Nowadays, building a site is a piece of cake.<\/p>\n
Sure, there is more than one way you can create a website<\/a>, but in the end, it all comes down to choosing the fastest and the most convenient method to do so. One of these approaches is using the WordPress platform to create a website which, as you know, we are a huge fan of.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s say you decided to build on your own business website and have already taken the necessary steps to choose the right WordPress theme<\/a>. You have picked the right design, made sure the theme is not feature-filled and checked the theme\u2019s responsiveness and SEO-friendliness. You are now confident that the theme of your choice meets all the standards.<\/p>\n Amazing!<\/p>\n Now, all that is left to do is for you to customize it, by making it look exactly how you want it.<\/p>\n But, before you can do so, you need to know that customizing a website is not all fun and games and can quickly turn into a fruitless endeavor. Why, you may ask? Well, because there\u2019s more to it than changing the background color or playing with fonts and styles.<\/p>\n Just like the process of website creation, the site customization comes with rules and regulations you need to follow if you want to stay out of trouble and on the right side of the law.<\/p>\n By now, you probably know what we are talking about. Staying on the right side of the law means that your website meets all the website legal requirements<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So, to make sure you are not a part of the lawless, wild, wild west side of the Internet, we have prepared for you a list of website legal requirements you need to follow if you want to avoid a lawsuit. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n Disclaimer: Before we go on with the text, there are two things we need to mention. The first thing is the fact that although we enjoy watching Law and Order and Suits, we are not, by any means, legal experts. Being a team of web developers and designers, we know a thing or two about the legal aspects of making a website, but that\u2019s it. So, if you have any doubt regarding online legal issues, be sure to reach to a lawyer. The second thing we need to disclose is that the website legal requirements vary depending on the country. So, for example, copyright law in the US is not the same as the one in the UK. Be sure to keep this in mind.<\/em><\/p>\n This one is simple.<\/p>\n According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)<\/a>, your website should be accessible to as many people as possible. To make sure you are meeting this standard, be sure to read W3C\u2019s guide for site accessibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n No matter if we are talking about a copy on your About Me<\/em> page, the product description on your e-commerce website or a blog post you\u2019ve just published, it goes without saying that all content<\/strong> (text, photos, videos, etc.) on your site MUST be original<\/strong>.<\/p>\n When you read this sentence, you are probably thought to yourself What about all the same photos I\u2019ve been coming across on multiple websites?<\/p>\n You are right. There\u2019s a catch.<\/p>\n Technically, you can put up a content on your website that is not originally yours, but you have to get a license. It\u2019s called content licensing<\/strong>, and it simply means you need to get permission from the author if you want to feature content on your site.<\/p>\n Now, getting a license is pretty easy, but there are some limitations to using this type of content.<\/p>\n The first thing you have to remember is that if the content is not originally yours, you are going to be the second one (at best!) that published it. Additionally, you need to know that you are probably not the only one who wants to get the rights to publish the content in question. So, before you get in the process of obtaining a license, ask yourself if it\u2019s a good idea to feature content that has already been published on other sites.<\/p>\n The second thing you have to remember is that you may not be able to use and distribute the content<\/strong> any way you like. That is why we would advise you to read \u201cthe fine print\u201d to make sure you are clear on all the terms and conditions.<\/p>\n And this is how you make following website legal requirements easy!<\/p>\n Not the ones you sell stocks on, but the ones you sell stock photos on<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Stock photos are images that are widely available on several online markets and all you need to do is license them by paying a fee to the artists that produced them. That way the author retains copyright of his\/her work and you get to use the photo the way you like.<\/p>\n But, what if we told you that you don\u2019t have to pay for the license? There is always a loophole in legal rules, especially when it comes to website legal requirements.<\/p>\n There are several stock photos markets out there (like Unsplash<\/a>, Pexels<\/a>, Pixabay<\/a>) that don\u2019t require you to give credit to the photographer or pay a fee for a license. This additionally means that you can download, distribute and use the photos for commercial purposes without naming the author on your website.<\/p>\n We are sure you are familiar with the fact that the more blog posts you published, the merrier.<\/p>\n It\u2019s true. Consistency is one of the most important factors when it comes to blogging.<\/p>\n But, if you don\u2019t have the time to publish content five or six times a week, you might opt for resharing someone else\u2019s content.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a cool idea, as long as you stick to the rules.<\/p>\n There is nothing wrong with resharing someone\u2019s content as long as you get permission from the source<\/strong>. In fact, it\u2019s one of the best practice in the website legal requirements department. Once you have the permit, you can publish it with the disclaimer what the source is.<\/p>\n The copyright law<\/a> is the source of all website legal requirements (at least in the US).<\/p>\n This law grants authors the exclusive right to make and sell copies of their works. Additionally, this law limits any website owner to copyright the content and suggests steps an owner should take he\/she decides to violate the requirements.<\/p>\n However, this law is not the only one that should stop you from doing shady things online. There are two acts that will keep you on the right side of the law \u4e00 Digital Millennium Copyright Act<\/a> (which is more of a guide for copyrighting) and Communications Decency Act<\/a>. Before you decide to become a website owner, be sure to familiarize yourself with these two acts.<\/p>\n The privacy policy is just one part of the website legal requirements you need to keep in mind when creating a website. This policy should:<\/p>\n Before you get to writing your site\u2019s privacy policy<\/a>, remember that this section should not be on your website because \u201cthe law said so\u201d, but because it builds trust among your customers and website visitors.<\/p>\n Disclaimer: If you have an e-commerce website, keep in mind that you should pay more attention to the privacy policy. Make sure all the prices are readable and stated adequately (including the taxes part). The same thing goes for the return policy and refund.<\/em><\/p>\n Cookies policy is a significant part of privacy policy and is a legal document that you should place on a website to notify visitors about the types of tracking technologies<\/strong> used by your site. Besides that, this document should also inform users about how their personal information data is used.<\/p>\n Are you obligated to have cookies policy? Well, the answer to this question depends on the continent you are in. If you are operating in the European market, one of the website legal requirements is to have a separate cookies policy. That means you need to have privacy and cookies policy. If you are based in the US, it is advisable to add cookies policy to your website but you are not legally required to.<\/p>\n Cybercriminals are all around us. It\u2019s time to face the fact that your site, no matter what platform you chose to build it on, is vulnerable to hack attacks. Nowadays, hackers can, in just a few steps, access your website data and content and breach billions of records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stop for a second and think about these attacks.<\/p>\n If you have an e-commerce website that has the data of every buyer that has ever purchased your product, you are definitely in big trouble.<\/p>\n To avoid the risk of getting hacked and to make sure you play by the website legal requirements playbook, be sure to read an article on WPBeginner.com<\/a>. This article will help you understand the reasons WordPress sites get hacked and how to prevent this from happening.<\/p>\n While we are on the subject of hacker attacks, it is good to mention that you should invest in your site protection.<\/p>\n For starters, create a security policy, which will serve as a plan if you ever encounter a security breach.<\/p>\n Additional tip: Keep your WordPress site secure by choosing one of the security plugins<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Not only do you want to make sure you don\u2019t take other people\u2019s content and claim it as yours (that\u2019s just rude!), but you also want to ensure no one can claim your content as his\/hers. Not to mention, we are sure you want to protect yourself from getting sued by a consumer for some odd reason<\/strong>. That\u2019s what the page Terms and Conditions is for.<\/p>\n Adding this page to your website will make sure you are protected from all the false claims. Save your precious time and avoid dragging in the court.<\/p>\n As we previously mentioned in a disclaimer at the beginning of this post, terms and conditions vary from a country to country. That is why writing this page is not that simple. If you want to play by the rules, our advice is to consult with a lawyer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This is probably one of easiest website legal requirements you can implement. This time, you are protecting your website content.<\/p>\n The little C in a circle is a copyright symbol which is used on so many things nowadays \u4e00 books, different types of product packaging, websites etc. Although it is so small and almost unnoticeable, it plays a huge role in the copyright world.<\/p>\n So, what does the circled C stand for? Well, according to the U.S. Copyright Office<\/a>, this symbol represents a copyright notice for the public<\/a>. Since it has been published (in March 1989), this symbol is required for all works first published.<\/p>\n How can you make sure you protected your website correctly? Well, you need to:<\/p>\nWebsite suitability<\/h2>\n
Plagiarism is a big no-no<\/h2>\n
Stock markets<\/h2>\n
Resharing blog posts<\/h2>\n
The copyright law<\/h2>\n
Privacy policy<\/h2>\n
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Cookies policy<\/h3>\n
What about the hack attacks?<\/h2>\n
Security policy<\/h3>\n
Terms and conditions<\/h2>\n
Writing Terms and conditions page<\/h3>\n
The little C in a circle<\/h3>\n