Writing the terms and conditions of a site, platform or application

Drafting of GTCU: what are the challenges for the publisher of the website, platform or application?

The General Terms and Conditions of Use (GTCU) define and frame the terms of access and navigation of a website, an application or a platform, and determine the respective rights and obligations of the user and the publisher in the context of their use.

A mastered drafting of the GTCU presents an important challenge for professionals insofar as:

– it expresses its commercial policy;
– it sets out your guarantees and responsibilities;
– it guarantees the compliance of the operation of the site (and therefore the criminal, administrative and civil liability of its publisher);
– it is a tool to protect the intellectual property rights and data of the publisher.

The GTCU are governed by the law for a digital Republic

The Law for a Digital Republic of 7 October 2016 introduced in Article L.111-7 of the Consumer Code, the obligation for any online platform operator to deliver a clear, fair and transparent obligation on “the general conditions of use of its platform“, but also on the following elements:

• The methods of referencing, ranking and referencing content, goods and services.
• The quality of the advertiser and the rights and obligations of the parties in civil and tax matters.
• In case of influence of said ranking and/or referencing, the existence of a contractual relationship, a capital link or remuneration for its benefit.
• In the event of activity exceeding 5 million unique visitors per month calculated on the basis of the last calendar year, the development and dissemination of “good practices” (Article L.111-7-1 of the Consumer Code).
• In case of collection, moderation or dissemination of online reviews, information on how to publish and process online reviews.

In addition, any operator of an online platform whose activity consists in the provision of information allowing the comparison of prices and characteristics of goods and services offered by professionals, is required to set up on its site a specific section directly and easily accessible on all pages of the site and is materialized by a mention or a distinctive sign including the following mentions:

• The various criteria for ranking offers of goods and services as well as their definition;
• Whether or not there is a contractual relationship or capital links between the comparison site and the referenced professionals;
• The existence or not of a remuneration of the site by the referenced professionals and, if applicable, the impact of this on the ranking of the offers;
• Details of the constituent elements of the prize and the possibility that additional costs may be added;
• If applicable, the variation in commercial guarantees according to the products compared;
• The completeness or not of the offers of goods or services compared and the number of sites or companies referenced;
• The frequency and method of updating the compared offers.

Secure terms and conditions for your website, platform or application

Gouache Avocats provides you with the drafting of T&Cs that express your commercial policy, reflect your business model, and comply with the applicable provisions of the Consumer Code and in particular the law for a digital Republic, while securing your sales, referencing or comparison process, and securing your intellectual property rights.

Our intervention will thus allow you to assert your rights in the event of violation of your intellectual property rights that have been identified in the T&Cs, to release you from liability in the event of malfunctioning of the site, or in the event of offensive, racist, denigrating or defamatory content posted by a user.