Today I received a very short email from a company that said they want to license my website's content for their own website. I'd like to keep this anonymous, but I'll just state that my website is in a fairly broad niche, and the company that contacted me was probably the biggest and most well-known magazine within that niche. They wanted to license my content for the online website of their magazine. I have a feeling that it is quite legitimate because the email said basically nothing, just a simple sentence, along with a phone # of who to call to talk about it. All business. The source address of the email also seemed genuine. Anyhow, I just got the email this afternoon, and I'm thinking about calling them tomorrow, but wanted some pointers. What are they after exactly? How do these offers usually proceed? Should I decline any offer? I have big plans (or at least, medium-sized plans) for this website, and was hoping to turn the content into a full-color book and sell it via Amazon. I've already done this on a smaller scale with another website, and it seems to work well: but this website is meant for a much larger audience. Any tips or guidance would be appreciated.
you would no doubt run into dup content issues with them been a big mag with higher PR, your site would be seen as the duplicate. as you want to make it into a book there could also be other copyright issues. best bet is probably email them back and ask for more details as then you have what they say in text form.
With the limited information you have shared I can tell you some issues that come to mind: 1. Who will own the content and the right to decide where it is placed. (I assume you will own the copyright to the work and issue them a license to use it on a specific website) 2. If you are planning on using the same material it sounds like you are granting them a non-exclusive license to use the material. Will you be allowed to license it to others or just to them? Will the license be in perpetuity or for a limited duration? Depending on the amount of money at stake, and the location of you and the company, you might want to involve legal counsel.