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Q. Who needs RightsAgent?

A. Anyone who blogs, or uploads photos or videos and would like to:

  • Make their work available for others to reuse either for free, under a Creative Commons license, or for fee, under a RightsAgent license.
  • Make all of their work available to their readers in a single, unified feed.
  • Build a reputation based upon the reuse of their work.

Q. Do I have to pay to use the service?

A. No, it's completely free for users who publish online to use and will always remain so.

Q. How do I get started?

A. First, create a free account at www.rightsagent.com. A confirmation code will be sent to your e-mail address. If you don't see it immediately, wait a minute or two and be sure to check your spam folder! Once you have your confirmation code, enter it the next time you log in and you'll be taken to your user profile page.

Q. What is a user profile page?

A. This is where you manage your account. You can update information about yourself, upload a picture, and most importantly add sources. The user profile page consists currently of four modules:

  • Biographical Information.
    This is where you can enter in your name, location, a picture, and a brief personal statement about yourself.
  • Sources.
    This is where the various places you publish your work are listed.
  • Reputation.
    This is where the reputation points for each source are viewable. The blue column reflects social points that accumulate when people license your work for free, under a Creative Commons license. The green column reflects cash points that accumulate when people license your work for a fee you select.
  • Recent Content I've Authored.
    At regular intervals we check your sources for updates. When you make a new blog post or upload a new photo or video it will appear here.

Q. How do I add a Source?

A. In general, you simply tell RightsAgent the URL of the Source you want to add (www.myblog.com), if you'd like, specify the price at which you'd like to make your work available, and finally: verify that you're the rightful owner of this source. However, continue reading because each step is a bit different for blogs, Flickr and Revver.

Adding a blog:

  • Tell us the URL to your blog and we'll auto-discover your RSS or Atom feed and any Creative Commons license you have added to your site.
  • If you don't have a Creative Commons license, or if you'd like to change your license terms, you'll be prompted to do so.
  • A quick note on license selection:
    • You can only set a price for your work if you retain all your rights (All Rights Reserved), or select a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license.
    • If you elect to retain all your rights, anyone who wishes to reuse your work will have to pay the price you specify for the right to do so.
    • If you select a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license, only people who wish to use your work for commercial (for profit) purposes will have to pay the price you specify.
    • If you'd like to make your work free for anyone to reuse, select a Creative Commons Commercial license that will permit anyone to reuse your work, regardless of commercial intent.
  • Finally, we need to verify you're the true owner of the blog being registered.
    The process is pretty simple. Just cut the brief bit of text shown at the verify screen (we'll also e-mail it to you) and paste it into the body of a blog post. The next time we look for new posts we'll be able to verify that you have control of the blog. Once your ownership has been verified, you can delete the post if you'd like.
  • After you're verified we'll e-mail you the HTML code that you can place on your blog which will display the RightsAgent badge that links back to your user profile page.
    If you elected to add or change a Creative Commons license, we'll also e-mail you the HTML code to place the Creative Commons license badge on your blog.

Adding Flickr:

  • Tell RightsAgent the URL to your Flickr photo account.
    It's easy to find, simply sign-in to Flickr and click on the "You" tab. The URL that comes up (e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/myaccount/) is what RightsAgent needs to know.
  • Unlike a blog, RightsAgent can't immediately identify what Creative Commons license you may have selected for your photos. So, simply specify a price for your photos and if your license terms allow (All Rights Reserved or CC Non-Commercial) RightsAgent will make the photos available for purchase at that price.
  • Finally, RightsAgent needs to verify you're the true owner of the Flickr account being registered. Click on the link to sign-in to Flickr and click on the button to allow RightsAgent to verify your ownership. You'll receive a verification code that you simply cut and paste back into RightsAgent and you're done.

Adding Revver:

  • Tell RightsAgent the URL to your Revver video account.
    It's easy to find, simply sign-in to Revver and click on the "View Profile" tab. The URL that comes up (e.g. http://www.revver.com/u/myaccount/) is what RightsAgent needs to know.
  • Unlike a blog, all Revver videos automatically have a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license applied to them. So, simply specify a price for your videos and RightsAgent will make the videos available for purchase at that price to anyone who wants to reuse it commercially (for-profit).
  • Finally, RightsAgent needs to verify you're the true owner of the Revver account being registered. Simply enter your username and password for Revver and RightsAgent will confirm your credentials with Revver. Please note, RightsAgent does not store this information. It's used one time for verification and discarded.

Q. What does subscribing to "me" mean?

A. RightsAgent creates a unified feed of all the sources you register. That means someone that subscribes to you through RightsAgent receives everything you publish (blog posts, photos, and videos) and now has a permanent connection to you. So, if you use Blogger today and decide to switch to WordPress tomorrow, simply register your new blog and your readers continue to get your posts uninterrupted.

Q. Can I customize my Personal Feed?

A. Today, your Personal Feed will feature all the sources you have registered with RightsAgent. In the near future, RightsAgent will give you the ability to register a source but exclude it from your Personal Feed.

Q. What is the "My Content" page?

A. This is where you can easily filter through all your content by type, license, price, etc.

  • Under the Authored tab you can view and filter all the works that have been added to RightsAgent.
  • Under the Licensed tab you can view the license receipt of anyone else's work that you have licensed either for free under a Creative Commons license, or for fee under a RightsAgent license.

Q. What is the Public View page?

A. This is how your profile page appears to visitors.

Q. How does reputation get built?

A. The reputation system is keyed on the premise that people who create content that others wish to reuse are important.

  • Whenever anyone licenses a blog post, photo or video, the creator's reputation is established.
  • If others' license your work under a Creative Commons license, the person licensing it can give you up to 3 credits towards your social reputation.
  • If they license your work under a RightsAgent license, then your commercial reputation increases by the amount paid for your work.
  • If you license someone else's work, regardless of which method you use, you'll receive 1 credit towards your social reputation.

Q. How do I change the default price for a source I've added?

A. Currently, you will have to remove and re-add the source. In its forthcoming set of new features, RightsAgent will soon add the ability to change default pricing for added source.

Q. How do I change the price for an individual photo or video?

A. You can't (at present). This is also a forthcoming additional feature.

Q. Why can I move the modules around in the profile page?

A. Currently, moving them around does nothing. Eventually, RightsAgent plans to add more modules and allow users to reposition your modules to customize how your profile page appears to visitors.

Q. If I license content through RightsAgent, how do I get it?

A. RightsAgent does not host content. If you license a work through us, simply follow the link back to the original site where it's being hosted. For example, with Flickr you can generally select multiple resolutions of a photo. With Revver, a link is provided next to the video on their site to download the video file for you to reuse. RightsAgent will continue to maintain a record of your license transaction, but it's your responsibility to make sure to download and save the content from the site it is hosted on.

Q. How does RightsAgent make money?

A. When someone buys your work through RightsAgent, you get paid in full. So, if you set a price of $10 for a photo, you get $10. However, the person who purchases your photo will have to purchase 10 credits on the RightsAgent system to complete the purchase. Those 10 credits cost them $11, essentially a 10% surcharge. This fee is automatically paid by the purchaser (through the service to RightsAgent).

Q. What else does RightsAgent have plans to add?

A. Good question. First and foremost we're looking for feedback from creators of user-generated content, like you! If there is functionality you want, let us know by sending us an e-mail. In addition to some of the other features mentioned above, RightsAgent is also planning to add the following functions:

  • Personal Search.
    Adding the ability for you and others to search through your content with keywords. Expect to see this on your My Content page soon along with a public version of your "My Content" page for your visitors and readers to use.
  • Support for more sources.
    RightsAgent's goal is to give you the ability to add any source online that produces a feed.
  • Stats.
    Expect to be able to get more information about visitors to your profile page and those that subscribe to your Personal Feed.
  • License history.
    Expect to be able to view who has licensed your work.
  • Syndication to social networks.
    Expect applications and wigets shortly to display your Personal Feed in Facebook and other social networks so you can conveniently integrate all your web-wide publishing into your profile page.