Terms of Use

Legal Notice

Our explanations and information provided on this page are general and broad explanations of how to draft your own Terms of Use. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice or recommendations on what you should actually do, as we cannot anticipate the specific terms you wish to establish between your institution and its users. We recommend seeking legal advice to understand and draft your own Terms of Use.

Terms of Use: Basics

That being said, the Terms of Use ("TOU") are a set of legally binding terms defined by you as the owner of this website. The TOU establish the legal boundaries governing the activities of the website's visitors or your clients while they visit or engage with this website. The TOU are designed to establish the legal relationship between the website's visitors and you as the owner of the site.
The TOU should be defined according to the specific needs and nature of each website. For example, a website that offers products to customers in e-commerce operations requires different TOU compared to the TOU of a website that only provides information (such as a blog, homepage, etc.).
The TOU give you, as the website owner, the ability to protect yourself from legal liability, but this may vary from one jurisdiction to another, so be sure to seek local legal advice if you are seeking to protect yourself from legal liability.

What should be included in the Terms of Use document

In general, the TOU typically address issues such as: who is authorized to use the website, potential methods of payment, a statement that the website owner may change its offering in the future, the types of warranties the website owner provides to its customers, a reference to intellectual property or copyright issues (if relevant), the website owner's right to suspend or terminate a member's account, and much more.
For more information, read our article on How to Create a Terms of Use Policy.