| Author: | Alasdair Taylor |
| Updated: | 5 April 2021 |
| Length: | 10 pages |
| Notes: | 13 pages |
| Format: | MS Word (.DOCX) |
Most modern businesses publish websites. The websites may act as online brochures, providing visitors with useful information about the company. The websites can be designed to attract new customers to the business and/or to inform existing customers. They can also be used to communicate with stakeholders such as suppliers and partners. Often, they are used to attract new employees, and may feature job advertisements.
Whatever the purpose of the business site, its owner will want to have legal documentation in place governing use of the website and related matters. This corporate website terms and conditions template allows the owner of a company brochure website to state clearly the rules visitors must observe and to address intellectual property, content and liability issues.
With regard to appropriate visitor use, the corporate website T&Cs contain prohibitions on all uses that are or could be harmful, illegal, fraudulent, malevolent (eg sending viruses) or intended for data aggregation (eg scraping). Other guidelines for use include an option for visitors to register by creating a password-protected account with the accompanying obligations to monitor their accounts and keep their passwords secure. Age and residency requirements can be added.
The intellectual property provisions specify the limited rights visitors have to the content on the corporate website and the robust rights the site owner will have over any content posted by visitors. These provisions will allow the company to prosecute unauthorised uses of the material on its site while removing the need to obtain the specific agreement of every person who submits information to the website. Similarly, the T&Cs give the company a relatively free hand to modify and use visitor testimonials.
The corporate terms and conditions template provides liability protection for the website owner in three key ways. First, the T&Cs impose stringent limitations on the content that visitors may post, for example prohibiting libel, hate speech and communications in violation of court orders or contracts. Also, the owner disclaims certain warranties relating to the website and maintains the ability to modify both the site and the terms and conditions. Finally, broad limitations on the site owner's liability are included in the T&Cs.
Although these T&Cs do address the possibility of free downloadable material being made available on the corporate website, they do not cover sales, whether of merchandise or services or digital content.
