Reznor's Nov. 26 unveiling of remix.nin.com follows the Nov. 20 release of "Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D," a two disc set that features an audio CD containing retooled versions of songs originally featured on NIN's April release, "Year Zero," and a DVD that houses multi-track files for all of the "Year Zero" cuts. Reznor's plan was for fans to make their own remixes, which they would then be able to upload to a remix site that Reznor's now-former record label, Universal, had said it would host.

On the eve of the release of "Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D," however, Universal scrapped its plans for the site, according to Reznor, who explained in a Nov. 19 message posted at NIN.com that the label feared hosting the site could impact Universal's copyright infringement lawsuit against Google (parent company of YouTube) and News Corp (parent company of MySpace).

"Their premise is that if any fan decides to remix one of my masters with material Universal doesn't own--a 'mash-up,' a sample, whatever--and upload it to the site, there is no safe harbor under the DMCA (according to Universal) and they will be doing exactly what MySpace and YouTube are doing," Reznor wrote. " ... Because of this they no longer will host our remix site, and are insisting that Nine Inch Nails host it. In exchange for this they will continue to let me upload my Universal masters and make them available to fans, but shift the liability of hosting them to me. Part of the arrangement is having user licenses that the fans sign (not unlike those on MySpace or You Tube) saying they will not use unauthorized materials. If they were to do such a thing, everybody sues everybody and the world abruptly ends."

Reznor went on to say that he was "profoundly perturbed with this stance as content owners continue to stifle all innovation in the face of the digital revolution," but added that "it is consistent with what they have done in the past."

"So," Reznor continued, "we are challenged at the last second to find a way of bringing this idea to life without getting splashed by the urine as these media companies piss all over each other's feet. We have a cool and innovative site ready to launch, but we're currently scratching our heads as to how to proceed."

The head-scratching apparently ended on Monday (11/26), when Reznor unveiled remix.nin.com, where an FAQ explains how the site is dealing with the aforementioned concerns about fans using unauthorized materials in conjunction with their NIN remixes. The site describes unauthorized materials as "samples of songs by other artists, or samples from movies, TV shows, or video games," and says that any remixes containing such elements "will be rejected during the approval process."

"Please understand that it is not our wish to impose these restrictions on your creativity or the functionality of this site, but we have no choice in the matter," the FAQ continues.

Early last month, Reznor--who has famously been at odds with record labels over the years--announced that he had parted with Universal.

"I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate," he wrote in a message posted at NIN.com. He went on to say that he will make some announcements about 2008 in the "near future."

In a possible foreshadowing of his plans for NIN's future recordings, Reznor and poet/artist/musician Saul Williams last month released exclusively via Williams' website the digital-only, Reznor-produced Williams album "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust." The pair offered up the set in several different formats, and offered fans the choice to either download the album for free or make a $5 contribution to support Williams.