The world of online courses is booming.  

Forbes predicts that the e-learning sector will be a $325B industry by 2025. And if you're like other entrepreneurs, you are probably thinking about how you can get a slice of that MASSIVE pie. 

But, before you hit launch on your online course, there are a few legal terms you need to have in place to make sure you are legally protected:

Website Terms of Use 

Your Terms of Use set out all the important details your customers need to know about before they hit BUY on your course. Personally, I think it's important to be upfront with your customers from the get-go about certain terms of their purchase and participation in your course.

Important details include how they can and can't use the content you are providing as part of the course, such as downloadable worksheets or other resources, how payment is to be collected, your refund policy, community expectations for participating in any chat or Facebook Room or how your customers can use their feedback or comments. Your terms also set out the implications for violating any of  your course terms. Making sure  these items are clear in your terms of use, saves confusion, headaches and disputes down the road. 

Disclaimers

These are important in order to protect yourself from liability relating to any inaccurate, misleading  or misinterpreted information that might be contained in your course. It also protects you from your customers thinking you are providing any specific outcomes from their participation in your course. For example, earnings disclaimers are important for business coaches that teach entrepreneurs how to scale their businesses. While the information you provide definitely might help your students scale their businesses, you most likely don't want to provide any specific earnings guarantees that, if your customers don't meet, they could have a legal claim against you. Disclaimers are also important for anyone in the health and wellness industry letting users know that the information is only for educational and informational purposes and isn't intended to replace a doctor's advice. No matter what niche you're teaching in, it is really important that your disclaimers are relevant to your course content to be able to rely on them in the event you ever need to. 

 
Privacy Policy

If you are collecting personal information for other data rom users of your website or online course, you are required to have a privacy policy! A privacy policy sets out how you collet, store, use and share their personal information. It is not enough to copy+paste someone else's privacy policy, slap it on your site and think you're protected:  Your privacy policy actually needs to reflect your business practices and the software you are using in your business

Since the laws around privacy are constantly changing and becoming increasingly stricter it's important to either work with a local lawyer or purchase a contract template which provides updated templates (like ours!) whenever the law changes so you keep on top of the changes. 

 
Overwhelmed? Don't be - we've got a Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Bundle  that is fully customizable and includes everything you need to ensure your online course is legally protected. 

Still have questions about what you might need to create your online course? Let me know in the comments or send me an email at hello@thecontractsmarket.com and I'd be happy to help you out!