This cultural creation model is worth looking at:
“By becoming a member of hitRECord.org you agree to the following main principles:
1. The RECords you upload are 100% original to you.
2. You grant every user on hitRECord.org the right to remix your RECords.
3. You grant hitRECord.org the non-exclusive right to monetize your RECords, sharing what we make after costs with contributors 50-50.
The HITRECORD ACCORD / TERMS OF SERVICE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
While you MUST read our TERMS OF SERVICE and TERMS FOR SELECTING RECORDS FOR MONETIZED PRODUCTIONS in their entirety, below are answers to a few frequently asked questions. If you’d like to submit questions that aren’t covered below, please direct them here
Q: WHAT KINDS OF RECORDS AM I ALLOWED TO CONTRIBUTE TO HITRECORD.ORG?
A: You may upload all types of RECords – video, audio, text, pictures – provided they belong to you, are 100% original and they do not contain anyone else’s work that you don’t have the right to distribute.
Q: AM I ALLOWED TO DOWNLOAD OTHERS’ WORK FROM HITRECORD.ORG, MODIFY IT and RE-UPLOAD IT TO HITRECORD.ORG?
A: Yes! That’s the point. Once you reupload your work, you must give the original User attribution. On hitRECord.org, we call them Resources. Citing your resources is not only fair, it’s how we organize all our RECords.
Q: WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT HITRECORD.ORG HAS THE ‘NON-EXCLUSIVE RIGHT’ TO MONETIZE MY RECORDS?
A: When you upload a RECord to hitRECord.org, you agree to give hitRECord.org the NON-EXCLUSIVE right to make money with it. Non-exclusive means you still own your stuff and you can still sell it outside of hitRECORD however you want. But, if hitRECord.org can figure out how to turn a profit with it, we’re allowed to do that, as long as we share those profits with you.
HOWEVER: If you are planning on selling one of your RECords to a third-party distributor (Universal, 20th Century Fox, etc.) who may want to purchase the EXCLUSIVE rights to your RECords, please do not post them on hitRECord.org!
Q: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘MONETIZED PRODUCTIONS?’
A: When a RECord becomes a “Production” it means that hitRECord.org is planning to publish/distribute the content for money. Perhaps it will become a book, or part of a short film anthology. Perhaps it will make it on TV! After costs, HITRECORD.ORG splits the money it makes 50-50 with those Artists whose work is included in the Production.
EXAMPLE: Say we all made a short film together, and somehow hitRECord.org managed to turn it into a money-making production. Fifty percent of that money would go to hitRECord.org LLC, our official business entity, which maintains the site, funds future projects, and pays a small team of professionals whose job it is to design, produce and direct hitRECord productions. The other fifty percent goes to all the contributors whose RECords are resourced in the production. The writer, the actors, the animators, the musicians, the editors, everybody who had a hand in creating the final short film gets their fair share based on how much they contributed.
Q: HOW IS THE CONTRIBUTOR’S POOL SPLIT UP?
A: That’s a question that was especially hard to figure out. We tried to come up with a formula that would work every time, but in reality, every production’s going to be different. So this is how we’re gonna do it. HitRECord.org’s Director, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will propose what he thinks is fair in a conversation thread on the site. Then we’ll all discuss it as a community. And then Joe will personally make the final call.
Q: WOW. SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE ASKING ME TO PUT A LOT OF TRUST IN JOE!
A: Definitely. HitRECord.org is an honest and open company with our contributors. We believe that your trust will be cemented with each and every new monetized production. The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding!”