Disclaimer

[theChronic]

hey,
I'm running a few fitness sites that provide some information on tips for working out, losing weight, supplementing, etc etc. These are all health sort of topics and I was wondering what the extent of a disclaimer I need to have to avoid getting annhilated in court by someone?

Thanks,
John

[JuggoPop]

Note: This is not law advice.

My personal opinion would be to over do it rather then get by with as little as possible. Might contact a lawyer to write something up for you... or you might even contact some of your suppliers/peers/businesses you deal with to see if they will help you or let you use one they have already written up.

Of course you could just search around for a disclamer that you think might work and then have someone with law experance look it over for you.

[theChronic]

What is the copyright law for disclaimers? Can you copy them? How much must you edit? Yada yada yada

Thanks
john

[JuggoPop]

well I would think that most legal jargon is not copyrightable as far a disclaimer is conserned... but like I said before I can't give legal advice as I have no right to. I wouldn't copy and paste it... I would think you could rewrite the idea keeping all important wording.

[Wing Chun]

Hi theChronic, legal issues are a nightmare for web developers... if you don't know the law then you're gonna be bending over just waiting for a surprise from an industry competitor who does.

As you're in the USA and I'm in the UK we have slight differences, but only very slight.

On copyright: you need proof that your content is yours. keep a record of your design in some way that enables u to say "I had this at this time". In the UK we have no official copyright registration system, so the government recommends sending ourselves a special delivery of our material and leaving it unopened, or alternatively leave ur screenshots/code with ur bank or lawyer. In USA I believe u have an official registration system of federal copyright protection (purchasable here).

Whether or not you choose to make/purchase time-provable records in any way, u still need the basic statement (eg Copyright Chronic Fitness. All rights reserved.) to tell people that ur work should not be copied by them.

Anyway, just to put ur mind at ease with copyrights, ur more likely to get sued under the Disability Discrimination Act or similar over web accessibility

[ryukenden]

I would suggest you to see how other similar sites are putting disclaimer on their sites. You will have idea how to write. Basically you need to include if any damage happens to the users of the site or third party ads, you are not liable for it.

[Wing Chun]

wow this is an old thread, ryu!

anyway, ask yourself: what is a disclaimer? do you really know that it's just the negating of claims?

so, either:

don't make claims

or...

tell people to be careful when valuing your claims because they may be inaccurate.


but,

don't talk babble like most legal professionals who are both confused themselves and therefore trying to confuse you too in order for you to not notice their errors,

rather,

be honest and honestly do what you think is best for everyone.