Business owners can protect their company by taking the time to include thorough terms of use on their websites, sometimes known as website agreements. A well-drafted document is bespoke to your business and establishes a set of guidelines for website users. Use our guide below and learn the importance of having clear and legally binding terms of use, what key elements should be included, and how a Lawhive solicitor can help.
Reasons to have terms of use on your website
There are several reasons why a business might want or need a terms of use page. The main benefits are associated with protecting your business:
Minimise legal risks: A well-drafted terms of use document can minimise the risk of legal disputes by clearly outlining the rights and obligations of both the website owner and users.
Add clarity for users: Setting clear expectations in the terms helps avoid confusion about what users can and cannot do on the website, reducing the likelihood of conflicts.
Protection from user misconduct: Terms of use provide legal grounds for removing users who violate the rules or engage in harmful activities on the website.
6 key elements in website terms of use
Website terms of use are a simple step to protect businesses by limiting their liability from users bringing legal cases against them. Below are six key elements that signal a strong and comprehensive terms of use page.
1. Acceptable use
These terms detail the acceptable behaviour that website users must follow, stating what is acceptable and what is not. Essentially these are T&Cs for using your website. When users perform prohibited behaviours, website owners are within their rights to suspend or remove a user’s account.
Typically, the following activities are prohibited in acceptable use clauses:
Illegal activity
spamming
Violating intellectual property
Effectively, an acceptable use clause allows a business to make customers liable for misusing a website whether they harass other users, or share IP without permission. If a customer misuses your website, having an effective acceptable use clause minimises the risks of lawsuits. Stating what acceptable use of your website is can also prevent users from trying to sue you for not allowing them access to your website.
2. Intellectual property rights
Website terms of use can protect the owner’s intellectual property. A comprehensive clause informs users that logos, content, and other media hosted on your website are owned by your business and establishes the consequences for using it or spreading it.
It outlines any content that users are allowed to use for themselves and how they are allowed to use it. Terms can be included allowing users to download content, these should express the conditions under which they are permitted to do so. A right of reservation can also be included that allows a site owner to restrict access to copying intellectual property at any time.
Top tip: Remember, if your intellectual property is not trademarked or copyrighted, intellectual property rights clauses won’t hold any weight. Our solicitors can help your business register a copyright and register a trademark to protect you from copyright infringement and trademark infringement.
3. Account registration and responsibilities
You can set out the legal requirements for who is able to create an account on your website. This establishes that users are responsible for protecting their passwords from being known and used by others. It can also inform users that it is their responsibility to keep their account information up-to-date.
You may also want to set age limits for account registration to your website, especially if you host sensitive content or sell restricted products such as alcohol, any nicotine products or your business is in an age-restricted niche, such as gambling.
4. Termination of use
A termination of use or service clause sets out when you can terminate a user’s account because of breaches of the website terms and prevent them from accessing your services. These clauses are enforceable and allow businesses to retain control over who accesses and uses their services.
They outline that a business can terminate its services to a user without being liable for the loss or suspension of services. Because they’re legally enforceable, termination of use clauses can encourage users to act in accordance with your terms of use. This can make your website or online platform a safer place to be for all users.
Termination of use clauses are beneficial for businesses that:
Rely on users creating an account, like social media platforms
Provide paid content on your site using a subscription model
Allow users to post user-generated content to your website or platform
Enable users to sell goods and services to others on your website or platform
Without a termination of service clause, businesses can find it difficult to delete a user’s access to their service even when they have breached their terms. User may expect businesses to continue offering their services to them, despite the business wanting to terminate them. Disputes can arise in these situations, so it’s very important to include a termination clause in your agreements.
5. Liability and disclaimers
Disclaimers are used to limit a website owner’s liability for errors or omission, downtime, the accuracy of third-party content or links, medical or legal advice, issues when shipping or returning goods and any other issues emerging from the use of the website. Without them, users can claim damages when a website or platform doesn’t perform as expected.
Disclaimers are notices that inform a user of what you do not claim about your website. Including them on your website is essential, especially if your business is in dispute with a user. By having a disclaimer statement your business can prove during disputes that the user was properly notified of your lack of liability.
6. Privacy and cookies
Website terms should reference a website's privacy policy and the use of cookies, ensuring compliance with GDPR. You need to tell your users that cookies are being used and the information you are collecting. A privacy policy tells users what information is being collected, why the business needs their personal data and what they’re going to do with it, how long they’re going to keep it, and whether they are going to share it with anyone.
A cookie warning notice can be used to tell the user that cookies are being collected and give them the choice of what information they’ll allow the business to collect.