If I want to transfer a domain to someone, and give them some of the content, what do I need to do in order to make that ownership officially theirs? Or is that done by default when I transfer the domain? If I give them content, does that content then become theirs as well, or do we need some sort of official agreement that the content is now theirs to control and be responsible for? Basically, I'm tired of running a domain, for a lot of reasons. I'm giving it to someone in the same niche, I think it will be a good place for the content and type, but I want to completely cede ownership/responsibility for it. What would this require? Thanks.
In a friendly exchange an email saying you are transferiing all copyright interest in the content on xyz.site is enough. To be 100% incontestable a signed, dated and witnessed letter saying the same thing should be all that would ever be needed. Of course I am basing this on US law and I am not a lawyer.
You should always use a written agreement to specify what it is that you are transferring so that later on there will be misunderstandings. I have some free sample domain name purchase agreements on my website, and a couple could be used to transfer both the URL and the content. These are very basic agreements, but in many instances that is all you need. If you are selling a site that has a lot of content, a URL that is a quality name or there is a lot of money in the transation you probably should consider having a lawyer draft up the agreements. -Gene Patent Attorney & Founder of IPWatchdog.com
That sample agreement looks pretty good, I guess one of the main issues is a lot of the content is user generated. So, I'm not looking to hold on to the responsibility for the content those users generated. For instance, if a user posted something in a forum that was deemed illegal in some way, and I transfer this as part of transferring the domain, I don't want to be responsible after the fact. I am as of now, and as of now I know of nothing illegal posted, so I'm not too concerned, but if something defamatory came up at a later date, I wouldn't be interested in dealing with that when I don't even own the site anymore. So does the agreement to transfer content include a situation like this?
What I would suggest is that you include a paragraph in the agreement that says: "To the best of the Seller's knowledge and belief no posts create any liability, including but not limited to copyright infringement liability and/or libel/slander. Notwithstanding, the Seller is not providing any warranties as to liabilities, will accept no responsibility or liability and will not indemnify or hold harmless the Purchaser."