Terms of use agreement template

The common methods of doing this are:. Nevertheless, because the benefits of having even basic terms of use far outweigh the costs of not having them, we strongly recommend that you create terms, however generic or simple they may be.

There are no rules or legal requirements about how to structure your terms of use, or what headings you need to use. When drafting terms of use content, your goal should be to make it as comprehensive as possible. Whether your terms of use contract is for a website, software, API, or app, including the following sections will make it comprehensive:.

Your terms of use document should start by explaining what the terms of use apply to e. In your terms of use, you should assert your rights over all intellectual property e. Be sure to include a list of activities that are prohibited on your site or app.

Common examples include:. You should also list actions you can take when a user violates this clause or any clause in your terms of use.

Such actions could include suspension or deletion of user accounts, blocking access to certain features e. This is crucial to protect your site from liabilities. Your terms of use policy is an ideal document to declare which state laws apply in the case of a legal dispute between you and your users. This declaration, known as the choice of law or governing law clause, is necessary because your users may reside in a state or country other than the one in which your business is registered.

Software terms of use, also called an end-user license agreement EULA , are terms written specifically for a software product. Therefore, a key section in a EULA is the licensing information, which explains:.

Similar to a software EULA, an app may include licensing information in its terms of use. If you run a forum or any service that requires user registration and hosts content written or shared by users i. Common examples include setting age restrictions and banning fake user profiles.

The terms of use of an application program interface API serve as an agreement between the API owner and the developer. Now that you have the terms of use template and know which clauses are essential for your site or app, fine-tune your terms by studying how industry giants such as Instagram and Craigslist write key sections in theirs. The user owns the content, but Instagram has a license to use the content in any way it deems fit:. Ideally, you should prompt your users to actively accept your terms, which can be done by using a clickwrap agreement in the form of a checkbox or button.

Your terms of use do not have to be too elaborate. There are some fairly standard clauses that appear in such an agreement but they do have to be tailored to your business to be valid.

You may use this generic terms of use template below as a starting point. Note that this is just an example terms of use template only and that it does not contain every type of clause or important topic that you should add to such an agreement. Expert tip: Take the hassle of writing your own terms of use agreement away with our terms of use generator. It will save you hours of work and possible costly legal mistakes.

Here are 5 terms of use examples from different businesses and websites to give give you a better understanding of the clauses your own terms of use agreement has to include. The Australian Securities Exchange ASX uses a browsewrap agreement and displays a hyperlink to its terms of use in its website footer.

Clicking on the hyperlink brings visitors to a page where the website owner is identified and where a warning is given to them: by using this website, visitors confirm that they accept these terms of use along with other applicable notices and disclaimers.

The terms of use themselves are comprehensive but to the point. Since the ASX shares market data and prices on its website on which users could reasonably decide to rely on to make investment decisions, its terms of use include disclaimers to that effect. The ASX also includes a detailed list of what it considers prohibited uses of its website, though it's a much better idea to place these in an acceptable use policy :.

The graphic design platform, Canva, offers software that is free to use with the option of purchasing premium memberships to access additional features.

The interface allows users to use templates, graphics, and stock photos that are provided free of charge. Including such wording is good practice as it gives users another occasion to read through your terms of use before they start using your product.

Canva specifies in its terms of use that one must be at least 13 years of age in order to use its services and be able to form a legally binding contract. Most countries require any website that collects and stores any personal information from its customers to have a privacy policy.

Almost every website or application that provides a service or product has a Terms of Use Agreement. Your Terms of Use should be published somewhere on your website that is easily accessible to your Users. What is a Terms and Conditions Agreement?