#12 Essential Legal Tips for Online Course Creators: Annette Stepanian Breaks It Down (U.S. Edition)

Oct 22, 2024

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In this insightful episode of The Art of Online Course Creation, I am joined by Annette Stepanian, an American lawyer who has dedicated her career to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners protect their creative work. Annette is the founder of Your Legal BFF, a resource for easy-to-use, industry-specific legal templates and training. Together, we delve into the legal side of online course creation and how to safeguard your business from costly legal mistakes.

Key Takeaways:

Treating Your Course as a Business from Day One: One of the most common mistakes online course creators make is failing to treat their course as a business from the beginning. Annette explains the importance of setting up proper contracts, understanding intellectual property rights, and establishing clear terms of service and refund policies.
The Power of Legal Templates: Many entrepreneurs shy away from legal services due to perceived costs, but Annette emphasizes the accessibility of legal templates that are designed for online course creators. These templates can provide essential protections without the need for a full-time lawyer.
Protecting Your Intellectual Property: Online course creators often worry about content theft. Annette provides actionable advice on how to protect your work through copyright registration, trademarking course names, and using DMCA takedown notices if your content is copied.
Navigating AI in Course Creation: As AI becomes more integrated into online businesses, course creators must be mindful of the potential legal challenges. While it can provide efficiencies, Annette advises creators to use AI cautiously until the legal landscape becomes clearer.

About Annette Stepanian: Annette is a lawyer with over a decade of experience working with small business owners, creatives, and course creators. Her business, Your Legal BFF, provides industry-specific legal templates and resources to make legal information accessible and affordable.

Connect with Annette:

If you're ready to dive deeper into the legal side of your course creation journey, be sure to join us next week for a special episode with Canadian lawyer Corinne Boudreau, who will provide insights specific to our friends up north!

Until then, stay dedicated, stay passionate, and keep creating impactful online courses. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your fellow course creators!

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