General Terms and Conditions of Use - CGU

General Terms and Conditions of Use - CGULGeneral Terms and Conditions of Use (CGU) are a contractual document drawn up between users and the publishers of a website, an e-Commerce platform or a digital platform.

How do I get my Terms and Conditions?

One of the most important stages in the creation of a website, e-Commerce platform, software or digital platform is the drafting of the GCU. Contractually speaking, this is what identifies all the rules governing the use of your tool, and sets out the rights and obligations of your users and visitors. In other words, drafting the GCU enables you to limit your responsibilities.

The General Terms of Use are a contractual document drawn up between the users and publishers of a website. When drafting your Terms of Use, you can draw inspiration from various examples on the Internet, but you must of course adapt your document to the specific features of your own platform. On the other hand, to ensure that the document plays its role to the full, there are a number of mistakes to be avoided when drafting your GTUs. These are described in detail in this article.

It should be noted that the General Terms of Use or GTU are essential, even if the site is not commercial. In legal terms, however, the GCU are not mandatory. They are an optional document of a contractual nature, and the user has the choice of accepting or rejecting their content, but will not be able to use the website or digital platform.

You can download our Terms and Conditions by clicking on the download button on the left.

Optional but recommended!

Unlike legal notices, General Terms of Use are not mandatory. But given their usefulness, most websites and platforms decide to include them.

What's more, the General Terms of Use should not be confused with the General Terms of Sale(GTS). In fact, these are two different documents: the main purpose of the GCU is to lay down the rules governing the use of a website, whereas the GCS, which are mandatory, provide a framework for the various commercial relationships.

Technically speaking, CGU allow you, as the publisher of a website or digital platform, to define the various terms and conditions of use. You can then define the rights and obligations of both your users and yourself. This will enable you to communicate:

• The general operation of your website and the rules your users must follow when using it;
• Site content and navigation methods (for example, you can use the Terms of Use to describe the steps involved in creating an account);
• Your own responsibilities as publishers and those of your users;
• Penalties for non-compliance with these conditions of use.

In short, the General Terms of Use are a source of information on what is and isn't allowed, and on the responsibilities of both parties, users and publishers.

What are the terms and conditions?

There is no standard model for drafting General Terms of Use for a website. You can therefore draw your inspiration from those of another website, but don't copy them as they stand. If you do, you may be liable to pay damages, and they may not protect you, or only partially protect you, in your specific case.

There are many different types of information you need to include in your T&Cs:

Description of how the site works and why it exists:

Here, you should mention the purpose behind creating your website and define the services you offer. A broader description is recommended, as you won't be obliged to modify your T&Cs every time your offer evolves.

As already mentioned, the GCU can describe the steps involved in creating an account on a website. As a result, you need to emphasize users' rights, particularly in the case of creating a personal space, by way of example. Obligations, such as not sharing login details or hindering the smooth running of the site, will therefore be imposed on them.

These are General Conditions of Use which commit the user to the consequences of any damage resulting from non-compliance with these obligations.

Rules applicable to intellectual property :

Here, you remind your users of the exclusivity of all intellectual property rights on brands, logos, or domain namese.g : dipeeo.com), which they can view when browsing your website.

You must also emphasize that you are the exclusive owner of all intellectual property rights and publisher licenses applicable to the general structure of the website, such as the software, algorithms and APIs used, as well as the website content you write. Your users therefore have no right to use any of these elements.

Your website commitments

Another piece of information that should be included in your Terms of Use is that which describes your commitment to your website. In other words, you should mention that you do everything in your power to ensure that your content is accurate and up-to-date, even if it is inaccurate. 

You must therefore define your Accountability if your site is inaccessible due to a technical problem, or if the information on another site, to which you direct your users via links, is erroneous.

Don't forget that if your articles are open to comments, in your T&Cs you must inform your users of the possibility that there may be erroneous information in the form of comments.

Update your terms and conditions

Please note that you reserve the right to modify your General Terms of Use (GTU) at any time and without prior notice. You should therefore suggest that visitors to your website consult them as regularly as possible.

Please note that you can also include other information in your T&Cs, such as thepurpose of the T&Cs, the law that applies to the use of your website, the applicable standard language or the way in which you use personal data.

For more details, please consult our Terms and Conditions by clicking here.

Mistakes to avoid when drafting Terms of Use

To ensure the relevance of your General Conditions of Use (GCU), there are a number of errors to which you need to pay particular attention. As already mentioned in the introduction, you need to distinguish between General Conditions of Use (GCU) and General Conditions of Sale (GCS). This is a very important point, and a common mistake that can confuse your site's users.

Furthermore, you should never plagiarize another website's terms and conditions, especially those of your competitors, as this will expose you to the risk of paying damages. Unfortunately, this is what most digital agencies do when creating a website for a company.

By taking on the creation of the site, digital agencies undertake to create the various GDPR documents, even if they don't have the skills in-house. Plagiarizing the CGU of a similar site is therefore a frequently used solution, but it is often useless as it does not protect the website owner. See our article Digital agencies and GDPR which deals with the subject in detail.

Designed to be read by all site users, T&Cs must be easily accessible and written in a relevant, clear and precise manner. When drafting your T&Cs, you must therefore not be vague in order to protect yourself. In addition, a link to the document must be available on every page of the site. This link is usually placed at the bottom of the page.

Last but not least, please note that T&Cs are required not only for websites, but also for e-Commerce platforms, software and digital platforms.

Dipeeo now offers to produce your UGCs and GTCs in addition to your full GDPR compliance. Contact us to find out more.