Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Can not give specific answer without specific excerpt and website, and fee agreement, etc. But can give you some general information: The issue is whether your intended use is 'fair use" (a legal term of art). "Fair use" is the occasional and spontaneous use of copyrighted materials (site has common law copyright from authorship even without formal registration) for limited purpose. Prime example of fair use: to teach. Social commentary or parody are other examples of fair use categories. Use for money is a negative. Benefit to them does not erase the financial aspect. Better approach would be to license use of excerpt with the "payment" (legal term is "consideration," i.e. what given) being the referals to their site. By the way if their website has a registered copyright the statutory penalty is $750.00 per violation, i.e. per click. You may want to think about that.

This depends too much on the specifics of the excerpts, the amount used, and the nature(s) of the two Web sites involved.

General rule... copying is not permitted.

Exception: If it is a "fair use". This requires a detailed analysis of multiple factors. Each case is different and depends on the specific facts.

If your site is a review site, where you are evaluating these other sites or companies, it would be easier for you to claim fair use. If you're just using these other sites to substitute for your own content or to attract traffic to yours, then not so much.

In addition to the copyright issues, there may also be trademark issues, and they are too complex to be answered without specifics of your site and the sites you are considering linking to. You should speak to a lawyer before spending time or money creating the site.

It is better that you re-phrase the content ( which basically describes places and the ways to get there) which will have the same or closer meaning. As far as photos go, you must seek their written permission to display on your website.