The Most Common Ways That Online Courses Are Misused (And How To Legally Protect Yours)
Being an online business owner is kind of like being in a love/hate relationship.
You love it because it [probably] allowed you to say see ya to the 9-5 that you loathed and now you can work from anywhere doing the thing you’re actually passionate about.
But sometimes you really hate it because unfortunately there’s a lot of bad apples out there that make you curse the internet.
Like you’re just out here trying to live your best online business owner life by launching digital products that help you generate passive income and scale your business when suddenly someone decides they’re going to rip off all your hard work…
And you’re left thinking, “REALLY?! You couldn’t create something unique of your own?! You had to go and steal the content that I poured my blood, sweat, and tears (literally) into and claim it as your own?”
That’s when that 9-5 starts to not look so bad after all.
As a lawyer, this is unfortunately something I see happen WAY too often.
And as an online business owner myself who KNOWS what it takes to build a successful business in the online space and KNOWS how much time and energy is required to launch a digital product that your audience actually responds to… let’s just say its scenarios like this that make my blood boil. 🤬
But instead of absolutely raging about it on the internet for my audience to see, I take the ~calm and collected~ route and make resources to help you avoid this instead.
And in the case that it’s not avoided, I ensure that you know exactly what to do in case this happens to you.
In this blog post specifically, I’m talking to my course creators! Courses have the potential to be majorly misused if you’re not careful and as a course creator it’s important that you’re aware of HOW.
And then once you understand what’s possible, it’s time to protect yourself against those things. This blog post is going to cover both, so keep reading. ⬇️
4 Common Ways That Courses Are Misused In The Online Space
Claiming/Redistributing Content as Their Own
As mentioned above, one of the most common scenarios are students copying your content and claiming it as their own.
Here’s how I typically see this play out:
Person will join course. Person will watch the content and download any resources that come with it. Person will then modify the content slightly. Person will then launch their own version and pass it off as their own work.
Not only is this incredibly annoying to you as the original creator, but it can also lead to damaging your reputation and brand… especially if people who buy the other person’s course aren’t aware that you did it first.
So what do you do? We’ll get to that in just a sec!
Unauthorized Sharing
Another common misuse of digital courses is unauthorized sharing of credentials.
Students might share access to the course materials with others who haven’t paid for the course, either by sharing login credentials or by downloading and distributing the content.
As a course creator, this scenario can be difficult to manage or even know about, but there are a few ways you can mitigate this, including:
➡️ Use Unique Login Credentials – ensure that each student has a unique login and limit access to one device at a time, which can discourage sharing of login information
➡️ Implement Access Control and Monitoring – use software that tracks IP addresses and monitors for unusual login patterns, such as logins from multiple locations within a short period, which can indicate unauthorized sharing
➡️ Time-Limited Access – offer access to the course for a limited time, which reduces the window of opportunity for sharing content with others
➡️ Restrict Downloading – limit the ability to download course materials. Instead, allow access to content only through a secure online platform, reducing the risk of sharing downloadable files.
Improper Use of Community Features
Most courses come with a community feature of some kind, like a Facebook group, Slack channel, Voxer access, or some other forum or group discussion platform and while these features can be GREAT for students of the course to communicate and collaborate, these features are very commonly misused in the online course space.
Instead of using them for how they’re intended, like for question asking, networking, etc. sometimes people take it upon themselves to use these features for self promotion, selling, or other spammy activity that is simply not the vibe.
As a course creator, it can feel super frustrating when people start to take advantage of the community you’re trying to create, which is why having a plan in place to mitigate this potential behavior is key.
Some things to consider include:
➡️ Clear Community Guidelines – establish and prominently display clear rules for participation in forums, discussion boards, and group chats. These guidelines should outline acceptable behavior, prohibited activities, and the consequences for violations.
➡️ Moderation and Active Monitoring – assign moderators to oversee community interactions. This could be you, an employee, or a trusted member of your community. Moderators can monitor discussions, remove inappropriate content, and address violations quickly.
➡️ Automated Filtering Tools – if you don’t want to monitor everything manually, you can use software that automatically detects and flags inappropriate content, such as spam, offensive language, or links to unauthorized materials. This can help in preventing issues before they escalate.
➡️ Limited Posting Permissions – initially, restrict posting privileges for new members until they have participated in the community for a certain period or have been approved by a moderator. This can reduce the risk of spammers or bad actors joining just to misuse the platform.
Using Content in Competing Products
Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by competitors in your industry. 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️
It’s happened one too many times to yours truly and it’s literally the worst.
I genuinely believe that there is room for ALL OF US in the online business space and we can all find our own version of success. Which means there is absolutely no reason for anyone to ever feel like they need to copy what’s already out there to inspire their own products or services.
Your audience will want to work with you because you are YOU – not because you’re a replication of others in your industry.
Everything you do and create should reflect your unique perspective, but that can’t happen if you’re constantly looking at what everyone else is doing and try to make a copy and paste version of it.
Now that I’m off my soap box, let’s get into how you can legally protect your digital course from any type of misuse!
How To Legally Protect Your Digital Course From Misuse
So, you know that misuse of your digital course is possible, so you’re probably wondering – how the heck can I avoid this?!
Well to be totally transparent and honest, you can’t necessarily avoid it, but you CAN take action to protect yourself, your business, and your course itself.
The best way to do this? Implement a Terms of Purchase!
Not only does a Terms of Purchase Agreement cover how someone can use the product or service they purchase, but it also should cover policies that are a part of the purchase process, such as refunds, chargebacks or cancellations.
You’ve likely seen these types of agreements in action during your own purchases with various businesses – it’s usually a checkbox at checkout that says “I agree to these Terms and Conditions…”
When users click that box, it means they are actively agreeing to the terms your business has set up. That little checkbox is called a “clickwrap” in the legal world and is the exact way that I advise business owners to display their terms. Bonus points added if you have the Terms of Purchase also linked in the footer of your website.
When you set your terms as a clickwrap (NOT a browsewrap), your agreements are more enforceable if any legal action is ever needed!
When it comes to implementing Terms of Purchase for your online business, you want to make sure you’re including all of the applicable clauses to fully protect yourself, including:
✔️License to Use
✔️Intellectual Property
✔️Refund
✔️Chargeback
✔️Dispute Resolution
For a closer look at what each of those clauses entails, CLICK HERE!
Launch Your Digital Course With Confidence
Overall, a digital course can be a GREAT thing to add to your product suite as a business owner, but like anything in business, it comes with a few risks of its own.
The good news is that you now have exactly what you need to protect your digital course and launch it in the world with absolute confidence!
However, if you’re searching for some extra support along the way, you’re in the right place!
Landing Sales Legally is the ultimate legal toolkit for coaches, course creators, and anyone selling digital products online!
The mini course teaches you how-to set up a legally compliant sales funnel that brings in the dough AND keeps you out of hot water. 🥵 From lead magnets to landing pages, sales copy to checkout - you’ll learn everything you need to know to protect your profits!
But no-one needs just another course. You'll also receive all the legal templates you need to protect your digital products and your profits, including most of the ones mentioned above!
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If we haven’t had the chance to *virtually* meet yet, hey I’m Amber – not a regular lawyer, but a cool lawyer that helps online business owners sell without getting sued.
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