Are you a new business owner who prides yourself on knowing several innovative marketing strategies, creating professional documents or preparing your own financial spreadsheets? These are all helpful skills, but many individuals who have decided to venture out on their own fail to understand some of the legal business terms. This can cause major financial problems if you should ever be faced with a lawsuit. For example, do you know the difference between T&Cs, terms of use, and disclaimers? Although they have similar meanings, we're going to explain more about each of these terms.
T&Cs
The first thing you need to know is what "T&C" stands for. It refers to the terms and conditions of any company. The actual agreements will vary according to the particular business, and they may be found on a company's website, in a user manual or in their service agreement documents. Most terms and conditions agreements contain specify guidelines and rules concerning copyright issues, rules of use, fees, registration policies, warranty limitations, privacy policies and data protection policies.
Sample terms and conditions agreement:
"these terms and conditions of use, including any applicable policies outlined below ("Terms" ) are governed by the laws of the province of ontario. By accessing this (name of company) branded website ("website" ) or using products and services offered by (name of company) or its suppliers ("Services" ) linked to these Terms you are agreeing to accept these terms. Users of (name of company) services must additionally comply with applicable terms of service. If you do not accept these terms, please do not use this website or the services."
Terms of use
Company terms of use agreements are very similar to terms and conditions; they specify the owner's rules regarding how a particular service or intellectual property may be legally used. Although the terms of use will vary according to the particular industry associated with your company, most documents will include similar information.
Example of a general terms of use agreement:
"Welcome to our website. By using this site, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms of use. please review the following terms carefully. If you don't agree to these terms, you should not use this site"
The terms of use should explain the definition and context of ay general terms that appear within the terms of use document. In addition, the terms of use policy of any company should clearly define definition and scope of the specific services it provides. More importantly, the agreement will almost always specify the guidelines and rules that customers must abide by in order to conduct business with a particular company. If you review the terms of use for most companies, you will notice that they usually clarify
specific policies regarding the following:
•Protecting customer information
•Links to third-party websites
•Communication methods
•Changes in terms or services
•Trademark information
•Delivery and termination of services
•Intellectual property rights
•Limitations of liability
•Privacy policies
•Warranty disclaimers
It's important to include a terms of use document for your company so that all of your customers will be aware of your guidelines and policies. This makes it much easier to enforce policies, terminate the accounts of customers who fail to comply and take possible legal action against customers who violate your specific policies and rules.
Disclaimers
A company disclaimer is a statement that specifies or identifies the scope of obligations and rights that parties may enforce or exercise. A disclaimer is sometimes called a hedge clause because it frees a company from responsibility and protects them from possible lawsuits. A disclaimer is normally a clause in a company contract that declares that the creator or seller of a particular product or service makes no promises about the quality or performance of the item and is not responsible for any harm that results from using it. Most terms and conditions and term of use agreements contain at least one disclaimer.
For example, a company may require a new customer or client to sign or click on an "I agree" button to waive the company's responsibility in certain instances. Most disclaimers contain specific policies regarding limitation of liabilities, as well as customer confidentiality and security. However, some company disclaimers can be as lengthy and detailed as their terms and conditions or terms of use documents.
Sample disclaimer for a membership directory:
"Every effort has been made to compile complete and accurate information for this directory. Even though extraordinary efforts were made to ensure its accuracy, neither the association, nor its members or employees, will be responsible for errors or omissions in this directory. The information contained herein should not be construed as an endorsement of any member, company, or individual, nor reflect in any way upon the products and/or services provided by an organization or individual."
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