INSIGHTS•3 MIN READ
Legal requirements for online business: are there standards?
findingemo
Published on March 20, 2013
Published on Wealthy Affiliate — a platform for building real online businesses with modern training and AI.
As I'm going through boot camp and everything else here that WA offers, I feel something is missing....legal requirements for online business....There seems to be lots of questions in relation to this topic and it should be something we are all familiar with since we're starting our own online businesses. With WA on the up and up in everything else, I think a little guidance towards legalities would be a good step to take.
Or, am I missing something and all this information is currently available here? I typed "legal forms, legal contracts, legal templates, Website legalities and legal guidelines here but my searches came back empty.
A few questions that I have personally witnessed being asked in chat, some daily or several times a day:
**These are completely from memory so don't hold me to the answers or questions as being verbatim, my memory is not what it used to be. Also, if you have another answer, or see an incorrect answer, please let me know so I can change it....
Q: What kind of legal coverage do I need if I'm offering SEO consulting? I want myself covered in case someone wants to come after me with "my rankings fell" OR "I'm not getting the results I want".
A: This should be covered in your contract with the client AND
A: There is insurance coverage you can get.
Q: Can I use an image on my website from Google?
A: No, they are copyright and licensing issues that could get your website slapped if you get caught.
Q: My content got stolen, is there anything I can do?
A: Congrats your stuff is good enough to steal...
A: Send them a letter asking them to take your stuff down.
Q: Can I copy content from my website and put it in an article on an article directory?
A: No this is duplicate content and it could seriously hurt your website's integrity.
There are others but I won't put them down because I don't remember the answers or exact wording, so here are a few topics I think could be covered:
Online Business Copyright
What disclaimers should be on your website
What kind of insurance coverage should we be looking for
Online business legal forms
Legal Requirements for online business
Website Patents
Legal Forms, Contracts and Templates
Ethical practices to adopt when doing business online
How to register your business online
I'm slightly paranoid and perhaps I'm making a big deal of nothing since our original written content is automatically copyrighted by intellectual property rights. But, what about symbols, colors, words or images that distinguish your business from others as in a logo or brand name? Who, What, When and Where do we look into Website patents? Trademarks? Copyrights? I understand these are all specific to the niche or website but there should be some "standards", right?
So, if you have any advice in any of these categories could you please "shed some light" on the masses of us who have no idea...
Thanks.
Patty
Or, am I missing something and all this information is currently available here? I typed "legal forms, legal contracts, legal templates, Website legalities and legal guidelines here but my searches came back empty.
A few questions that I have personally witnessed being asked in chat, some daily or several times a day:
**These are completely from memory so don't hold me to the answers or questions as being verbatim, my memory is not what it used to be. Also, if you have another answer, or see an incorrect answer, please let me know so I can change it....
Q: What kind of legal coverage do I need if I'm offering SEO consulting? I want myself covered in case someone wants to come after me with "my rankings fell" OR "I'm not getting the results I want".
A: This should be covered in your contract with the client AND
A: There is insurance coverage you can get.
Q: Can I use an image on my website from Google?
A: No, they are copyright and licensing issues that could get your website slapped if you get caught.
Q: My content got stolen, is there anything I can do?
A: Congrats your stuff is good enough to steal...
A: Send them a letter asking them to take your stuff down.
Q: Can I copy content from my website and put it in an article on an article directory?
A: No this is duplicate content and it could seriously hurt your website's integrity.
There are others but I won't put them down because I don't remember the answers or exact wording, so here are a few topics I think could be covered:
Online Business Copyright
What disclaimers should be on your website
What kind of insurance coverage should we be looking for
Online business legal forms
Legal Requirements for online business
Website Patents
Legal Forms, Contracts and Templates
Ethical practices to adopt when doing business online
How to register your business online
I'm slightly paranoid and perhaps I'm making a big deal of nothing since our original written content is automatically copyrighted by intellectual property rights. But, what about symbols, colors, words or images that distinguish your business from others as in a logo or brand name? Who, What, When and Where do we look into Website patents? Trademarks? Copyrights? I understand these are all specific to the niche or website but there should be some "standards", right?
So, if you have any advice in any of these categories could you please "shed some light" on the masses of us who have no idea...
Thanks.
Patty
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