Amazon. com Help: Legal Policies

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Required Legal Policies for Amazon Associates

The Amazon Associates program is a potentially lucrative revenue stream for bloggers and website owners. The program is a driving force behind the success of online review sites, which typically rely more on affiliate marketing dollars than on internet ad money.

The New York Times’ recent acquisition of the popular online consumer guide, The Wirecutter, for a reported price of $30 million is one such example of the power of the Amazon Associates program.

The Times’ apparent motivation to buy The Wirecutter was its own steady decline in digital advertising revenue – perhaps indicating A shift in how online media attains profitability.

Considering the recent proliferation of affiliate marketers – and Amazon Associates continuing to be one of the biggest players in the industry – we’ve outlined the basics about Amazon Associates and the policies required to keep them Legally compliant.

1. What Are Amazon Associates?

Amazon Associates are affiliate marketers – they develop affiliate relationships with Amazon in which both parties can profit financially. The Associates market products sold on Amazon using their own websites and content.

Associates generally make money by creating websites which feature reviews or consumer guides for products in a given niche. Within the content of these sites, the Associates place links to the coinciding product listings on Amazon’s website.

When these links are clicked, computer cookies are placed on the user’s browser which uniquely identifies the Associate and awards a small percentage of any purchase made through Amazon to their account.

Because of the potential for financial gain and biased website content, Associates are required by Amazon To explicitly disclose that they are part of the program in an obvious and accessible way.

This disclosure is only one of the legal requirements that must be adhered to in order to participate in the program. Failure to follow the rules can get you into trouble with not only Amazon, who can end the affiliate relationship, but also the FTC and state authorities.

While Amazon wants to protect its brand, law enforcement is concerned with safeguarding user privacy and ensuring fair and honest ecommerce. For this reason, there are several specific legal policies necessary for Amazon Associates.

2. Special Legal Considerations for Amazon Affiliate Websites

You may think of yourself as a writer or blogger, but the situation changes when you decide to participate in the Amazon Associates program. You are now someone who is compensated for recommending – or appearing to recommend – a product or service. As a result, you have to be mindful of the FTC’s guidelines about endorsements in online advertising and website privacy laws.

Amazon mandates the use of special clauses in your website’s legal policies. By becoming part of the Amazon Associates program, you agree to the Associates Program Operating Agreement. Section 5 of that agreement stipulates that You must identify yourself as a member of the program by posting a specific phrase wherever your ads or links are placed, but do not go any further in discussing your relationship with Amazon.

You cannot “embellish” the nature of your relationship with Amazon, for example, and make it seem as though you’re more a part of the Amazon ecosystem than you actually are.

Mandated disclosure is one attempt by Amazon to protect itself from legal liability. This disclosure will safeguard its position in the event that customers complain they were led to make a purchase based on information they did not know was a paid endorsement.

FTC guidelines state that the agency typically targets advertisers (in this case, Amazon) – and not endorsers (in this case, the Associates) – if there’s been a violation of the “truth in advertising” rule.

Endorsers are not exempt, however, and can also face reprimand if they fail to disclose their relationship with the products they endorse.

3. Privacy Policies for Amazon Associates

Section 4 of the Associates Program Operating Agreement states that you, as the affiliate, warrant that you and your website follow all applicable laws. It’s a pretty broad – but enforceable – statement that means Amazon can end the arrangement at any time if you haven’t upheld all legal requirements.

Need help protecting yourself and staying fully compliant with the relevant laws and regulations? Let us generate a privacy policy for you in minutes!

This is true whether or not the online retailer specifically mentions those requirements by name.

This is why your website needs a comprehensive privacy policy (start with a privacy policy template then customize the information for a quick solution) — even though Amazon doesn’t specifically ask that you have one. According to state, federal, and international laws, You have to post and adhere to a privacy policy if you collect personal data of any kind from your users.

As someone with a small website who simply places links to Amazon products on a website, you probably don’t see yourself as someone who collects private user data, but you may in fact do so without even realizing it.

Although the term “personal information” typically refers to information that can identify a user personally, such as IP addresses, names, addresses, phone numbers, and so forth, authorities at all levels are becoming increasingly concerned with website privacy and all forms of data that are collected.

If your website collects personal information of any kind from your users, you Must include a comprehensive privacy policy in a conspicuous place on your site.

Additionally, in 2010 the FTC first floated the idea of mandating “Do Not Track” options to prevent websites from collecting browsing history. Some states, such as California, make having a privacy policy a matter of state law, which must be adhered to if any of your users reside in the state. This also pertains to the inclusion of Do Not Track disclosures.

The FTC mandates that website owners Maintain and keep the promises made in their posted policies in order to prevent the appearance of fraud or deception.

It’s therefore smart business practice to have a privacy policy – and to follow that policy – if you are making any money through the activity of users coming to your website.

4. Disclaimers for Amazon Associates

Your website may have developed a loyal following of users. This is a great thing, but you have to ask yourself why those people read what you write and follow your recommendations.

They likely trust what you have to say and may follow your advice because of that trust. This includes your advice about things like purchasing decisions. In order to comply with the FTC’s online endorsement guidelines, you have to let people know if you decided out of sheer enthusiasm to endorse a product, or If you get something in return for doing so.

Not sure what to include in your disclaimer? Check out our quick and easy disclaimer generator and create a thorough policy for your affiliate marketing site in minutes.

That’s why Amazon requires you to disclose your status as an affiliate. The company is very strict in its agreement, requiring you by virtue of Section 5 to post this exact paragraph on your site:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon. com and affiliated sites.

Amazon goes on to limit the representations you can make with regard to your association with the company. You can view this as Amazon’s way of preventing you from implying it endorses your site as a whole, you as an individual or any of your associations. Here’s what the agreement says:

Except for this disclosure, you will not make any public communication with respect to this Agreement or your participation in the Associates Program. You will not misrepresent or embellish our relationship with you (including by expressing or implying that we support, sponsor, or endorse you), or express or imply any affiliation between us and you or any other person or entity except as expressly permitted by this Agreement.

But your responsibility doesn’t end with just including Amazon’s required text on your website and refraining from embellishing your connection to the company. You must also disclose Whether you get a product for free in exchange for a review or if you have an arrangement where you get something back in exchange for a brand mention.

You should provide an additional disclaimer on your website if you have any other motivations to recommend a product apart from just how much you love to use it.

From the perspective of the FTC, this transparency is necessary to provide consumers with all the information they need to make a genuinely informed decision.

Put yourself in their shoes. If your friend says, “Hey, I found a great new app that you have to try,” does your tendency to follow her recommendation differ if you know your friend was compensated in some way for giving such a strong endorsement?

5. Conclusion

Joining the Amazon Affiliate program can be a great way to earn revenue from your website, but like with any contractual arrangement, it’s important to pay attention to the details. With careful evaluation of your website content in light of applicable laws and Amazon policies, you can protect yourself, your readers, and your income.

Amazon. com Help: Legal Policies

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Content Gu > These guidelines apply to book content, including title, cover art, and product description.

Illegal or infringing content

We take violations of laws and proprietary rights very seriously. It is your responsibility to ensure that your content doesn't violate laws or copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights. Just because content is freely available does not mean you are free to copy and sell it.

Public domain and other non-exclusive content

Some types of content, such as public domain content, may be free to use by anyone, or may be licensed for use by more than one party. We will not accept content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content. For example, if you received your book content from a source that allows you and others to re-distribute it, and the content is freely available on the web, we will not accept it for sale on the Kindle store. We do accept public domain content but may choose not to sell a public domain book if its content is undifferentiated or barely differentiated from one or more other books. Also, we do not allow companion books based on copyrighted works (e. g., summaries, study guides, etc.) to be published outside the U. S. without written permission from the copyright holder.

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Books for sale on Amazon should provide a positive customer experience. We reserve the right to determine whether content provides a poor customer experience and remove that content from sale. See the Guide to Kindle Content Quality for examples of content that's typically disappointing to customers.

Other prohibited content

As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate material.

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If you believe a book violates our guidelines, please report it.

Guidelines for other categories of products can be found here:

Amazon Anti-Counterfeiting Policy

Amazon strives to ensure a trustworthy shopping experience for our customers. By selling on Amazon, you agree that:

The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited. You may not sell any products that are not legal for sale, such as products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured You must provide records about the authenticity of your products if Amazon requests that documentation

Failure to abide by this policy may result in loss of selling privileges, funds being withheld, destruction of inventory in our fulfilment centers, and other legal consequences.

More information

Sell Only Authentic and Legal Products. It is your responsibility to source, sell, and fulfill only authentic products that are legal for sale. Examples of prohibited products include:

Bootlegs, fakes, or pirated copies of products or content Products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured Products that infringe another party’s intellectual property rights

Maintain and Provide Inventory Records. Amazon may request that you provide documentation (such as invoices) showing the authenticity of your products or your authorization to list them for sale. You may remove pricing information from these documents, but providing documents that have been edited in any other way or that are misleading is a violation of this policy and will lead to enforcement against your account. Consequences of Selling Inauthentic Products. If you sell inauthentic products, we may immediately suspend or terminate your Amazon selling account (and any related accounts), destroy any inauthentic products in our fulfillment centers at your expense, and/or withhold payments to you. Amazon Takes Action to Protect Customers and Rights Owners. Amazon also works with manufacturers, rights holders, content owners, vendors, and sellers to improve the ways we detect and prevent inauthentic products from reaching our customers. As a result of our detection and enforcement activities, Amazon may:

Remove suspect listings. Take legal action against parties who knowingly violate this policy and harm our customers. In addition to criminal fines and imprisonment, sellers and suppliers of inauthentic products may face civil penalties including the loss of any amounts received from the sale of inauthentic products, the damage or harm sustained by the rights holders, statutory and other damages, and attorney’s fees.

Reporting Inauthentic Products. We stand behind the products sold on our site with our A-to-z Guarantee, and we encourage rights owners who have product authenticity concerns to notify us. We will promptly investigate and take all appropriate actions to protect customers, sellers, and rights holders. You may view counterfeit complaints on the Account Health page in Seller Central.