Late last week, I received an email from a reader that I thought was spam.

I almost deleted it without a thought.

The subject line was dire. “++ALERT++ Since Yesterday This Affects (Reader’s Name) by LAW”.

The contents of the email were really short and just as ominous. Basically, a lot of scare to get you to click. Come to find out it was an affiliate offer for a plugin that helps you add legal disclaimers to your website or blog.

The idea of the plugin is great. It’s created by a developer/marketer and an attorney to lend credence so you know the disclaimers can hold water.

This is not new. Whether you earn money on your site or not (hopefully you do!), you should have disclosures and a privacy policy at the very least.

To answer the big question – should you get a plugin like that? Yes. It’s a good idea. However, just so you know, I don’t use a plugin for this.

For various reasons.

Year and years ago, I invested in a program called AutoWebLaw. It is not free and is not cheap but it’s been oh-so-worth it. I’ve used it in so many different situations not just for my website. I’ve created:

• Collaboration agreements
• Copyright documents
• FTC Affiliate Affidavit
• Non-Disclosures
• Software Development Agreements
• Privacy Policies

The nice thing about AutoWebLaw is, there are country specific documents included. Many of these plugins don’t. Since our company is located in the U.S., we won’t be using those however it’s a good thing to know and have. Also, in the years I’ve had it, I’ve witnessed these forms go through updates.

Yes, the Disclosure, Privacy policy and Terms of Use on this very site were created with it, and yes those are affiliate links.

Should you use a plugin or something like AutoWebLaw? Well, I guess it depends what you do most. However one thing I can tell you, if you are in business, you will need more than just website legal pages. For me, AutoWebLaw works.

Just to be clear, I’m not an attorney so if in doubt the best person to consult is your attorney.