Artist-based music platform Restorm.com today launched rightclearing, a cloud-based platform that automates music licensing and opens up many monetization opportunities, and disclosed that its initial partner is music licensing pioneer Rumblefish.
Philippe Perreaux, CEO of restorm.com, held the unveiling at the Social Music Summit at the 12th Annual Digital Music Forum East in New York. He also announced that Joi Ito (pictured), head of the MIT Digital Media Lab and chairman of the Creative Commons, has joined the company’s advisory board.
Ito’s involvement underscores rightclearing’s vision for Creative Commons licensing as a way of enabling creators to retain their rights while permitting certain uses of their work, like allowing them to be copied, distributed, edited, remixed and built upon, depending on the creator’s preferences.
In addition to automating licensing, rightclearing adds search technology, automated contracts and a straightforward payment process. This allows anyone to simply purchase licenses for their project, whether for commercial or private use
Ito said, “I decided to join the restorm.com advisory board because rightclearing has the potential to radically renew the market for art licensing: it’s simple, innovative, transparent and fair. Restorm.com is showing the music industry and independent artists how much positive potential the digital revolution has brought. I see the future of music licensing in the open, transparent and innovative approach of rightclearing.”
By using rightclearing, anyone can find songs and pay for the license. Both parties instantly receive a legal contract directly on completing the transaction, and artists receive 100 percent of the price they set. Artists and labels also can set up licensing shops on their websites and Facebook pages.
Perreaux said this means the process is simple, customers clearly understand the terms of the offer, and flexibility is built in so that artists can charge according to the size of the project and whatever other considerations are important to them.
“As a lawyer, I have been battling an outdated and complicated system of copyrights for more than a decade,” Perreaux said. “With the launch of righclear, my vision to establish a model that is transparent and free from chaos becomes a reality. By launching with Rumblefish, one of the leading platforms for social licensing, we look forward to further simplifying and radically democratizing the market for music licensing together.”
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Photo by Flickr user Cea., used under Creative Commons license
