Private label rights
In internet marketing, private label rights is a license where the author sells most or all of the intellectual property rights to their work. The license is defined by the author of the work and has no legal definition. Private label rights is derived from private labeling.
Similar licenses include resell rights, also used in internet marketing.
Use
The license is used for various digital products such as articles, ebooks, software, graphic templates etc. Because there are many buyers of the same product, the price of a single unit is generally lower than if one would create a similar product from scratch (either by oneself or by outsourcing). However, people can also purchase private label content that is limited in distribution, minimizing the number of competing marketers using the same content.
Private Label Content comes in many different formats, including PLR reports, ebooks, articles, graphics, templates, email newsletters and even videos.
While licenses differ with each author and seller, the basic premise is that the license permits buyers to re-brand the content under their own name and brand (excluding copyright). In general practice this means that the product can be modified, sold, resold or repurposed in many different formats. In some cases authorship on the original product is allowed and with unrestricted private label, buyers are often able to resell the same rights they've acquired although not all private label releases offer or permit license distribution or transfer.
Marketers use private label products for reselling under their own brands or in the case of written products for online marketing through channels like article directories, content syndication, ebook directories, slide-sharing websites and similar.
Private Label Content comes with different rights depending on the developer so it's important to thoroughly check each license prior to use, to become familiar with any restrictions that may be in place.
Advantages
Claimed advantages to using Private Label Content are:
- Saving time.
- Saving money, compared to hiring a writer or buying exclusive rights
- Can be used to generate ideas for blogging or content marketing
- Can be re-purposed into different types of digital products
Criticism
Due to private label being distributed to multiple customers, and without being exclusive or unique content, marketers are often hesitant on incorporating private label content into their marketing campaigns. Private Label Content is best used as a "resource" rather than a 'source", meaning that users should consider revising and improving existing private label content before distributing it under their own brand.