It may just be my side of the internet as a trademark lawyer, but almost every single day, I see a post or Thread where someone has been copied in some capacity. Whether it be content from their website, content from social media, or maybe the worst… content from one of their paid programs, like a membership or course.
In fact, this happened to one of my clients and she lost almost $120k in monthly revenue because someone copied her membership material. 🤯
Just typing that makes me physically ill. Mainly because it can be prevented!
Well, you might not be able to prevent someone from trying to steal your content, but you can prevent them from getting away with it. And it all starts with a legal agreement that maps out exactly what people can and cannot do with your content.
Without implementing this when you launch an online membership, people are basically free to do probably more than you want them to, like share it with friends, give away the content for free, have multiple people use their logins, etc.
Additionally, they can ask for a chargeback or refund even if they used the content already.
With the Master Resell Rights trend, consumers are having a harder time than ever figuring out what’s okay and what’s not cool to do when it comes to digital product use.
While dealing with headaches like these are something that hopefully never happens to you, in this blog post I’m going to run you through how to best protect your membership, subscription, or any type of recurring service content from this type of theft.
5 Essential Clauses For Your Membership Legal Agreement
1. Clear Payment Terms and Auto-Renewal Clauses
Since money is often the root of a lot of membership problems, let’s start there.
When your members sign up, they need to know exactly what they’re agreeing to, including how much they’ll pay, how often they’ll be billed, and whether their membership renews automatically. And no, this isn’t just best practice – it’s often required by law to avoid claims of deceptive or unfair billing.
In addition to including the basic payment information, like how much and how often their membership fee is, you’ll also want to include what happens if their payment fails and your refund policy.
Don’t offer refunds? No problem! Just make sure that you have a clearly stated no refund policy.
Along the same lines as refunds, chargebacks are another thing that you’ll want to address in your membership legal agreement.
Chargebacks differ from refunds and often result in business owners losing money, even if the charge was legitimate. When someone initiates a chargeback, the card issuer or bank will investigate the claim and determine whether or not it's valid.
Although there is an investigation before chargebacks are issued, in most cases it can be difficult to obtain tangible proof of validity, so oftentimes their financial institution will be on the side of their customer, believe that their claim is true and approve the request.
Overall, without clear terms around billing and renewals, you’re more likely to run into refund requests, chargebacks, and misunderstandings that damage trust, or worse, lead to legal issues.
2. Cancellation Policies
Raise your hand if you’ve ever tried to cancel a subscription for something and found it next to impossible to do? 🙋🏻♀️
Talk about annoying, frustrating, and… actually illegal.
One huge thing to recognize when you're launching your membership or subscription service is that not everyone who initially joins your membership will stay forever – and that’s okay!
But what’s not okay is having vague or inconsistent cancellation rules that leave people confused about how to end their subscription (and whether they get a refund).
In this section of your membership agreement, you should clearly spell out:
✔️ how members can cancel (and when it takes effect)
✔️ whether cancellations stop future payments or end access immediately
✔️ if any refunds are available (and under what conditions)
This protects you from members who stop paying but still try to access content, and it sets expectations that help you maintain your boundaries as a business owner.
3. Intellectual Property + Content Usage Rights
If you don’t want your content to be stolen or misused, this is a BIG one! Whether you’re sharing downloadable PDFs, exclusive trainings, or replay libraries, your content is an asset that needs protection.
In your Membership Terms & Conditions, you need to make it clear that:
✔️the content is for personal use only
✔️members don’t have permission to copy, resell, or share it
✔️most importantly, YOU retain ownership of everything you create and distribute inside the membership.
Remember the client I mentioned earlier that lost $120k of recurring revenue because of stolen membership content? This clause alone could have saved her!
Think of this as your first line of defense against content theft or misuse. If someone takes your proprietary materials and posts them elsewhere, having clear terms gives you a stronger legal position to take action.
4. Community Guidelines and Member Conduct
One amazing thing about online memberships is that they foster community, and while most of the time that’s amazing, it’s important to recognize that humans are humans. And when you bring a lot of humans together, there’s always room for a few who don’t have the best intent.
While ideally you’d attract people who are kind and respect others in the membership, it’s always best to plan for the bad apples.
This is especially true if your membership includes a Facebook group, Slack channel, or other space for connection!
If that's the case, you'll want to have a community guideline clause in your Membership Terms and Conditions and include rules around member behavior, like no harassment, discrimination, or trolling, respectful discussion only, and clear consequences for violations (like removal from the group or the membership).
This ensures your community stays safe and aligned with your values and gives you the legal right to remove someone if necessary, without fear of backlash.
5. Disclaimers About Results and Professional Advice
Lastly, if you’re offering business advice, wellness information, or any kind of support that could be interpreted as professional guidance, including a Disclaimer is non-negotiable.
A Disclaimer is simply a statement that’s used to limit or exclude liability for certain information or actions.
Depending on the type of membership or subscription service you have, you may need a specific type of Disclaimer, such as Wellness or Earnings, but typically a General Disclaimer can protect you overall.
This helps draw a firm boundary between your educational content and any unintended liability for how someone uses it.
The Easiest Way To Protect Your Online Membership
Now that you know 5 of the most important clauses to include in your Membership Terms and Conditions, your head might be spinning trying to figure out how to implement all of this at once.
While it may seem overwhelming, I’m here to say that it's actually easier than you think!
My Membership Terms & Conditions Template is a plug-and-play legal agreement designed specifically for online business owners offering memberships or subscription services.
It covers everything discussed above, PLUS other essential clauses including:
- Acceptance of Terms and Subscription Process
- Scope of Membership Services (Digital Downloads, Templates, Live Calls, and More)
- Access and Delivery of Membership Content
- Membership Fees, Payment Terms, and Promotions
- Refund Policy and Trial Offer Terms
- Cancellation and Termination Policies
- Intellectual Property Rights and Usage Licenses
- Privacy, Data Protection, and Member Confidentiality
- Limitations of Liability, Indemnifications, and Dispute Resolution
- Comprehensive Coverage on Additional Aspects Like Age Restrictions, Changes to Terms, and Force Majeure Events
It’s written by a lawyer (hi, that’s me) with small business owners in mind, so it’s both thorough AND easy to implement. 👏🏼
At the end of the day, your membership is more than just a monthly moneymaker – it’s an ecosystem of trust, content, and community and keeping it legally protected shouldn’t just be something that you leave up to chance.
So, whether you're launching a new membership or revisiting your existing setup, go ahead and grab this Terms & Conditions template so you can trust that you’re fully covered.
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