If you’re tempted to cut corners by using copy and paste on another business’s content, think again. As Love Your Legals founder, Shalini Nandan-Singh points out, you could be committing Intellectual Property theft.

When you start a new small business, it’s easy to get caught up in cutting costs wherever possible. Setting up a business has many unexpected expenses; understandably, you need to account for every dollar spent. But copying and pasting to save money can result in serious trouble. The content you are copying is likely copyrighted, meaning you could steal someone’s Intellectual Property (IP).

Business legal documents like privacy policies, website terms and conditions and client contracts are common areas I see small business owners scrimp on. In the excitement of developing a product or service, building the website, planning a marketing campaign and finding those first customers, the legal documents that support the business won’t feel like a priority. For most of us, they aren’t the most exciting part of starting a business.

A simple copy and paste is tempting when you’re busy and cash poor. Why pay for a legal document that will, for the most part, only be on the footer of your website when you can copy it from a friend or fellow business owner? It seems easy and harmless, but there are several why reasons it’s neither.

Let’s get clear about the copy and paste issue with a case study:

Annette recently started a green nappy ecommerce business, and when the website went live, she shared it with several Facebook groups, asking for feedback.

One of the people to check out the website was a small business legal specialist, let’s call her Sam. Now Sam naturally checked out the website’s privacy policy and terms of use. To her surprise, these pages were exactly the same as the policies she sold on her legal templates website.

Annette had never been a client of Sam’s, so she reached out to understand how this came to be.

How did these copyrighted legal terms end up on the website?

Annette was happy to admit that she had ‘copied and pasted’ the policies from a friend’s website, another small business owner. To Annette, she had simply ‘borrowed’ the policies from a friend, who had bought them from Sam months ago.

To Sam, the small business lawyer, this was a likely case of copyright infringement of her digital products.

Annette, the e-commerce business owner, had no idea this was a problem and felt terrible. Cash was tight, and Annette was looking for ways to manage costs in her startup. Sam helped her understand the importance of investing in her business with legal documents designed for her business.

Why you need legal documents designed with your business in mind

1. IP theft is serious

Copy and paste might be convenient, but it’s often Intellectual Property theft that can result in legal action.

Removing clauses, paraphrasing, and making minor changes isn’t enough to stop the copy and paste from being copyright infringement. The copyright owner, in this case, is Sam, the small business lawyer, not the friend who purchased the template.

Not only has Annette breached IP laws, but her friend, who let Annette copy the document, has, too. Especially if she has agreed to relevant terms and conditions that expressly say that the files are not to be shared. If it were a physical product, it would be stealing, as it has resulted in Sam being unable to make an income from Annette using the legal documents she created.

2. The wording of your legal documents needs to be tailored to your business

Outside of the intellectual property and copyright infringement issue, another issue in this scenario is that Annette may have copied these documents without understanding how the terms related to her business. For example, a privacy policy spells out how you, in your business, will manage private information. Your process may differ from another business.

The wording of the legal documents also needs to correctly reflect the business structure, relevant insurances, liability and other industry-related obligations.

3. Small changes do not negate copyright

Sometimes, small business owners will piece together their policies from various ‘free’ resources they found online. While this might seem an effective way to get around copyright obligations, it often doesn’t. It can also result in legal documents that aren’t effective because critical components have been missed or don’t make sense in the specific business context.

There is a common misconception that if you change something by 10 per cent, you’re no longer breaching copyright, however, this is not the case.

4. You should value correct systems and processes

Taking shortcuts for these legal documents also reflects poorly on the business from a systems and processes point of view. Cash might be tight, but it’s crucial to start as you mean to continue and invest in the legal documents that can protect your business and your customers.

What to do if you have already copied and pasted legal documents

We all make mistakes. It is an opportunity to acknowledge an opportunity for improvement and take action. If you are unsure what legal documents you need for your business, engage a small business lawyer to help you identify what foundation documents you need. Invest in having these terms custom drafted. Small business legal templates are also an affordable and effective way to cover your legal obligations comprehensively.

Remember, even if your business is small, it’s no excuse to breach Intellectual Property laws or fail to protect your business with the correct legal documents in place.

Want more? Get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! Follow Kochie’s Business Builders on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.