Can I reuse terms & conditions from another website? Is it legal?

Question

I have a Site idea and the idea seems to be very good on paper. Trouble is that its in the grey area where it can be called lottery or gambling - although it is not.

The Law in India says that I can host public games if they do not involve money as prize. Otherwise, I can host it in closed group format. As in some particular set of people only and not public.

Can I host the site and start my startup in India, but serve other countries where there are no such laws?

Or do I need to host and register my company in another country?

Answer 1

Wholesale copying and pasting of another website’s TOS and passing it off as your own amounts to copyright infringement. Despite having similar sounding language and a general lack (but not absence) of creativity, TOS’s are protected materials under copyright law. Copying and pasting this same document and posting it on your website is legally similar as passing off another’s photograph as your own. You should have a lawyer draft a TOS specifically for your website, or look into an appropriate open-source licensed TOS.