Licensing Content to Big Tech
It’s impossible to believe what’s coming out of Nike these days. First see-through baseball uniforms; and then women’s Olympic team garb that looks like it’s right out of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition.
Did they rely on ChatGPT? Use too much high fashion vs. true sports training data? Clearly not enough humans in the loop. Either way it’s time to clean closets over there — the Nike design team needs a restart.
Seriously though, all this got us thinking even more about licensing to big tech — a hot topic these days. Licensing data to OpenAI, Google, Amazon and whoever else comes knocking is the sport of the day in the land of premium content. Our clients’ phones are ringing off the wall metaphorically speaking. That means ours are too.
Whether textbooks, journals, serious data about serious verticals (think real estate, energy, financial news, journalist content of all types) it’s in demand. Between the law suits and the litigation the need for better and differentiated training data is driving big tech players. And they are bold, brash, and aggressive. In some cases they are about to make mincemeat of those in our industry who don’t take the time to ‘do this right.’
There is an old adage learned in kindergarten here in the US lest we be run over by cars… stop, look, listen.
At Outsell we say slow down to speed up.
Move, but please be deliberate to ensure your content licensing house is in order.
The tech companies will have you think time is running out. Competitors will beat you to the punch. Or they wave $30 or $50 mil at your doorstep and use those extra zeroes as a big, big lure. The keys to the kingdom are buried in the T’s and C’s they’ll want you to gloss over, and the phrase the devil is in the details can come home to roost. Too often some of the companies we speak with don’t have the patience, the data governance, or the experience to deal with these players.
There is too much at stake. And it is the forest at stake not just a few trees. Take time to do this work and it’ll pay off in spades. What is that work?
Outsell’s Chief Analyst Philipp Mueller has deep experience in licensing content into AI use cases, and with partnerships and commercial strategy in general — he is our resident expert on this topic. He and his team are spending a lot of time on GenAI and its content and IP implications, including some comprehensive guidance on licensing strategy published some weeks ago. We are also supporting clients on a proprietary (consulting project) basis, designing their approach to partnerships when big tech comes calling.
Take it fast or take it slow but do the work behind these bullets and follow Philipp and his team’s recipe below. We can do the work for you or advise into your process. But please slow down to speed up and take the following steps:
Outsell’s Recipe for AI Partnership Success
- Opportunity Identification (“what can we do”): Establish customer pain points and needs that could be addressed with AI-enabled solutions based on your current capabilities. Sketch out what those solutions could look like. This includes accessing your IP through alternative channels.
- Opportunity Prioritization (“what should we do”): Establish the risks associated with each opportunity in #1, and prioritize based on trade-offs.
- Execution Path Identification (“how should we do it”): For the most promising opportunities in #2, establish the required capabilities, including licensing, channel, and other commercial requirements; sketch out terms under which a partnership should take place.
- Partner Selection (“whom should we do it with”): Identify, evaluate, and select partners based on capability gaps identified in #3; establish willingness to engage on desired terms.
- Execution (“do it”): Put in place internal and partner resourcing and other commitments; launch execution efforts.
And along the way please don’t let partners dictate terms, rush you, or otherwise bully you at the table. Remember that some ‘partnerships’ are really euphemisms for them selling something to you or buying something from you. Don’t get enamored by the ‘p’ word. Big tech’s machines need premium content and you have it. Some companies we know have responded by saying “if you want our content, buy our company”. The asks are that existential and these responses tell us these providers know their value.
If you are asked for perpetual licenses, exclusive licenses, or pushed to meet tight timeframes — recognize this is the big tech playbook. Be thoughtful of how your IP will be used — training, inference, or both? Public or private use? Hold your cards close, or your premium content in this case. Big tech will have you believe otherwise but you have the keys and are in the driver’s seat.
(And know we never name names, in or outside any company we speak with; anything we advise on this topic or any topic — and discuss in conversations with a client, prospect, or user, is confidential to that individual or group in the room. Always.
