Web Site Notices and Disclaimers

Web site owners will want to consider adding various notices and disclaimers on their site. The following are common ones that you will want to review. Sometimes a number of these are put in one place under a "Legal Notices" or "Terms of Use" section.

Copyright Notice

Information, logos, and graphics on a Web site are protectable under the United States Copyright Act. Copyright status can prevent others from copying and using tangible works of authorship, such as information contained on a Web page.

You need to place a copyright notice on your site. A typical copyright notice is as follows:

Copyright © 2005 by ABC, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Click here to view a sample Copyright and Trademark Protection Notice.

Disclosure of Terms of Use or Online Contract

The site should contain continuing prominent references to the Terms of Use Agreement or other online contracts for the purpose of site users or buyers of goods or services from the site. A disclosure could state — with a hyperlink to the full text of the contract — as follows:

The use of this site, and the terms and conditions for the sale of any goods and services, is governed by a Terms of Use Agreement. By using this site you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use Agreement and the disclaimers and caveats contained in this site, and that you accept and will be bound by the terms thereof.

Click here to view a sample Terms of Use Agreement.

General Disclaimers of Liability

The site can contain a limitation of liability of the Web site owner — including the typical bold-faced disclaimers about goods, services, or information being provided "as-is" with no representations or warranties — and disclaimers of any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. By way of example:

THE SERVICE AND CONTENT FROM OR THROUGH THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS-IS," "AS AVAILABLE," AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE DISCLAIMED (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DISCLAIMER OF ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). THE INFORMATION HEREIN MAY CONTAIN BUGS, ERRORS, PROBLEMS OR OTHER LIMITATIONS. THE OWNER OF THIS SITE ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS ON THIS SITE.

Click here to view a broad sample Online Disclaimer Regarding Information, or here to view a sample online contract — with disclaimers provisions — that would be used in connection with the sale of goods from a Web site.

Hyperlink Disclaimers

A Web site will often contain hyperlink to other sites. The company should consider including a link disclaimer which is intended to alert the users of the site that there is no endorsement or approval of the linked sites. So consider adding language such as the following:

This site contains links to other Internet sites. Such links are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information in such site has been endorsed or approved by us.

Click here to view an alternate sample hyperlink disclaimer.

Limitation on Access by Minors

Any company doing business prohibited to minors should prominently display a disclaimer alerting users to this fact. It is wise to post this message as a gateway to the Web site's home page, where it can warn excluded or easily offendable users that they should not proceed onto the site. By way of example:

WARNING. This site contains sexually oriented adult material intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. If you are not yet 18, if adult material offends you, or if you are accessing this site from any country or locale where adult material is prohibited by law, PLEASE LEAVE NOW! If you understand and accept these terms, you may ENTER.

Trademarks

Many sites will refer to registered trademarks. It may be desirable to include a disclosure as to the specifics of trademark status, such as the following from the Microsoft site at www.microsoft.com:

TRADEMARKS: Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, MSN, The Microsoft Network and/or other Microsoft products referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Privacy Policy

The site should refer to the Company's "Privacy Policy" concerning how information from a user or registrant of the site will be used. Click here to view a sample Privacy Policy.