Terms & Conditions / Standard Contract Terms

[jerea]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

Two what extent are the Terms and Conditions published on most web sites protected intellectual capital? Limitations of Liability, Indemnification, Third Party Rights etc are so generic that if you copied them from another site, even word for word, would it be considered theft of intellectual capital? How many ways can the same phrases be rewritten?

Also, I have been given a copy of a contract which is very close to one I will need for a different business. It contains nothing that would be considered a trade secret. Again, it is primarily standard Terms and Conditions. Would copying and modifying it to my specific business need be considered intellectual capital theft?

I know I need final legal review, but can I use these sources to draft preliminary Terms and Conditions and contracts?

 

[divgradcurl]

Just like anything else, the terms and conditions posted on a website would be protected by copyright. If you were to cut and paste from someone else's terms and conditions, you would be liable for copyright infringement and, although unlikely, could face a lawsuit.

Ideas are not protected by copyright; find 3 or 4 "terms and conditions" and from them, extract the inmportant bits, then write up a new terms and conditions that encompasses those same ideas, but in your own words. Then you'll be safe. Same goes for the contract -- as long as you don not copy the actual language, or use the same format, etc., you will probably be safe. Merely modifying the contract may not be sufficient to protect yourself -- you will want to rewrite it in your own words and use your own format to protect yourself.