Slowly but surely, the number of formerly illegal P2P services that are going legit is growing.

Qtrax

Add Qtrax to the list.

The owner of the firm that created Qtrax, the short-lived but extremely popular service that let users tap into the vast Gnutella network, said today that it is relaunching as a legal, advertising-supported service that will pay copyright holders for songs traded on its network.

Brilliant Technologies Corp., which acquired Qtrax creator LTDnetwork last year, said it has signed a deal with UK-based label giant EMI to include its catalog on the new version of Qtrax.

"Qtrax is an innovative approach to creating a legitimate P2P offering, so we are pleased that EMI has agreed to be the first of the major music companies to participate," Brilliant CEO Allan Klepfisz said in a statement. "In addition to offering a great consumer experience which we believe will get more consumers excited about digital music, Qtrax will ensure that artists are getting paid when their songs are accessed in a P2P environment."

Brilliant did not say what it plans to charge users of Qtrax on either a per-track or monthly basis but did say that labels and copyright holders will share in its advertising revenue, its primary business model.

The company said that Qtax will launch in beta mode in the US later this year. Qtrax picked Audible Magic as its infrastructure provider. Audible Magic is a rival to Snocap, the company cofounded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning that hopes to help P2P services go legit.