Your Legal Info Page

As an authority site publisher you need copyright and legal protection from the first moment you start publishing on the web.

There are broadly two types of protection you need to put in place:

• You need to protect your copy, web designs and images from theft and misuse by others.
  

• You need to assure your visitors that they are protected from misuse of their data if they allow you to use it (for example, in an opt-in list). Most people want to know that if they sign up for your site offers or join your mailing list, this won’t be abused.
  

This may not be the sort of content writing that you really want to do. Many people avoid it because it seems so boring or because they feel they don’t have the specialist knowledge to do it properly.

Read up on the FTC's policy regarding claims and legal info on your site:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.html

The good news is that copyright and legal documentation for websites is relatively straightforward.

You can find great examples on sites around the web and use them as a model for your own. Ask in the ASC Forum for permission to copy what other members have done for their legal info.

If you prefer, you can use software to create your own terms and conditions. There are many programs available – Priority Digital's generator lets you plug in your specific info in a few fields, and generates legalese for your site that you can copy and paste. Also, AutoWebLaw Pro has gotten good reviews.