Disclaimer
This is a page discussing the concept of a disclaimer. For the Wikipedia disclaimer, please see Wikipedia:General disclaimer.A
disclaimer is a statement which generally states that the entity authoring the disclaimer is not responsible for something in some manner. Disclaimers also alert the reader to risks involved. This is generally done as a measure of legal protection; if someone hurts him/herself using something with such a disclaimer, he/she could be discouraged from seeking relief in a legal action.
A special form of disclaimer is the
All persons fictitious disclaimer, a special disclaimer in regard to
slander.
In the case of
fanfiction, disclaimers are legal statements saying that the author of the fanfiction does not, in any way, profit from the story and that all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).
A refusal or denial of responsibility for a claim or an act.
In
patent law, a disclaimer is an amendment consisting in limiting a
claim of a patent or
patent application by introducing a negative feature. The allowability of disclaimers is subject to particular conditions, which may vary widely from one country to another.
In
estate or
inheritance law, a
disclaimer (also called
disclaimer of interest) is a written document voluntarily signed by an
heir to an estate in which the said heir does not accept (
disclaims) the part of the estate of a deceased person which the heir is entitled to receive. The disclaimed part of the estate is then inherited not necessarily by a person of the disclaiming heir's choice, but by the next heir in line to receive that part of the estate as if the disclaiming heir were also deceased, either according to the
will, beneficiary designation, or the laws of
intestacy. Government
tax agencies have further rules on such disclaimers. Reasons for such disclaimers may include imminent death of the disclaimant or the fact that the disclaimant already has enough wealth. For full article, see
Disclaimer of interest.
