RightsAgent Provides First Unified Means for Web Creators to Share, License and Profit from User-Generated Content
Released on: December 14, 2007, 12:08 pm
Press Release Author: RightsAgent, Inc.
Industry: Internet & Online
Press Release Summary: New service allows users to effectively license, distribute, and monetize their blogs, pictures and videos online
Press Release Body: Cambridge, MA and San Francisco, CA-December 14, 2007-RightsAgent, Inc., provider of services for licensing and management of user-generated content (UGC), today announced the immediate availability of a unique service that gives creators control over their content enabling them to share and/or profit from their work through the World Wide Web. The world premiere of RightsAgent will take place on Saturday, December 15 in San Francisco at a public event celebrating the fifth birthday of Creative Commons-the worldwide nonprofit organization dedicated to building a body of user-generated content that is free and legal to share and build upon.
The volume of User-Generated Content is increasing exponentially: . According to Technorati a new blog is created almost every second. There are currently 112.8+ million blogs--a number that doubles every 5 ½ months. (1) . More than 100 million videos are watched on YouTube each day. (2) . Flikr-Over 20 million people use the world's leading photo sharing website, which currently hosts 2 billion user-generated photographs. (3)
"User-generated content (in the form of web-delivered blogs, photos and videos) is exploding. However, until today users had no way to consolidate their web-wide publishing into a system that automates licensing to permit re-use, and monetization of their content," said Rudy Rouhana, co-founder of RightsAgent, Inc.
"RightsAgent gives online content creators what they've been looking for: a service that will give them easy-to-use tools to manage copyright licensing of their work that supports free, and for fee reuse based upon commercial and non-commercial intent," said Prof. John Palfrey, co-founder of RightsAgent. Palfrey, who is also Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School added "RightsAgent is meeting this growing demand by creating and offering a scalable, open platform to help users exercise control on how their content is deployed and allowing them to benefit monetarily."
RightsAgent-a free service, accomplishes this in a simple process that begins when a user enters where they publish their blogs, photos and videos online, and verifies that they are the valid owner of those sources. This enables RightsAgent to generate a consolidated feed of all their content to which readers can subscribe. To facilitate licensing, both Creative Commons and RightsAgent commercial options are supported, allowing users to make their work available to others for free or for fee and maintaining a record of the license state under which it was acquired. A reputation score is then generated for both the author and the buyer of the work, rewarding both parties for creating content worthy of reuse and taking the steps necessary to acquire its rights responsibly.
While one delivering a means to monetize user-generated content was an important driver behind the creation of RightsAgent-the service also furnishes non-for-profit licensing through a managed system to enable a voluntary "some rights reserved" version of copyright (vs. "all rights reserved" standard copyright provisions). In designing this functionality, RightsAgent followed guidelines suggested by Creative Commons--- the leading worldwide proponent of the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works whose free copyright licenses give creators of UGC a flexible range of freedoms and protections for their works.
"RightsAgent plugs a big hole in the world of user generated creativity, by making it simple for creators to license rights commercially with their creative work,\" said Prof. Lawrence Lessig, CEO of Creative Commons. \"We are confident RightsAgent will help encourage the spread of Creative Commons licenses and the support for legal reuse and remix.\"
Tell me more The initial release of RightsAgent is offered as a "public beta" service. For more information on future iterations and on how RightsAgent helps users to manage, share, license and profit from their own user-generated content, visit www.rightsagent.com and click on the FAQ.
About Rights Agent RightsAgent is a provider of rights and readership management services for user-generated content. The company's Internet-based service allows users to consolidate the work they publish across the web (photos, video and blogs) into a unified feed for their readers, license their work with both Creative Commons and for-profit options, and build reputation based upon the value of the content they create. Headquartered in Massachusetts (USA), RightsAgent, Inc. is privately held corporation led by a team of entrepreneurs with extensive experience in law and Web 2.0 technologies. Visit us at www.rightsagent.com.
RightsAgent is a trademark of RightsAgent, Inc. All other marks are property of their respective owners.
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