Website Disclaimer

[workerant08]

I am in mississippi.

I'm aware that a lot of webmasters just write out or copy a disclaimer and put it on their website as a way of protecting them legally.

My question is this: Is there anything else to it or is putting it in writing that you (and the site) are not responsible for anything users do with the contents and that it is their responsibility enough to protect my website. I have some sensitive materials and would like to protect myself with a disclaimer in the event someone uses the contents of my website for wrong-doing so I can show that they clicked "Agree" to the disclaimer I wrote and took responsibility AND understood that I am not responsibly AND that they should not do wrong with the contents of the website OR they will be face legal problems and be held responsibile.

I searched google with dozens of keywords. Everything from "legal disclaimer" to "getting a disclaimer" to "do disclaimers work" with no answer.

Anyone here know the answer?

[quincy]

Disclaimers do not really prevent lawsuits. They merely work to mitigate damages should your website be sued over defamatory, pornographic, obscene, infringing, or invasion of privacy materials posted by others.

It is usually not wise to just copy someone else's disclaimer verbatim - you are better off fashioning one specifically for your site. Reading over various disclaimers can help you to know what to include, but if you want the fullest protection for your site, you may want an attorney to review your disclaimer prior to use.

If you go to the forum heading "Online Purchases and Sales", there is a post entitled "Using a Disclaimer." A detailed description of what disclaimers can and can't do is discussed there. It will be on either page one, or page two.