Forum Moderators: not2easy
The problem I'm having is that because its a mainstream sport, most of the photos I've found are obviously going to be copyrighted by either the organizations (like the UFC), photographers that were hired by organizations, fighters, fans, etc.
I have no problem going and purchasing royalty free photos,only problem is there are very very few for MMA.But when your site has sections that list popular fighters, or tells about all the different fight companies, obviously there will be pictures included that are copyrighted and trademarked. The content is original but the photos aren't.
Do I have to hunt down every photographer, organization, etc to use these photos? Some sites don't even return e-mails when you contact them. Even if a site like this promotes the sport and all companies and fighters listed, will they still come after me without authorization?
Will google disable my account if the only thing I have thats copyrighted is photos? And will somebody tell me how I can get in touch with google without getting tossed around from page to page of their forums and policy pages?
The following is not an answer to your question, however I think the information might be useful to you. Another consideration is that purchasing the photos may cost more than what you earn from the site. Have you investigated the monetization prospects? From your description the site looks like a time-sink with little reward for your work.
1. A good niche will have a ton of ads, page after page of adwords ads when you do a search on it's keyword phrases.
2. A search for your niche plus the phrase "affiliate programs" is going to have lots of ads for related affiliate programs, as well as good organic listings. Affliate programs are generally a sign that there is money to be made. This test doesn't hold true across the board though. There are niches lacking affiliate programs for their keywords that are nonetheless lucrative.
I could be wrong but MMA appears to fail on both counts as a topic for a thriving AdSense supported site. For example, while you MIGHT display ads for MMA gloves, your time would be better spent creating a site about the gloves, not the sport. Then your viewers would be more likely to transact and you'd get better coin sending them to an appropriate site, even if it's Amazon, plus whatever change you can scrape from AdSense.
I chose MMA because every site you see has nothing but news, rumors, fighter profiles, etc. Mine was simply a fan site that teaches what the sport is about, why its safe, yada yada.
No teaching moves or learning techniques. Just for people who don't understand the sport.
The problem I'm having is that because its a mainstream sport
I doubt that it could be classed as mainstream?
Just for people who don't understand the sport
so who would be looking for your site, having done MMA in the past, I am fairly sure that the only people looking into it would be people wanting to or already doing it.
also you are looking at targeting a site to people who don't know the sport, and making money from advertising things related to the sport, which people who aren't currently participating, won't want to buy. Most MMA equipment doesn't need to be bought until you are quite far on in the sport (as classes will have equipment for use). So who are the people who will be clicking on your ads and affiliate links?
In other words, you did not do thorough research. Please consider re-reading my post. Go to Google. Do the suggested Internet searches. I showed you how to identify a profitable niche. Research it yourself using objective tools and some common sense.
had planned on signing up with affiliate programs, eventually designing my own shirts, writing e-books...
Planning how to monetize and researching the viability of monetization are different things. Slow down and contemplate that.
Go to Commission Junction and search for Martial Arts. You'll get three advertisers. How many niche sport t-shirts do you expect to sell? Enough to pay your mortgage? How about selling tickets? You're going to move Ticketmaster off the number one spot? Go to the Google External Tool and the Google Trends Tool if you don't believe me.
Your visitors are going to be coming to your informational site looking for information. Conversions are made from visitors looking to buy. A site about MMA Event Tickets broken down by cities/states/provinces will make more money than an unfocused site that attracts site visitors with lint in their pocket instead of cash in their hand.
I hope that information is useful to you. Good luck. ;)
For example, I have a business website that offers information about a niche business subject where a rough average for Adsense earnings is about 50c per click, which is quite good. My site ranks very high worldwide for the main search terms but I only make about $200 per month from it, which is clearly very low and just beer money for me. What I am saying is that there has to be a lot of traffic available before you can make real money with Adsense.
Many people develop websites on particular subjects (and hobbies) simply because they know a lot about them and they are probably well qualified to do this (I do this too). The problem is that they are not necessarily the best websites for monetising. I would therefore suggest that unless you are only doing this as a hobby then you may want to consider something more lucrative.
Do I have to hunt down every photographer, organization, etc to use these photos? Some sites don't even return e-mails when you contact them. Even if a site like this promotes the sport and all companies and fighters listed, will they still come after me without authorization?
Yes, you do. Otherwise you put yourself in the position where, as martinibuster says, you run the risk of being hit by DMCA's or legal action.
One option is to try and build a relationship with any governing bodies. Make contact with their press office. If they are professional, they should at least be able to help put you in contact with others who can help, whether that is specific photographers (and I'll be that there are a small handful of them specialising in this area), or media sources who have collections of images that may be useful.
Keep digging and making the contacts; build a network. Once you get one or two breakthroughs, name drop. If people know that you already have association with others in the same field, they're usually likely to be a bit more cooperative. That certainly is my experience.
Syzygy
Will google disable my account if the only thing I have thats copyrighted is photos?
Hopefully. They've done so in the past.
Copyright infringement (and be it "just" the copyrights of photographers) is not something Google likes to deal with. One correctly written DMCA infringement notification is probably enough to ring the bells in MV.
The others are right about copywrited photos, etc. How about this though, you build your info site, and add a section of up n comers. Local mma fighters (much easier to do if you live in a region where fights are held). You approach them and explain what your site is about and ask if they'd be interested in doing an interview/profile, where you'd ask them some questions and post the interview and some pictures of them. Granted you wouldn't have big name guys, but they might point their friends and families at your site and you'd get some traffic.
