Terms and Conditions

What are terms and conditions?

Terms and Conditions (also known as Terms of Service and Terms of Use) are important agreements that outline the ways in which customers can use a company's product or service. While it is not mandatory, it is a good idea to have a Terms and Conditions agreement that outlines the rules and responsibilities of users and owners. Doing so gives you the right to terminate the agreement if the other party fails to comply with the terms. Terms and Conditions are often used in situations where business is being done online like online marketplaces, e-commerce store, SaaS platforms, or mobile app. If This gives companies the right to suspend a users account if they abuse the product or service in some way.

What should I include in my Terms and Conditions agreement?

The content of your Terms and Conditions agreement will depend on your business needs. Because businesses have different needs, each agreement will include different provisions. When deciding what to include, consider: what are users allowed to do and what are they restricted from doing? What are your responsibilities and what are theirs? How would you prefer to settle disputes?
Provisions that are common to Terms and Conditions across the board include:

• Permissions: This outlines in explicit terms what the website, mobile app, or online store owner can do with information you post to or include on their digital asset.
• Termination of services: This lays down the restrictions on how the website’s service may be used by the user and the circumstances under which a user will be banned from using the website's services or the user's account will be terminated or suspended.
• Dispute Resolution - Arbitration: This states that if a legal dispute arises between the user and the business, the two parties must settle the dispute through binding arbitration, rather than through the court system. Most dispute resolution provisions now include mandatory arbitration clauses in order to prevent costly lawsuits.
• Dispute Resolution - Class Action Waiver: This prevents the user from filing a class action lawsuit against the business in the event a dispute arises between the user and the business.
• Dispute Resolution - Choice of Law: This provision specifies which state's (or country, if international) law applies in the event a legal dispute arises between the business and the user, no matter where the user where the user files the lawsuit.
• Dispute Resolution - Forum Selection: This specifies in which state a user must file suit in the event a legal dispute arises between the business and the user.
• Limitations of Liability: This provision limits the liability of a website, mobile app, or online store owner should there be a defect in the product or service purchased by the user, or if a particular obligation or requirement has not been met by the owner.
• Payment: This outlines the ways in which payment must be rendered to the owner of the digital asset, including stipulations about frequency, acceptable forms, cancelation, and taxes. This provision may also disclose the actions the business will take in the event the user defaults on payment.
• Intellectual property: Intellectual property concerns include but are not limited to trademark infringement, copyright infringement and ownership, and unauthorized patent use. This provision may also state that all intellectual property rights that arise through the user's use of the website's service or product are automatically assigned to the website owner.
• Indemnification: This clause allocates risk between two parties. It outlines which of the parties will be responsible for any losses incurred during or as a result of their contractual relationship. Simply put, if something goes wrong during the course of the transaction, this provision allocates who will pay for whatever costs arise from that wrong.

Terms & Conditions on Biteable.