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Understand IP ownership, blockchain technology, and how Medialane works.

Remix & Derivative Works

Creativity is iterative. Medialane natively supports derivative works — letting creators build on existing IP while automatically respecting the original license terms. Every remix creates a transparent, immutable provenance chain on Starknet.

What is a Remix?

A remix is a new IP asset that is derived from, samples, or builds upon an existing asset. On Medialane, remixes are first-class onchain objects — the relationship between the original work and the derivative is recorded permanently on Starknet, not just in the metadata description.

This creates a Remix Graph: a transparent, public genealogy of creative influence that can be traced back through any number of generations to the original source work.

Asset A (Root)
  └─ Asset B (Remix of A)
       └─ Asset C (Remix of B)
            └─ Asset D (Remix of C)

How License Terms Flow Through Remixes

The Mediolano protocol — the IP licensing layer Medialane is built upon — enforces license compatibility automatically before a remix can be minted. Key rules:

Viral (ShareAlike) licenses

If the parent asset uses a ShareAlike license (e.g. CC BY-SA), any remix MUST also carry a ShareAlike license. You cannot relicense a viral work under more permissive terms.

Attribution

If the parent requires attribution (CC BY), the remix metadata must include a pointer to the original creator. This is enforced automatically — the original creator's address and asset ID are embedded in the child asset's metadata.

Commercial rights

If the parent forbids commercial use (CC BY-NC), the remix cannot grant commercial rights. The most restrictive commercial terms of any ancestor in the chain apply.

No-derivatives

If the parent carries a no-derivatives (ND) flag, remixing is not permitted. The protocol will reject mint attempts that reference ND-licensed parents.

Creating a Remix

To remix an asset on Medialane, navigate to the asset page and click Remix. You will be prompted to:

  1. Review the parent asset's license terms to confirm you are eligible to remix.
  2. Upload your derivative work (image, audio, video, or other supported format).
  3. Set metadata for the new asset — name, description, IP type.
  4. Choose a license for your remix (constrained to what the parent's license permits).
  5. Sign and mint — the parent asset's ID is embedded in your new asset's metadata.

Gas fees for minting a remix are sponsored by Medialane, just like any other IP asset mint. There is no additional fee for creating a derivative.

Royalties in the Remix Graph

When a remix is sold on the Medialane marketplace, royalties flow to the remix creator at the percentage they set. Optionally, the original creator may also be entitled to a share — depending on the license terms configured at mint time.

This creates a fair economic model: as derivative works appreciate in value and trade hands, the original creative contributions that made them possible continue to be recognized and compensated — automatically, on every sale, enforced by the marketplace smart contract.

AI Agents & Automated Remixing

The Remix Graph is particularly powerful for AI-generated content. An autonomous agent can:

  1. Query the Medialane API for assets that permit remixing (derivatives: allowed).
  2. Generate a new derivative work using the source asset as input.
  3. Mint the new asset with the source material automatically linked in metadata.
  4. Propagate royalties to the original human creator if the remix is later sold.

This structure makes the Mediolano protocol and Medialane platform natively AI-agent-ready — autonomous intelligences can participate in the IP economy with the same transparency and accountability as human creators.

Viewing Remix History

Every asset page on Medialane shows its lineage — you can see whether an asset is an original work or a remix, and trace the full provenance chain back to the root. This history is publicly verifiable on Starknet and cannot be altered or deleted by anyone.