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Help! How To Get Back Your Stolen Content by @samvwllc

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by Sam Vander Wielen | Featured Contributor

Hi friends! So imagine you just spent all this time writing, re-writing, and perfecting your amazing blog post, email sequence, or freebie. You send it out into the universe and then BOOM! You’re the victim of stolen content. You find out someone else up and took your content, swaped your name with hers, and made it her own.

So what is a girl to do? Or what CAN a girl do?

Well, a lot actually! If you’ve put out your own original content and found that someone else stole it, you’re within your rights to ask them to remove it. Depending on what s/he did with your content, you might even be within your rights to seek damages (but that’s expensive!).

sam vander wielen diy legal templates stolen content

So first things first…

Confirm that the person took your own original content. Before you approach someone who you think may have stolen your stuff, take a moment to pause. Make sure that the content you’re talking about is actually yours to own. I had a client once ask that someone else remove something from her site, only to realize later that she had actually borrowed the content from someone else first.

You’ll also want to go ahead and make sure that the content you’re accusing the person of taking is yours, word for word. Yes, it’s still copying even if someone only changes a few words here and there. But make sure it’s pretty apparent that she’s gone ahead and taken your content verbatim.

Next, you’ll want to approach the person who took your content in a professional way. Of course you would, I’m just reminding you : ) The best way to do this is through email or good ole’ snail mail. I don’t suggest that you text, DM or otherwise message the person because if things escalate and become more serious, you’ll want a written trail of your efforts to contact her.

In your email or letter, you’ll want to let the person know that you’ve come across a post/handout/etc. that is a copy of your post/handout/etc. You’ll want to provide the date in which you published or posted your content and when you saw that she posted ‘hers’.

Kindly advise that you’d like the post or material removed from the site within a reasonable period of time (usually a small number of business days). Let her know that if your content isn’t removed by that period of time, you’ll seek further action.

This is what we refer to as a “cease and desist” notice. For small business owners, I usually recommend trying to handle this at first on your own. But depending on the circumstances, you may want to get an attorney involved from the outset.

Of course, if the person stole content that you sell or stole content and is now selling it as her own, you may want to consider contacting and hiring a local attorney to have her assist you in having the items removed and damages paid. Having a cease and desist letter or threat of legal action come from an actual attorney can make people do some amazing things. Trust me.

Even for my own business, I recently had someone illegally take a copy of one of my DIY legal templates. I wrote the person an email advising that it be removed and that they needed to purchase the legal template like the rest of my clients, and they did. Within minutes! Sometimes all it takes is speaking up for yourself.

So has this ever happened to you? What did you do about it? Did you ever follow-up and ask that it be taken down? I’m all ears for any questions you have!

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The 2 Most Important Ways You Can Legally Protect Your Business by @hyggewellness

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by Sam Vander Wielen | Featured Contributor

Hey friends! I hope you enjoyed my last post on the 7 Ways To Protect Your Business and Website! I’m back this month helping you understand the two major areas of your business that need some legal coverage: your website and your “relationships”. I know this legal stuff can be boring and confusing, but my goal today is to give you a broad overview of where your business needs legal protection and why.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Imagine a tree that only has 2 branches (it’s a skinny tree!). Branch #1 is your website and online presence. And branch #2 is your relationships with clients, potential clients, or business-to-business relationships (i.e., hiring a logo designer or virtual assistant for help). These are the two major areas of your business where “legal” comes into play.

The 2 Most Important Ways You Can Legally Protect Your Business

Branch #1: Your Website

The fact that it’s so easy to start a website nowadays is both a glorious and scary thing. It’s great that nearly anyone can start their own blog in just a few hours, but there’s a flip side to the internet that we don’t always think about…

Anyone can READ your blog.

Anyone can TRY one of your suggested recipes, workouts, or healthy tips.

Anyone can BUY one of your products, no matter where they live, and implement or use what you sell.

Yes, the fact that we have such easy access to the internet is glorious – but it’s also another reason why us entrepreneurs need to protect ourselves. Anyone could access, use, or implement what we talk, write, or speak about online. And we have no idea who those people are, what kind of health they’re in, or whether they’re being smart and implementing our suggestions the right way.

So that’s why we cover ourselves (aka. our businesses) by covering our websites. The 3 major legal documents you need on your website to cover your business, what you write and sell on it, and what you say are a:

  1. Disclaimer (which tells people who you are, what you do, and what you don’t so you can cover yourself!)
  2. Terms & Conditions (which sets the ground rules for things like refunds, exchanges, payment processing & so much more!)
  3. Privacy Policy (which you need if you collect email addresses for your email list or have a contact form on your site!)

So after we get our website covered because we’re being mindful of the fact that anyone could read something on our site and try or buy it, we’re going to focus on our 1-on-1 business and client relationships.

Branch #2: Working With Clients + Business-To-Business Relationships

So now you have your website covered with some simple DIY legal templates, but what about your 1-on-1 client relationships? Or that new virtual assistant you want to hire? You need legal protection here, too. Why?

For your 1-on-1 client relationships (i.e., 1-on-1 coaching, website/logo design, or service type work), you need a client agreement that you customize and send to each new client before you start working together. Not only does it disclaim liability on your business’s part, but it also sets the expectations for what you’re providing, how much you’re getting paid, how you’re being paid (when, payment method, etc.) and what some of your most important policies are.

When you work business-to-business (i.e., hiring a website designer to work on your website, hiring a photographer to take some new headshots, hiring a new virtual assistant), you want to think about having a formal, written agreement between you (on behalf of your business) and that business, too.

Having these agreements in place are important for a host of super boring legal reasons that I won’t get into (but I’m willing to if you ever want to hear about them! Just contact me!). But here’s why you should consider having a written agreement in place instead of a bunch of back and forth emails or texts…

  • You’ll know what work’s to be completed and by when
  • You’ll have a clear idea of how much you’re being charged
  • You’ll know exactly what’s included for that price
  • You’ll know what to do if you’re unhappy with the product or service
  • You’ll have the opportunity to set clear expectations so everyone walks away happy

Before you enter into any business relationship, think about whether you need a written agreement or not. You can always ask the person on the other end if they have an agreement they use already. If they don’t (or if you want to make sure the agreement is written in terms most favorable to you), you should be ready with your own written contract to send them.

So what questions do you have about legally covering these 2 huge branches of your business? In reality, there are plenty of additional little branches (especially as our businesses grow and become more complicated). But this is what I like to call a good “30,000 foot overview” of how you should think of legally covering your business and business relationships.

I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions! Please ask away in the comments below! <3 

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7 Ways To Protect Your Business and Website by @hyggewellness

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by Sam Vander Wielen | Featured Contributor

Hi friends! I help women entrepreneurs protect themselves and their businesses with DIY legal templates and resources. If you’re a coach, entrepreneur, or creative with a website, you need to think about whether you’re protecting yourself and your business online.

I know this stuff gets super confusing. But it really doesn’t have to! Legal can be easy and approachable — that’s my mission!

Most of all, it’s really important your website is an accurate reflection of you, what you do, what you’re qualified to do, and how people can work with you.

sam vander wielen diy legal templates

Here are 7 things you should know about protecting your business & website online:

1. Who You Are, What You Do

It’s best to tell your readers off the bat who you are and what you do. That way, you’re super clear and there’s no confusion that you’re their doctor, lawyer, medical professional, personal chef etc. etc.

You might think it’s super clear already, but that’s not always the case. A disclaimer is a great way to simply and explicitly let your visitors know not only who you are and what you do, but who you aren’t and what you don’t do.

2. Protect Yourself (Disclaim Liability)

Especially for you coaches or online business owners, your website is a great place to protect yourself and your business with a liability disclaimer. You can protect yourself from things that happen to your readers based on your site, blog posts, services, suggestions, or endorsements.

Basically, this is your opportunity to let people know you don’t accept responsibility for their decision to try your recipe with an ingredient in it they’re allergic to or to run a marathon after they’ve never even gone on a jog.

3. Collecting Personal Info

Do you collect email addresses and reader’s names on your site to build an email list? Or do you collect info from them to send them an opt-in freebie? Or maybe you have a contact form that asks for their email, name, and website?

Then you need a privacy policy letting your readers know what type of personal info you collect from them, what you do with it, and when you collect it. It’s also important that your readers can easily find out how to unsubscribe from receiving any emails or contact from you.

4. Testimonials

I love reading testimonials as much as the next girl. But the lawyer in me always gets a little nervous when I see entrepreneurs using testimonials on their site without a disclaimer.

In your disclaimer, you should let readers know that the testimonials featured on your site are examples. You know, the usual stuff: results not typical, not guaranteed, not for everyone. It’s important you tame the claims made in your testimonials by letting everyone know that the testimonials don’t in any way imply that they’ll get rich, skinny, or happy.

5. Before You Buy (Terms & Conditions)

If you sell anything on your site — coaching packages, products, ebooks, downloadable items, etc. — terms & conditions are the ‘contract’ that people agree to before purchasing from you. This way, they agree to payment, refund, and intellectual property terms that you set.

If someone purchases something under a subscription or membership option and later cancels their form of payment, you want to make sure you have a way to go after your money. Or if someone purchases your downloadable product and then asks for a refund, you can easily refer them to your terms & conditions they agreed to before purchase saying “no refunds on downloadable products”.

6. Get That Money (Sponsored Posts/Affiliate Links)

Running your own site isn’t cheap. So if you’d like to take sponsored posts or posts linking to affiliate products/services, make sure you’re upfront with your audience by including affiliate/sponsor language in your disclaimer.

But your readers aren’t the only ones expecting notice of where your money comes from. Some affiliate programs (like Amazon, for example) require that you use specific language in your disclaimer to let your readers know how you operate your blog.

7. Protect Your Hard Work

After all of this hard work, perhaps the most important thing to do is make sure it stays yours. You can protect your website and its content by including intellectual property notices in your terms & conditions or disclaimer.

You should also drop a note in your footer that says “© [year] [business/blog name]”. For example, my blog says © 2017 Sam Vander Wielen LLC. This lets your visitors know you’re all about protecting your hard work.

So, after reading this: what can you do to strengthen your website? Are there areas where you could explain who you are, what you do, and what you don’t in a clear way? What questions do you have about what you should or shouldn’t have on your website? 

This post does not constitute legal advice — it is simple legal information and education meant to empower you to build and grow your own business. Sam is an attorney licensed in the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Reading this post or use of any of its information does not establish an attorney-client relationship between you and Sam. Thank you for reading!

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