My evaluation of Shopify's free Terms and Conditions generator.
- What liability protections are included? Disclaimer of warranty, limitation of liability, indemnity.
- Free preview without having to fill in fields or give email? No. Must fill in fields, give email and then follow the link in the email, even though everybody gets more or less the same template in the end.
- Appears professionally-written? Yes.
- Plain English? Yes.
- Explanations/instructions? No.
- Level of customization? Low. It's not much of a "generator." More like a template that lets you plug in some of your information.
- IP ownership provisions? Yes.
- IP provisions for user-submitted content? Yes.
- Acceptable Use Policy? Yes.
- Procedures re copyright infringement? Yes.
- Right to modify Terms at any time? Yes.
- Right to terminate/ban any user account at any time? Yes.
- Governing Law set close to your headquarters? No, the Governing Law section is drafted incorrectly. The generator just inserts whatever address you feed it. As a result, my Terms are governed by the street law of San Diego. This is wrong; there is no official street law in USA and any other jurisdiction I can think of. So, to fix this section, insert the law of your home state (if in USA). E.g., "... in accordance with the laws of California."
- Arbitration clause included? No.
- Ecommerce-specific provisions? Yes, some of the best eCommerce clauses for online stores among the free generators out there.
- Can host the ToS on your own platform? Yes.
- ToS include the generator author's links/acknowledgements? No.
VERDICT: 7/10
(Very good for free but must fix the Governing Law section).
