11 Key Protections Your eBook Terms and Conditions Template Must Have

Want to know what protections you need in your eBook terms and conditions template? These are the critical terms you need to protect your eBook, business and money.

Creating an eBook and selling it online is so exciting, but if you’re anything like me, you are researching everything you need to ensure that your intellectual property rights to your eBook, your sales income and your business are protected. As a lawyer myself who drafts legal templates for online entrepreneurs and creators like you, I am giving you the crucial protections you need in your eBook terms and conditions template. 

I will tell you what you need in your eBook terms and conditions template to protect yourself, including eBook disclaimer examples, like a copyright disclaimer for eBook products and more!

After learning about what you need in your eBook terms and conditions template, you will have everything you need to protect your eBook from copycats and your hard-earned money.

This post is all about the crucial elements every eBook terms and conditions template must have to protect your eBook, IP, business and money.

Ultimate eBook Terms and Conditions Template

All the protections you need (including eBook disclaimer examples)

1. Protections against data protection authorities

Let’s start at the beginning of the process, the moment your customer purchases your eBook. When your customer purchases your eBook, you collect their personal data, like their name and email address. 

You are required to inform your customers of how you will use that personal information and how you save it. If you don’t, you are breaking the law, and the privacy protection authorities may hit you with a hefty fine.

Therefore, your eBook terms and conditions template must include a privacy policy or a reference to your privacy policy that states what you do with that information.

For more on the legal pages you need, including the privacy policy, read this blog post on What legal pages should a website have | 7 Must-Haves.

2. Protections against incompatible software or devices

The next provisions your eBook terms and conditions template needs are protections against incompatible software. With that, I mean that you need to include disclaimers if your customer’s software is not able to open the eBook.

You need to state:

1. what format your eBook has, like PDF-form, Word, Google Docs, or PNG, and

2. what type of software it is made for, like Adobe Acrobat Reader, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Word, etc.

You need to include a disclaimer that, although you use a certain format that is made for a certain software program, it may still not be compatible with the customer’s software or even the device they use it on.

3. Protections for (spelling) errors and mistakes

Some customers may expect that your eBook is completely flawless. However, you are human, and mistakes are human. So, your eBook will likely include some errors and mistakes, such as:

• spelling or grammar mistakes,

• broken links,

• outdated or incorrect information, and

• blank pages.

Some customers may not have any mercy and claim compensation for those broken links, outdated information or a simple spelling error.  

Therefore, your eBook terms and conditions template should contain protections in the form of disclaimers for all errors and mistakes. 

4. Protections against expectations and outcomes (including earnings)

Depending on the contents of your eBook, customers may have certain expectations of: 

• what information the eBook will include, and

• the outcomes and results they may get from reading your eBook and putting it into practice.

However, your eBook will likely not include a magical cheat code to life that some people are looking for or detailed information on one aspect of your eBook that certain people may expect.

For example, suppose your eBook is about building or growing a specific business. In that case, your customers may have certain expectations of the earnings they will make, while they have not even properly applied the concepts you explain in your eBook.

To avoid getting claims on not providing information that your customer may hope for or claims based on not achieving the outcome they had hoped, you need to include the following:

1. a disclaimer that the content of your eBook is provided on an “as is” basis,

2. disclaimers against any results or outcomes your customers may achieve,

3. statements that make it clear that your customers are responsible for their own outcomes and results.

5. Protections against copycats

The one thing you probably fear the most is someone buying your eBook, slapping their name on it, tweaking the design, and reselling it as if it is their own.

Therefore, you need to have the proper provisions in your eBook terms and conditions template to protect yourself against copycats, such as the following:

• Intellectual property ownership provisions stating that the contents AND the design of your eBook are your intellectual property.

• A copyright disclaimer for eBook products stating that the customer is only purchasing a license to use your eBook, not the ownership of the intellectual property rights.

6. Protections against use for profit

Even though it may be clear that you own the intellectual property rights to the eBook, you need to also specifically include in your eBook terms and conditions template what it may and may NOT be used for.

You need to make explicitly clear that the eBook is only for personal use and that the customer may not resell it or use it in their own business to service their clients (like as part of their coaching program).

7. Protections against free sharing

Even if you have made clear in your eBook terms and conditions template that your customer may only use the eBook for personal use and may not resell it, your customer may still think it’s okay to share the eBook for free with other people, like their friends and family.

Therefore, your eBook terms and conditions template must also state that the eBook may not be shared with anyone, whether it’s for profit or for free.

It may seem redundant, but you want to ensure that there can be no doubt in your customer’s mind about how the eBook may and, more importantly, may NOT be used.

8. Protections against valid claims

Let’s say your customer does have a valid claim against you. It could be something as simple as someone receiving the wrong eBook when purchasing it through your online shop. Or, your eBook is completely blank, and it has nothing to do with the compatibility of your customer’s software. In those cases, your customer has a valid claim against you, as you simply did not deliver what was promised.

But even for valid claims, you want to protect yourself by limiting your liability to only:

1. the price of your eBook (not the value, which may be considered higher), and

2. the amount actually paid by the customer and received by you.

That way, in case of a valid claim, your loss can not be greater than what you have received from that customer. That will be the case for most claims, but certain liabilities, like liability for fraud or wilful misconduct, can not be limited.

9. Protections against repayment requests

Another protection you need in your eBook terms and conditions template is a refund policy.

Given the nature of eBooks, I would recommend not providing refunds at all for eBooks. It’s not something your customers can return. 

However, if you do not explicitly state in your eBook terms and conditions template that you do NOT provide refunds in any case, your customers may still request a refund for whatever reason.

So ensure that your eBook terms and conditions template includes:

• a waiver of any rights your customer has to a “cooling off period”, and

• an explicit refund policy stating that you do not provide refunds.

10. Protections against claims for updated versions

Another protection you want to have in your eBook terms and conditions is a safeguard against claims for an updated version of your eBook.

You will likely update your eBook with new or updated information over time. But do your customers who have already purchased a previous version of your eBook have the right to an updated version? That should be up to you, not your customers. 

You can choose the following options:

• Your customers receive all updated versions of your eBook without any conditions being applicable.

• Your customers only receive updated versions of your eBook if a certain condition is met. For example, you can choose to only provide updated versions to customers who are also subscribed to your newsletter. If not, they will not receive an updated version of your eBook.

• Your customers do not receive updated versions of your eBook (under any conditions).

No matter what you choose, you must have your policy regarding updates explicitly stated in your eBook terms and conditions template.

If you choose either of the first two options above, you will have the protections in place to avoid claims for updated versions that your customers are not entitled to.

11. Protections against deviations from the sales page description

The last but certainly not least important protection to include in your eBook terms and conditions template is a disclaimer for deviations from your description on your sales page.

Of course, your eBook should not be a completely different product from what you describe on your eBook’s sales page. However, certain customers may have different expectations based on your sales page, even if what you state on your sales page is not incorrect.

To avoid any claims and discussions about whether you have delivered what your customers expect based on your sales page, you should include a disclaimer in your eBook terms and conditions stating that the contents of your eBook may deviate from what is stated on your sales page. A big part of protecting yourself from discussions and claims is managing expectations or, rather, killing expectations.

These were the most important protections you need in your eBook terms and conditions template.

Want an eBook terms and conditions template free of fluff?

Are you looking for an eBook terms and conditions template free of fluff but with all the protections you need? 

My eBook terms and conditions template (which can be used for all types of digital products) contains all the protections you need and more. 

My terms and conditions for digital products are fully customisable for your specific eBook and other digital products you may sell. You can purchase your eBook terms and conditions template on this page of my contract shop.

This post was all about the protections your eBook terms and conditions template must have to protect your eBook’s content, business & money.

You can get your eBook terms and conditions template on this page of my contract shop!

Are you selling an online course? You need to read this blog post on the 11 Essentials All Course Terms and Conditions Must Have for Course Creators.

You can get my Online Course Terms and Conditions on this page of my contract shop!