Comply With Internet Marketing Law and Stay Out of Trouble

Internet marketing law is an area of online marketing that many people tend to overlook.  However, as with any other type of business, there are specific laws that govern the selling of goods and services online.

And as an online business owner you are required to know those laws and ensure that your site abides by them at all times.

So in this article we will look at a few important aspects of internet marketing law. But before that, I think it’s important to remember that I am neither your lawyer nor a specialist at internet marketing law.

So you still need to get independent legal advice from a qualified legal practitioner.

With that out of the way, let’s get right into it!J

Protect Your Content

The first area of internet marketing law we will look at is Copyright. It is one of the biggest areas of dispute when it comes to the legal end of running a website. 

You may think that if information is displayed on a public site, then the rights to that content are automatically revoked. However, that is not true at all. 

The reality is that you just can’t use any content you find on a public site in any way you please. It is imperative to first check with the owner of the content as to how you can use that content.

Otherwise you might violate their copyright and end up receiving letters of desist from their lawyers.

The flip side of the coin is that you need to protect information that you produce or have produced for you.

So all your ebooks, your website and your information products should clearly indicate that all rights are reserved and that you are the copyright holder.

If you hire a contractor to provide content, it is advisable to have them agree in writing that the copyright belongs to you. This will help avoid any future disputes as to who owns copyright to the content.

Privacy is the Best Policy

The next aspect of internet marketing law is privacy. Customers and prospects are always protective of their privacy and they want to know that any site that they do business with is equally careful.

So you need to make sure that your site has a privacy policy, indicating exactly how any information they provide will be used. 

You need to state this policy clearly on your site, generally in the area where you will be asking for information, so that the customer knows what they are getting into.

If you have a website designer or any other third party that will be handling your website information, they should also abide by your privacy policy. 

This is an aspect of internet marketing law that is important for your safety and that of your customers.

List Your Terms and Conditions

Depending on the products or services provided, the law of your country may stipulate that you have a separate statement indicating that only users over the age of 18 are legally allowed to use your site. 

This kind of disclaimer must appear before customers can enter your site and requires them to read and digitally sign the legally binding agreement.

The laws in your area may also require that only people over the age of 18 years join your list. If that is the case, you need to clearly indicate that on your squeeze page (lead capture page) and on the sign up form on your website.

It would also be advisable to include it somewhere within your newsletter, like at the very bottom. This way, people who accidently or even intentionally signed up to your email list can be reminded to unsubscribe if they are under the age of 18.

There may be other terms and conditions that apply to your site, some of which must be displayed on specific pages within the site.

You will do well to find out about these and have them displayed as required. That extra bit of effort can save you heart ache in the long run.

Affiliate Disclosure

If you are linking to an online merchant as an affiliate, internet marketing law in your area may require that you clearly identify that you are an affiliate and that you receive compensation when someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link. 

Product Disclaimers

Another important element is the use of product disclaimers.  These are statements that formally release you from certain legal ramifications related to the use or purchase of a product that you sell.

These are important because they let users of any product you sell know that they are personally responsible for any negative consequences they experience if they use the product.  

So for example, if someone follows your advice in an ebook you wrote, your disclaimer will protect you from any legal action they may want to take against you if they experience negative results

Disclose Your Company Information

Internet marketing law in most places also specifies that any company selling goods online must include their full company information in at least one place on their website. 

You can display it in one of several spots or in more than one of them if you choose.

These include the initial entry page for the site, the page where goods are first offered, the page where the order is placed and the page where payment information is entered. 

This is necessary so that the customer is able to contact you should there be any problem with the merchandise or your handling of their order.

So those are a few key aspects of internet marketing law that you need to be aware of.

Now, you may be wondering how to create legal documents like a privacy policy, terms and conditions, affiliate disclosure, copyright notice or a disclaimer.

Well, there are 2 paths that you can follow. Firstly, you can hire a lawyer to do it for you. But of course that may be a bit expensive.

Nonetheless, when it comes to legalities I think it’s always wise to avoid painful consequences by hiring a lawyer before you get into trouble.

However, there is another path that you can follow. It’s one that I personally follow when I need the above documents. And it’s to use the documents provided by Autoweblaw.

This is a wonderful site created by Armand Morin and one of his lawyer friends who has years upon years of experience in internet marketing law.

At Autoweblaw you will find virtually all of the legal documents you need to smoothly run your online business. These are high quality documents that even the most respected internet marketers use.

You can readily see who these marketers are by looking at the testimonials. That’s primarily what convinced me that Autoweblaw is the real deal.

But of course the choice is and always should remain yours. Whichever path you choose it will help you avoid a lot of heartache to get the legal stuff correct from the beginning.

It may seem like a lot of extra work but it can have the direst of consequences if you don’t pay careful attention to it. So do yourself a favor and sort out the legal aspects of your online business before it’s too late.

You can check out an example of internet marketing law in application on this very website.

To Your Success

Bruce