I don't mean to copy everything verbatim, but to use another sites terms and privacy policy as a template and substitute certain lines to make it more appropriate with your site.
Some copying is fine. Even attorneys who routinely write TOS agreements do not start from scratch every time. How much copying, and of what, is too much? No one can say in the abstract. The general rule is the more creative the writing the less leeway allowed for copying.
TOS agreements are usually not very creative and, in fact, quite a bit of the language can only be said in one kind of way.
However, the drafting and inclusion of certain website-specific provisions, and their layout in a readable fashion, is very often creative. For example, a social networking site will include provisions addressing user generated content while a static website that sells chain saws will include provisions that address product safety. There are other, innumerable variations.
So ... while you may be tempted to copy a competitor's TOS because those most closely reflect your business' needs, wholesale copying of those particular provisions [even with some edits to tweak them for your company] will likely infringe what makes that company's TOS agreement website-specific. Not only that, your competitor will certainly not appreciate the plagiarism and may sue for infringement [though that would be very unusual].
Much more important than this copyright issue, however, is your business' need for an attorney to tailor your TOS to your business operations and to comply with your state's laws. Writing your own TOS agreement is not wise. It is literally a contract between you and your visitors. If you think that contract is important then have it drafted correctly.
Also more important than this copyright issue is your website's privacy policy [and actual information collection activities]. If not done right your site may not use the Google Adwords program [ http://goo.gl/dj4ft ] and may violate state and federal privacy laws.
So see an attorney. Good luck.
To get an idea of all the topics that may need to be addressed in the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy for your site, it certainly doesn't hurt to look at the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies being used by others in NY with similar businesses and/or websites. You can also take a look at the Ts&Cs and PPs that are available to you and/or can be generated for you via Legal Document Sources (e.g., DocStoc, Rocket Lawyer, www.freeprivacypolicy.com).
However, even if you look at a few similar sites, and public versions of these documents, and come up with versions that are unique to you, as the prior answer indicated, these documents will be contracts between you and the people who view and use your site. So, it would be prudent to consult with an internet attorney before adopting final versions of these documents to make sure that your provisions comply with current law and address any unique issues that arise due to your particular business and/or website materials.
All the best to you in this new endeavor!
As was said earlier, some copying is probably fine. But make sure you don't just do a wholesale copy of the other site's agreement.
Contracts are largely driven by function, so fair use would likely be more available in that context. But if you don't even tailor the agreement to your purpose at all, you could run into problems.
Copyright law does not protect ideas---it only protects original works. While terms of use could theoretically be protected by copyright law, the ideas in them cannot be protected. There is nothing wrong with using someone else's terms of use as a starting point or template, and even using some of the language that appears in someone else's terms of use. But you need to tailor terms of use so that they accurately apply to your situation.
Your real problem here is not copyright law---it is that you are trying to develop your own terms of use and privacy terms without retaining counsel. This is a very bad idea. Lawyers who specialize in intellectual property law will tell you that drafting terms of use appropriate to a given web-site or business is a complex and quite sophisticated undertaking. If you make a mistake in drafting your terms of use, or you do not understand some of the provisions that you improve, you could have a very costly law suit on your hands. Be smart---retain a lawyer to handle this for you. Your investment in legal counsel for this matter will probably save you a ton of money in the long run.
