MICRO-LICENSING OF COMPOSITE CONTENT

1 . A method for compensating multiple contributing participants in a virtual world, the method comprising:

receiving a license associated with a composite content item upon a sale, rental, or lease of the composite content item to a purchasing participant in the virtual world;

identifying at least a first contributing participant and a second contributing participant in a participant list within the license; and

providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying an allocation guideline within the license; and

wherein providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list comprises:

providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the allocation guideline.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the allocation guideline identifies a first value associated with the first contributing participant and a second value associated with the second contributing participant; and

wherein providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the allocation guideline comprises:

providing a first amount of compensation to the first contributing participant in accordance with the first value; and

providing a second amount of compensation to the second contributing participant in accordance with the second value.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first value and the second value comprises one of a percentage or a predetermined amount.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the license comprises source code written in a markup language.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the license comprises source code written in a high-level programming language.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the license comprises machine-readable object code.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite content item comprises a first portion generated by the first contributing participant and a second portion generated by the second contributing participant.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite content item comprises a first portion maintained by the first contributing participant and a second portion maintained by the second contributing participant.

10 . A method for compensating multiple contributing participants in a virtual world, the method comprising:

receiving a micro-licensing portion of a license associated with a composite content item upon a sale, rental, or lease of the composite content item to a purchasing participant in the virtual world, the micro-licensing portion comprising a participant list and an allocation guideline;

identifying at least a first contributing participant and a second contributing participant in the participant list;

identifying an allocation guideline for the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant; and

providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the allocation guideline.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the allocation guideline identifies a first value associated with the first contributing participant and a second value associated with the second contributing participant; and

wherein providing compensation to the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the allocation guideline comprises:

providing a first amount of compensation to the first contributing participant in accordance with the first value; and

providing a second amount of compensation to the second contributing participant in accordance with the second value.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first value and the second value comprises one of a percentage or a predetermined amount.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the micro-licensing language comprises source code written in a markup language.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the micro-licensing language comprises source code written in a high-level programming language.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the micro-licensing language comprises machine-readable object code.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the composite content item comprises a first portion generated by the first contributing participant and a second portion generated by the second contributing participant.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the composite content item comprises a first portion maintained by the first contributing participant and a second portion maintained by the second contributing participant.

18 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

providing a composite content item for sale, rental, or lease, the composite content item comprises a first portion associated with a first contributing participant and a second portion associated with a second contributing participant;

upon the sale, rental, or lease of the composite content item to a purchasing participant of a virtual world, receiving a micro-licensing portion of a license associated with the composite content item, the micro-licensing portion comprising a participant list and an allocation guideline;

identifying at least a first contributing participant and a second contributing participant in the participant list;

identifying the allocation guideline for the first contributing participant and the second contributing participant, the allocation guideline specifying a first value associated with the first contributing participant and a second value associated with the second contributing participant;

providing a first amount of compensation to the first contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the first value; and

providing a second amount of compensation to the second contributing participant in accordance with the participant list and the second value.

19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first portion is generated by the first contributing participant and the second portion is generated by the second contributing participant.

20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first portion is maintained by the first contributing participant and the second portion is maintained by the second contributing participant.