Creative Commons and Magnatune announced the winners of the Lisa DeBenedictis Remix Contest hosted on ccMixter (www.ccmixter.org) from June 15, 2005 to July 31, 2005. Due to the high-quality remixes received, Magnatune increased the number of winning entries from 10, as originally planned, to 15. There were thirteen winners.

Creative Commons offers free licenses and tools to enable creators to publish their works on more flexible terms. It promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works�whether owned or in the public domain�by empowering authors and audiences. Magnatune is an independent, online record label that hand selects its own artists, sells its catalog of music through online downloads and print-on-demand CDs and licenses music for commercial and non-commercial use.

All winners are signed to a Magnatune standard recording contract and will be included on a forthcoming Lisa DeBenedictis remix album to be sold commercially. The artists' share (50% from the first sale) will be split between the winners and (of course) the artists they sample.

The 15 winning entries, and winning artists, are (in no particular order):

1. Sergio Gomez (Love Bird)
2. Rudiger Lippert (Cuckoo Remix)
3. Thomas Walter (Below Acappella)
4. Richard Ashcroft (BELLOW)
5. Tim Holt (Cuckoo passive-aggressive)
6. Marc Kowalski (below-DU-first-mix)
7. Richard Ashcroft (BELOW Linda Barker Mix)
8. James Margetts (Structured Emotions)
9. Brian Trifon (Stranger from Below)
10. Gabor Valasek (The Cuckoo, bittersweet)
11. Marc Kowalski (below-DU-mix)
12. David Sims (Below and Beyond)
13. Eric Ohara (Below Lambourgino)
14. Thom O'Connor (Unaffected)
15. Sharp Hall (Cuckoo- Liquid Ambient)

Contest winners used Magnatune music, including DeBenedictis' music, to create their own remix compositions and posted their winning tracks up on ccMixter. ccMixter is a site made available by Creative Commons to
encourage legal media collaboration and remixing. The site shows the genealogy of creativity by displaying both the tracks that a particular remix has sampled and the subsequent tracks that remix that remix. The software that runs the site has been released to the public to enable anyone to create a similar site for music or any other format.

Lisa DeBenedictis is one of Magnatune�s more than 175 artists who enjoys 50-50 profit splitting and full rights to her music. A "one-woman operation," she plays a variety of instruments including piano, guitar, keyboard, violin, oboe and mandolin. DeBenedictis is the sole writer, performer and producer of all her music. Her songs have been described as ethereal, fresh and original, earning her the comparisons of other well-known female soloists including Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan. Prior to going solo, DeBenedictis performed in a rock duo called �Ring
of Nine� and California Avant Rock duo �DirtyDirtyRockStar.� In addition to writing songs, Lisa composes instrumental music for film.

The concept of "open source" file-sharing originated in the computer software world, and has moved into music. Individual tracks, a drum or bass line within a recording, can be taken and remixed with other tracks to create a completely new composition. Other musicians can then modify, improve or add to the �source� without worrying about obtaining permission from the original artists. Unlike other illegal music remix contests where an artist�s work has been taken and sold without the artist�s permission, Magnatune and Creative Commons partnered with Lisa DeBenedictis for this effort. Contest participants were invited to freely copy selected Magnatune music to produce their winning works.

Producers often work for months to build their multi-layered remix compositions. Remix tracks can be highly sophisticated with limitless musical sound samples and layers.

Magnatune music is available for download and streaming under Creative Commons licensing. The Creative Commons license gives artists the ability to signal that others may freely share and build upon their existing works, be it musical, written, or images. Unusual in the music industry, Magnatune splits profits from
album sales with the artists and allows them to keep ownership of the rights to their music.