Seven ways to legally protect your online business

Online businesses can be vulnerable to all kinds of unique lawsuits and liability issues. However, by putting in place certain protective measures, you can usually fend off these threats. Below are just a few great ways to legally protect your online business.

Make sure all content is original (or used with permission)

All online content is automatically protected by copyright law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This means that if someone steals a photo or copies text content word-for-word from your website, you are in your right to sue.

Of course, you also need to be careful about what type of content you use - using images or text created by someone else without their permission could leave you open to a lawsuit.

It’s best to opt for original content where possible. This could include hiring a professional photographer to take unique product photos or photos of your team as opposed to using stock images and third-party photos.

You should also consider using online tools like Copyscape to make sure that none of your content is plagiarised. If you want to use an image of written content created by someone else, always ask for the content owner’s permission first. 

Consider trademarking your brand

Things like your company name and logo may not be automatically protected by copyright law. To make sure that nobody copies your branding and passes it off as their own, it could be worthwhile trademarking elements of your brand.

You can trademark all kinds of things from company names to slogans. When applying for a trademark, you’ll need to make sure that there are no existing trademarks already in place.

Hire a legal professional to write out your terms and conditions

Online legal documents such as terms and conditions and site disclaimers can help to legally protect you.

It is important that these terms and conditions are worded carefully so that there are no legal loopholes that can be exploited. The best way to guarantee that your terms and conditions are legally tight is to hire a legal copywriter to write them out for you.

Many commercial law firms will have legal copywriters within their team that can help you. You can also hire freelance legal copywriters online. 

Change your company formation to a limited company

When you register as a limited company, you legally separate your business from yourself.

This means that you are not personally liable to pay for any debts that your business accumulates - if your business ends up going bankrupt, personal assets like home or car won’t have to be sacrificed. 

Of course, no business ever plans to go bankrupt. However, if you do get into financial trouble, it’s a useful safety blanket to have in place. You can register a limited company and open a business bank account today online. Compare company formation registry sites to find the best deals. 

Make sure that you company is GDPR compliant

All online companies should make an effort to protect customer data privacy for e-commerce sites, so that they are compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

While this only applies to the EU, the rest of the world are already starting to introduce similar laws, so it makes sense to get a headstart now (plus it could be essential if you have EU customers).

You can find out exactly what GDPR entails online. A few examples of GDPR laws include asking for permission to collect cookies from website visitors, only signing up people to mailing lists with permission and allowing members to easily unsubscribe.

Use a trusted courier service

If you run an online company that delivers products to customers, it’s important that you use a courier service that you trust.

Any serious issues involving delivery could result in lawsuits being directed at your company. While you may be able to put blame on your courier service, you could still end up in an unwanted legal battle.

Most large courier services are fairly reliable, but you should still do your homework in order to choose the right one. 

Consider taking out business insurance against lawsuits

It’s possible to insure yourself against lawsuits. If a lawsuit is filed against you, your insurance provider will then pay for the fees. Your reputation may still be damaged, but you won’t be as financially damaged.

It’s worth taking the time to compare business insurance rates online. Try to look for business insurance packages that are aimed at your industry fir the best coverage.