Cloud Party Marketplace Now in Beta - Commerce System Comes With Royalties for Resold Items!

Cloud Party's Marketplace is now open in early Beta, adding a commerce system to the web-based virtual world backed by Second Life co-founder Cory Ondrejka. Emphasis on "early" -- everything in it has been set for a price of 0 Cloud Dollars, as CEO Sam Thompon explains in the announcement, so they can test out the system. Thompson tells me they'll enable the Marketplace with full commercial features when they roll out the new Cloud Party avatars -- probably within the next 1-2 months. In any case, as the screencap above shows, the Cloud Party Marketplace comes with a cool and (I think) unique feature: Royalties for object re-sales. As Thompson explains to me:

"The idea is to encourage people to create not just complete finished products, but components that other creators can use to build things. Some people might be great at modeling or texturing, but not scripting or animating. This allows for more fluid collaboration between creators, and the profits can be shared between the between the different creators."

Or as the FAQ puts it:

"When you sell an asset with Resell permissions (see Permissions FAQ), you will be able to optionally set a royalty fee that will be applied whenever that asset is sold (either by reference on another asset or by itself with modifications). This royalty will be paid back to you each time the new object that uses or is based on your asset is sold."

Great idea -- and great progress, for a world that launched only three months ago.

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Comments

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

Oh, that's a rather nice idea! :) It's like having a built-in DRM which will continue to make the original content creators earn money.

I find it so ironic that while the whole (real) world is bent on destroying DRM, copyrights, and patents, virtual worlds, by contrast, develop new and better ways to ensure that content creators are paid for their work (if they wish). I don't see anything wrong with that.

But uncountable millions hate the idea. This is SO weird.

[foneco zuzu]

Well it depends on how nay sees the World!
I for instance, wish that internet was free for all and i strongly support all creators that makes their works free for any to use!

[foneco zuzu]

But that does not mean i don't understand the need of one to protect and ensure its works are being paid!
Still defending DRM???
That was the most stupid thing ever created, Ubisoft already found out as Microsoft and Sony before!

[Iggy]

@foneco, then they stop creating.

It's easy for academics like me to give our content away. We are subsidized. But for other "creatives," payment matters.

The sweet spot is the micropayment. Get enough and they become real money. CP's system seems fair to creators, if rezzing and unrezzing an item enough does not break DRM. To see what I mean, check properties on your older and more frequently used SL content.

I will settle for "cheap" content. $20 or so for a few months fun in a virtual world is small change, less than a meal at a moderately priced restaurant.

[Adeon Writer]

Cloud Party is coming along great. I really hope I won't need to use my real name on the final thing.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Give me free food, shelter, medicine, transportation, and other expenses and I will make you free stuff.

Otherwise, show me the money.

[Ajax Manatiso]

The automatic revenue sharing is an awesome idea. I stopped making animations in SL because I saw so many illegal copies of my stuff everywhere I turned. This way, they may not go to all the trouble and risk of making illegal copies -- just use the genuine stuff and share the revenue.

[Nexus Burbclave]

This is a great idea. I could even see content creators giving people options. If I venture into script/component creation in cloud party I will consider offering both a very inexpensive version with royalties enabled and an expensive but royalty free version, giving options to people who want to reuse/remix my creations.

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

I have to wonder how long it will take for people to work around whatever enforces such royalties, but if people are willing to buy items under those terms, so be it.

(Now, when can we get the Doctrine of First Sale in virtual worlds? How many things clog our inventories that in RL we could give or sell to someone else but can't in SL?)

[JJValero Writer]

I have had an account in facebook and i closed ago two years. I
do not want to return to facebook. The requirement to have a
Facebook account to enter in cloudparty closes the door to many
potential users. Moreover as discussed in many places that
facebook is in decline.

What good imitate secondlife with marketplaces if after behave
sectarian regarding entry requirements.

And worst of all, facebook sectarian behavior, forcing us to have
to go through the network with the identity card in the mouth.
Leaving us at the mercy of enemies, stalkers, gossips and all
kinds of predators.

They know nothing about privacy, do not understand the concept.
If the entry requirement is to have a facebook account, no matter
what features imitate from SecondLife, if there is no privacy, I
will not be here.

[shockwave yareach]

Gweneth - aren't you one of the people who despise No Copy sales? You want backup copies of what you buy so you don't lose anything? You want to be able to use it more than once and in more than one place? All the RIAA and MPAA and software DRM proponents don't want you to be able to back anything up, use it in more than one place or have a spare copy should you need to reinstall.

DRM has not stopped copying. It never will. All it does is make people who pay for software go through lots of hassles while people who pirate aren't hassled at all. A very expensive bit of mine sits unused and worthless because the DRM from Korg came on a USB stick, and that USB stick is no longer made. So what am I supposed to do with this legally bought software that won't run because Korg can't/won't replace it with nonDRM code that will run nor replace the dongle?

I believe people should be paid for what they create. But I also believe that customers should get something for their money, and DRM prevents that. All it takes is $company going out of business and all that software from them stops working because their DRM server vanishes from existence. I pay for something, I expect it to work rather than work when $company deigns from its ivory tower to graciously permit to work.

[Masami Kuramoto]

@ Gwyneth
"But uncountable millions hate the idea. This is SO weird."

In that perfect DRM world you envision, uncountable millions would be unable to read and write.