Often I will have new clients come to me with a problem that would not have occurred if they had only used an attorney to write their website policies. Instead, in an effort to save money, they scraped their policies from a competitor’s site.
Unfortunately, the competitor’s site did not have the same business model as the new client’s. Their policies did not apply to my client’s business and the client is now having costly legal difficulties.
Your website Terms & Policies are unique. The TOS is especially important as it is your contract with your visitors. You not only need to understand your visitor’s obligations, but also what your obligations are to your visitors. When I write a client’s TOS it is also one of my goals to limit their liability in every way possible.
Further, Privacy Policy laws are constantly changing. There is no guarantee that the site you scrape is up to date.
Also, having an attorney write your policies will guarantee the policies are not only up to date but that you understand them. When I write website policies for clients I review them paragraph by paragraph with the client, which often results in the client making some changes along the way to offer even better service to their customers.
Finally, the statutory damages you could face for violating the copyright of the site you scrape could be many thousands of dollars.
I personally provide a Special Introductory Offer for new clients for their website TOS, Privacy Policy, DMCA Notice, common law trademark and copyright notice. I currently provide all of this work for the low cost of only $1,750.00 (about one-half of what my peers charge.) I do this to not only provide a low cost solution to the client, but also to increase my client base.
Check out this blog on my website for more information concerning your website policies: https://www.lawyerjaffe.com/2016/12/legal-steps-opening-new-app-e-commerce-website-blog-2/