If you have a website or offer certain types of transactions, you may be required by law to make certain disclosures to consumers. Even if you’re not required to make these disclosures, it’s often a wise choice to set expectations and limit liability. Should you use a terms and conditions template vs a custom one?
Terms and conditions agreements can also set the governing law, protect your creative content, and prevent abuse. However, companies should avoid the temptation of using a one-size-fits-all terms and conditions template. Templates are rarely detailed and customized enough to protect your business.
Fortunately, there’s an easy and cost-effective way to generate your own custom terms and conditions agreement. Here’s what you need to know about these agreements, and how to make your own with SixFifty.
What is a terms and conditions agreement?
A terms and conditions agreement is a document outlining the contractual relationship between service providers and users. They’re often referred to as “terms of service,” “terms of use,” “general conditions” or “end-user license agreements.” Basically, they’re a contract where the service provider sets conditions on how users can use its service, and which law governs this relationship. They’re often used when a provider wants to set rules for how users can interact with others, use copyrighted content or when a user account can be terminated.
What’s included in a terms and conditions agreement?
Terms and conditions agreements should include the following:
- Description of the business: First, your terms and conditions should introduce your business, and how the terms and conditions apply to their user experience. This should provide context for the business and users.
- Contract terms: Terms and conditions are a contract. Your agreement needs specific terms, such as how users may interact with your service, what they can expect, and what the consequences are for violating the agreement.
- Governing law: If a legal issue arises, your terms and conditions agreement should set the governing law. For example, you might require that all matters are governed by United States and California laws.
- Effective date: The effective date is the start date of the agreement. Any time you update your terms and conditions agreement, you must update the effective date (i.e., the effective date cannot be set before the new terms were agreed to).
- Disclaimers and limiting liability: Next, you should include a section which disclaims warranties and limits your liability. For example, you could ask users to agree that you are not responsible for any loss or personal injury that arises from using your service.
- Rules of conduct: Depending on the type of service involved, you should set guidelines for user behavior, including age restrictions and how users can interact with others.
- Intellectual property: You may wish to add clauses to protect your intellectual property, including the company name, domain address, and trademarked or copyrighted material.
- Termination: Finally, your agreement should include how and when a user’s account may be terminated. It may also include privacy and data protection information, depending on the type of service provided.
Are terms and conditions agreements required by law?
Generally, terms and conditions agreements are not legally required—but depending on the type of service you’re providing, you may be required to make certain mandatory disclosures. Your terms and conditions can cover mandatory disclosures as well as the rules of using your service, which limits your legal liability and sets important expectations.
Even if you’re not required to have a terms and conditions agreement, you may wish to create one just to make rules and expectations clear.
How to write a terms and conditions agreement
Creating your own terms and conditions agreement from scratch is a daunting prospect, which is why many businesses want to know if they can use a terms and conditions template. Generally, this is not a good idea. One-size-fits-all templates are unlikely to cover all of your mandatory disclosures and legal obligations. Plus, you could miss out on other valuable ways to limit liability and set expectations. On the other hand, hiring an attorney to draft one from scratch can take days and end up being very expensive.
The easiest and most cost-effective solution is to use SixFifty’s automatic terms and conditions generator to do all the heavy lifting. Simply answer questions about your business, and let the platform generate a legally sound, customized terms and conditions agreement that will meet all of your legal and company needs.
Automatically generate your own terms and conditions agreement with SixFifty
SixFifty’s legal software pairs real legal expertise with powerful automation. Instead of burdening your in-house team or hiring a lawyer, you can get compliant documents in a snap. Ready to create your own custom terms and conditions agreement? Schedule a product demo today!
