Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: copyright infringement

It may or may not be possible, the question is - is it wise?

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Re: copyright infringement

Any of us can provide you with terms of use for your site; you only need to pick someone and get started.

Re: copyright infringement

Unlikely you'll get in trouble as far as copyright infringement is concerned. The problem you could face is that your do-it-yourself terms of service doesn't legally protect you like you thought it would. This is a problem we see a lot in contracts that folks draw up without legal help. The couple of hundreds you spend having your TOS professionally drafted could save you thousands later on.

Re: copyright infringement

Technically, it MIGHT be copyright infringement if the stuff you take was "original work of authorship" created by the owners of the site(s) you 'borrow' from.

Whether or not it's likely you'd get caught, and sued, it's a bad idea for an entirely different reason.

You really should have terms of service, privacy policies, etc, that are custom tailored to your site, your business, and your specific situation. Every site operates slightly differently, with variations in business model, etc. So you really want to make sure your legal notices are appropriate to yours.

As a lawyer, I make a nice chunk of my living 'fixing' things where clients tried to take a do-it-yourself approach with contracts, waivers, disclaimers and TOS documents. Save yourself some grief and money in the long run by spending a little bit now to do things right.

Or, pay MORE money later to fix it if you don't.