Your situation
License records from a product you shut down
One product stopped. The company did not. Only the operating company can ask about a license. A product that ran for a few months does not get its own eligibility test. What you can offer is the history of the work on that product. The rest of the company keeps billing and keeps its tools.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who can ask | The operating company is the party that can license. A discontinued product is not a separate licensor. |
| Customer lists | Customer lists and staff details from the discontinued product are still never shared. |
| Eligibility | Eligibility is company-level: staff at peak, and at least two years of records. A short-lived product line is not a separate applicant. |
| Work history | Records that describe the work, such as tickets and project history, are the candidate. The customer file of the discontinued product is not. |
| Which tools | The rest of the company keeps running, so there is no shutdown deletion clock for the whole stack. Any clock is limited to tools that belonged only to that discontinued product. |
The situation in plain words
You stopped a product. The company is still here, still billing, and still using most of its tools. The shut product cannot apply on its own. What you can ask about is the history of the work: tickets, project threads, the operational record. Customer lists and staff details from that product stay out, the same as they would on a live product. If the product sat inside a subsidiary you sold, stop. That is an ownership question for the buyer. You are not shutting the company down in order to ask, and you should not cancel tools the live business still needs.
Who can decide, and who signs
A shut product line has no signature block of its own. The officer who signs is an officer of the company that is still operating.
If that product lived in a subsidiary you sold, the right to license may have moved with the sale. Ask your lawyer which entity owns the systems before anyone enquires.
Staff at peak and two years of records are measured for the company. Six months of one product do not replace either number.
What is possible
You can ask about records that describe the work on the discontinued product, such as tickets and project history, if the company as a whole meets the rules. That is not a promise that a product line alone qualifies. Customer lists and staff details from the old product are never in the copy. The rest of the company keeps running, so you are not on a whole-company deletion clock.
Timing
There is no whole-company deletion clock. The only clock is on tools that belonged only to the discontinued product, and only if you are about to close those tools. Leave the shared mail, the shared files, and the live product's systems alone. If you will retire a product-only workspace, export the work history first and keep an admin until any read-only check is finished. The company's ordinary calendar does not become urgent because a feature was retired.
What to do next
Name the legal entity that still operates, and confirm the shut product was part of that entity.
If the product sat in a subsidiary you sold, stop and sort authority with the buyer before any enquiry.
Separate work history from customer lists and staff details. Only the work history is a candidate.
Check the company against staff at peak and two years of records. The product's lifespan is not a separate test.
Leave the rest of the stack running. Cancel only the tools that belonged solely to the product you stopped.
Where to go next
For the wider job, read how to sell company data to AI companies. For every other position, see what to do with your company's records in your situation.
Does your company qualify to sell its data? Confirm that before you treat a license as available. Before a system is connected, you approve what is shared and never shared.
If the company is in a different position, start here:
For the same decision seen from your role, read options for founders shutting down a startup.
Related
- Your situation
What changes for your records in eight company situations.
- How to sell company data
How to sell or license company data to AI companies, and which route fits.
- Eligibility
Staff, records, daily-use systems, and the right to license, plus a checker.
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- After layoffs
Records after layoffs, while the company keeps operating.
- Still operating
Licensing records without selling or closing.
- Founders
What a founder decides, and why the company is the signer.
Questions about a product you shut down
Can we license records from a product we discontinued if the company is still operating?
You can ask. The operating company is the party. A discontinued product is not a separate licensor, and asking is not a promise that the product line alone qualifies. The company still has to meet staff at peak and two years of records. Tickets and project history are the records that describe the work. Customer lists from that product stay out. The rest of the company keeps running.
Are that product's customer lists included?
No. Customer lists and staff details from the discontinued product are never shared. Names, emails, and phone numbers stay out. The candidate records are the ones that describe the work, such as tickets and project history. You approve each system before anything is shared, and you can hold a system back. A pivot does not move a customer file onto the list of what can be licensed.
Does a short-lived product line qualify on its own?
No. A short-lived product line is not its own applicant. Eligibility is measured for the company: at least 30 staff at peak, or 25 if most are in the US, and at least two years of records in daily-use systems. A product that existed for six months does not replace those rules. If the company meets them, you can ask about the product's work history. The product's age is not a separate yes.
What if the product was in a subsidiary we sold?
Stop and sort the owner. If the product lived in a subsidiary that was sold, the right to license may have moved with that sale. The operating parent should not enquire for records it no longer controls. Use the acquisition situation for the company that was sold. Ask your lawyer which entity owns the systems today. A brand you retired is not the same thing as a company you sold.
Do we have to shut the whole company down to license anything?
No. The rest of the company keeps running. There is no shutdown deletion clock for the whole stack. Any clock is limited to tools that belonged only to the discontinued product. You do not dissolve the company in order to ask. Current management of the operating company signs. Keep the live product's systems in normal use while you decide what to do with the old one's history.
Sources
- Vetrix Labs. Vetrix Data Licensing.
- Vetrix Labs. Company data license agreement terms.