our clients and assist them to understand the intricacies of these important safeguards for their business. Generally speaking, terms and conditions act as a valid contract between you/your business and your customers and users. Terms and conditions contain various provisions and articulate the terms by which a user abides when using your product or service, such as a mobile app or a website. As such, terms and conditions attorneys assist in drafting terms and conditions as they will lay out the ground rules by which these interactions are governed.
Most terms and conditions attorneys advise their clients to specifically make the user aware of the applicable terms and conditions. The user’s acknowledgement of the terms and conditions thus effectively binds both parties to abide by the rules prescribed therein. Our terms and conditions lawyers regularly advise our clients in assuring that their terms and conditions are legally enforceable and in alignment with accepted practices.
Our terms and conditions lawyers routinely advise our clients on the specific provisions that effective terms and conditions should cover. Generally speaking, terms and conditions are a convenient place to include provisions covering warranties, limitations of personal liability, return and exchange policies, copyright and intellectual property, and various other generally applicable provisions. Additionally, our terms and conditions lawyers assist clients in drafting provisions that govern restrictions on a user’s interaction with the website or general service itself. Further, depending on the type of transaction, our terms and conditions lawyers assist clients in tailoring their terms and conditions to their specific endeavor.
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Why are Terms and Conditions important?
Our terms and conditions lawyers frequently highlight the importance of well articulated terms and conditions. The terms and conditions cover crucial topics, such as procedures for dispute resolution, limitation on liability, and provide terms by which both parties must abide. Our terms and conditions lawyers therefore always advise clients to not underestimate the importance of obtaining well drafted terms and conditions to provide rules by which a transaction is governed, while limiting their own liability and providing default procedures in the event of a dispute. Depending on the particular industry in which you are engaged, there may be mandatory disclosures that will need to be made to anyone interacting with your website or service. Hence, well drafted terms and conditions set the stage for any successful interaction by outlining specific guidelines on acceptable use. For the foregoing reasons, our terms and conditions attorneys emphasize the importance of understanding how to write terms and conditions.
Terms and Conditions for a Website
What are Terms and Conditions for a Website?
Every business using a website to offer its services should safeguard the rights of all parties involved, and provide a seamless provision of services by laying out clear and unequivocal terms and conditions that will govern the interaction and usage. These terms and conditions are often also referred to as website terms of service or website terms of use. A distinction is to be made since the above mentioned terms and conditions for a website are not equal to the legal framework of selling goods or services online.
The terms and conditions for a website are a binding legal agreement that specifies the rules a website user must follow while using the website. In addition to articulating details about the license of the copyright and disclaimer of liability, the agreement should include an acceptable use clause, a variation clause, and a clause that specifies the legal framework and respective jurisdiction. Therefore, understanding how to write terms and conditions for a website is of crucial importance.
Why are Terms and Conditions for a Website important?
From a legal standpoint, terms and conditions attorneys agree that the online presence of any business needs to be in line with the Electronic Commerce Regulations, even if the website is not directly providing goods or services to customers. Hence, website terms of service and website terms of use will outline acceptable conduct outside of purchasing goods, such as guidelines for interaction on social media. Terms and conditions for a website represent the website owner’s perspective of what constitutes acceptable behavior in regards to user-generated content (UGC). In other words, to avoid defamation cases, a reputable terms and conditions lawyer will strongly advise to explicitly state what is permitted in your website’s terms of service. A website owner thereby creates a proper cause to counteract and prevent any unwanted user activity and can refer to the website terms of service and website terms of use.
Moreover, every terms and conditions attorney recognizes the importance of website terms of service when it comes to your intellectual property. All of the content published on your website including your text, images, videos, and music must be copyright protected so that your terms and conditions lawyer could act upon any wrongful activity.
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Schedule a consultationTerms and Conditions for a Website at Checkout
What are Terms and Conditions for a Website at Checkout?
In addition to the terms and conditions for a website and its use in general, terms and conditions are especially important when engaged in the business of e-commerce. Specifically, in e-commerce terms and conditions for a website are not only needed to govern the usage of the website in general, but specific terms and conditions are needed that govern the purchase itself. For this purpose, any terms and conditions lawyer would advise a website offering e-commerce services to explicitly lay out the terms and conditions that govern the purchase before the purchase is completed. In order to ensure that the customer is aware of these terms and conditions – and thus the enforceability thereof – explicit acknowledgement of and consent to the terms and conditions is necessary. Terms and conditions for a website engaged in e-commerce should address very specific topics when engaging in purchase transactions with customers, including limitation of liability, intellectual property/trademark protection, pricing and payment terms, as well as terms governing shipping, returns, cancellations, and dispute resolutions. Therefore, terms and conditions lawyers advise to carefully draft the terms and conditions for a website that engages in the business of e-commerce.
Why are Terms and Conditions for a Website at Checkout important?
As discussed above, both the party providing the service and the party using the service agree to be bound by the terms and conditions that govern the specific purchase. This explicit mutual agreement helps to ensure seamless transactions and efficient dispute resolutions. Additionally, terms and conditions attorneys underline the importance of well drafted terms and conditions for a website in general, as such clarity will aid in the general enforcement of the terms and conditions, as well as efficient dispute resolution.
App Terms and Conditions
What Are App Terms and Conditions?
App terms and conditions describe a legal agreement that outlines the terms and conditions according to which users receive the right to use your mobile application. This document is of critical importance, as it describes how the app can be used and any limitations or disclaimers with regards to its usage. Further, the online program terms and conditions allow you to limit the scope of your liability, which would legally protect you in the event an issue arises.
Why are App Terms and Conditions important?
If you have developed a mobile app that is about to enter the digital world through an online app store, the online program terms and conditions will either set you up for success or failure. Without any protection of your idea or the limitation of your liability, you may end up facing charges or become a victim of copyright infringement. Ideally, in order to prevent these issues from occurring in the first place, it is advisable to consult an experienced terms and conditions lawyer who can thoroughly assess your product and determine which specific terms should be included in your app terms and conditions.
How to write terms and conditions for a website or an online program?
- Introduction – describe your product/service
- Draft the Terms (see below)
- Acknowledgement Statement – Pop-Up window or Check Box
- Generate a Privacy Policy (below)
- Include Rules of Conduct
Do you need a lawyer to write terms and conditions for your website or app?
From a purely legal standpoint, app terms and conditions and terms and conditions for a website are not required to be written by a terms and conditions lawyer. However, it is advisable to consult a terms and conditions attorney to seek initial guidance. Your website terms of use may include some of the examples shown below. To determine whether a particular term would be useful, specifically regarding your website or online program, we recommend a consultation with an experienced terms and conditions attorney.
Products or Services Terms
To remove any confusion or questions regarding the quality of your products or services, the website terms of use you implement should include a detailed description of the product/service.
Payment Terms
A term specifying the prices charged for your product/service is a staple that should be included in every clause that regulates the terms and conditions for a website. The prices should be visible to all potential clients, along with a disclaimer about applicable taxes or price duration.
Intellectual Property Rights
Your website’s rights, along with all of the content on it – including photos, videos, music, graphics, and written work – should be exclusively reserved for you. Every website’s terms and conditions should incorporate a statement that solidifies your ownership of the original materials that appear on your website. To accurately assure the protection of your intellectual property, it is advisable to consult a terms and conditions attorney.
User Content
If the online program you have created is going to allow users to upload content on your app, this is the section of your app terms and conditions in which you need to clarify the acceptable content and any rights relating to it.
Guarantees/Warranties
In case your website offers products that are covered by a guarantee or a warranty, your website terms of use should cover the start and end date of the document and an explanation on how to handle any defects.
Minor-Aged Children
If your website engages with minors, there are a number of special rules which you need to abide by when structuring your website’s terms and conditions. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act is the main document you will need to consider. However, laws may vary depending on your specific jurisdiction. We highly recommend consulting an experienced terms and conditions lawyer if your website is marketed to children under the age of 13.
Rules of Conduct
You should clearly state the type of interaction users can have with your website. Misuse of your website’s intended purpose as outlined in the website terms of use can result in a violation and a penalty. This is the section of your website terms of service in which you should explicitly describe what violations/penalties the user could be facing in the event of any misuse.
Choice of Law
Terms and conditions for your website should include a list of the applicable laws according to which these terms are created. In case of uncertainty, contacting a terms and conditions lawyer is highly recommended.
Privacy Policy
What is a Privacy Policy?
A privacy policy is a legal statement that describes how a business collects and processes users’ personal data on a given website or mobile app. Privacy policies should be easy to understand so that users can comprehend how their data is going to be collected, stored, and processed. If you are uncertain about the creation of a privacy policy, it is highly recommended to consult a privacy policy lawyer.
Why is Privacy Policy Important?
Privacy policies are a must for any type of digital medium that collects personal data, including websites, e-commerce websites, online programs, and desktop applications. The privacy policy is legally necessary according to digital privacy laws and regulations worldwide. Hence, drafting privacy policies often involves privacy policy lawyers. This is especially important if your website includes users from all parts of the world since you must abide by foreign regulations as well. In the United States, almost every state has a different regulation to follow as it relates to privacy policies. As such, if your website or mobile app is targeting users from all over the United States, you may want to consult a privacy policy lawyer or study the following regulations yourself:
- The Federal Trade Commission Act
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act
- Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act
- Financial Services Modernization Act
- Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
A Rookie’s Guide to Writing a Privacy Policy
- Provide a detailed explanation on the type of information you are about to collect from your users/visitors
- Explain the cause for collecting this information
- Explain how the information is going to be collected – cookies, surveys, order forms, account registrations
- Provide specific details in relation to your users’ information and third parties’ access to it
- Foresee any updated possibilities
- Explain how you plan on protecting your users’ information
Our Intellectual Property Legal Services
To schedule a consultation with Adrian, our principal intellectual property lawyer, please click here and click on “Schedule a Consultation.” You can also email us at [email protected], or call us at (646) 354-3780.
If you wish to learn more about our services concerning terms and conditions or privacy policies, please visit our startup lawyer page and intellectual property page.
During your consultation, our intellectual property attorney will provide an honest assessment of your case, and a recommendation about your next steps.
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Schedule a consultationDisclaimer: This blog article is provided by Pandev Law, LLC for general educational and informational purposes only. Although this article discusses general legal issues, it does not constitute legal advice nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented in this article, or elsewhere on this website, without seeking the advice of appropriate legal counsel, or other professional counsel, licensed in the relevant jurisdiction. Pandev Law, LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability with respect to any actions taken, or not taken, based on any content of this article or website. This blog article may constitute attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
