Terms Of Use

Please note that the selective information provided herein is not legal counsel and is provided for informational and instructional intents only (and is current to te time this article was written). If you need legal counsel with respect to drafting from a Terms of Use Template, you must seek professional assistance.

I’ve drafted and revised a few Terms of Use Templates / Agreements in my day and so I thought it would be utile to put a heap of thoughts when it comes to what goes into these documents here in this blog. Be careful, however, when relying solely on other website’s Terms of Use Templates as they may be tailored to the specific jurisdiction and business requirements of that specific website.

The bottom line is that the Terms of Use Agreement is a contract that your internetlocation users agree to by visiting and using your website. In addition to a Terms of Use Agreement, a typical internetsite will have to likewise have a Privacy Policy and a Disclaimer. In this blog, I’ll be talking about galore of the more evident things that will be contained in a Terms of Use Template / Agreement.

Introduction

First, the Terms of Use Agreement ought to specify that the user’s use of the website is governed by the Terms of Use Agreement, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, and any other applicable terms and conditions, policies, and notices which implement to the internet site or a specific division or module of the website. You may also want to distinguish the internet site and the party which owns/operates the website. Make these terms specified so that you may refer to them allround the rest of your Terms of Use Agreement.

Accepting the Terms of Use

Second, the Terms of Use Agreement ought to specify that, by using the website, the user is agreeing to the Terms of Use (and if they don’t, they must not be using the website anymore).

Revisions

Third, there must be some recognition that users agree to any and all modifications, alterations, and updates of the Terms of Use (which become effective upon being posted on the website).

Trademark/Copyright

Fourth, if there are logos/designs which have been trademarked, there will have to be a provision in the Terms of Use agreement which makes note of this and warns of unauthorized uses. Same goes for copyright.

Website Use/Restrictions

Fifth, the user will recognise that they are responsible to protect their IDs and passwords (if applicable) and likewise that any compromises will have to be reported immediately. With respect to restrictions, users are in general prohibited from doing things like: posting or transmitting destructive or illegal content, intervening with the website’s operation, attempting to hack into pass-word protected areas, and taking actions that will formulate an unreasonably huge load on the web site’s infrastructure.

Depending on what your internet site does (e.g. does it have a forum? does it concede users to e-mail other users? does it grant users to post remarks on blogs? does it grant users to submit content through articles? etc.), your limitations on terms of use will need to take into account these specifics. That’s where a usual terms of use template may not be sufficient. It may not expect everything you and your internet site need to be protected.

General

Finally, comes the usual terms that quintessentially are part of most contracts. These terms will include things like:

(1) The governing law for the interpretation, application, and enforcement of the Terms of Use is the jurisdiction of XXX,

(2) This is the entire agreement in respect of this subject matter,

(3) If any provision is severed, the rest of the Terms of Use Agreement survives, and

(4) The effective date.

ReviewThis book is a well-written and welcome addition to the growing creative writing of recognized artisti value with regards to copyright and cultural expression…A thoughtful and bright argument defending the public domainname as a form of the intellectual commons that will have to be protected from exploitation. (Philip Doty, Library and The Cultural Record, vol 45:03:10 )

About the AuthorEva Hemmungs Wirtén is an associate professor in the Department of Archival Science, Library and Information Science, and Museology at Uppsala University.

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