ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc. et al

Filing 1

COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT against Amazon.com Inc., Apple, Inc., BlackBerry Corporation (f/k/a Research In Motion Corporation), Huawei Device USA, Inc., Motorola Mobility LLC ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0540-4447766.), filed by ContentGuard Holdings, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K, # 12 Civil Cover Sheet)(Baxter, Samuel)

Exhibit J

111111

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US007225160B2

United States Patent

(10)

Stefik et al.

c12)

(45)

(54)

DIGITAL WORKS HAVING USAGE RIGHTS
AND METHOD FOR CREATING THE SAME

(58)

(75)

Inventors: Mark J. Stefik, Portola Valley, CA
(US); Peter L. T. Pirolli, San
Francisco, CA (US); Ralph C. Merkle,
Sunnyvale, CA (US)

Patent No.:
US 7,225,160 B2
Date of Patent:
May 29,2007

(56)

(73)
( *)

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 325 days.

(21)

Appl. No.: 10/015,951

(22)

Filed:

(65)

(51)

(52)

7/1966 Janis

(Continued)
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP

0 084 441

7/1983

(Continued)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Prior Publication Data

Sep. 12, 2002

Related U.S. Application Data

(60)

3,263,158 A

Henry H. Perritt Jr., Knowbots, Permissions Headers and Contract
Law Papers for the Conference on Technological Strategies for
Protecting Intellectual Property in the Networked Multimedia Environment (Apr. 30, 2003). pp. 1-22. Retrieved from IDS.*

Dec. 17, 2001

US 2002/0128972 Al

References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

Assignee: ContentGuard Holdings, Inc.,
Wilmington, DE (US)
Notice:

Field of Classification Search ............ 705/50-59;
380/201; 707/9, 104.1; 713/182-186
See application file for complete search history.

Continuation of application No. 09/778,001, filed on
Feb. 7, 2001, which is a division of application No.
08/967,084, filed on Nov. 10, 1997, now Pat. No.
6,236,971, which is a continuation of application No.
08/344,760, filed on Nov. 23, 1994, now abandoned.
Int. Cl.
G06Q 99100
(2006.01)
H04K 1100
(2006.01)
H04L 9100
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl. ............................ 705/51; 705/52; 705/53;
705/54; 705/55; 705/56; 705/57; 705/58;
705/59; 705/50; 380/201; 707/9; 707/104.1;
713/182; 713/183; 713/184; 713/185; 713/186

(Continued)
Primary Examiner-James A. Reagan
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Marc S. Kaufman; Carlos R.
Villamar; Nixon Peasbody, LLP

(57)

ABSTRACT

Digital work adapted to be distributed within a system for
controlling at least one of the distribution and use of digital
works. The digital work includes: digital content representing a portion of a digital work suitable for being rendered by
a rendering device and usage rights associated with the
digital content. The usage rights specify a manner of use
indicating one or more stated purposes for which the digital
work can be at least one of used and distributed by an
authorized party.
38 Claims, 13 Drawing Sheets

US 7,225,160 B2
Page 2
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,609,697
3,790,700
3,798,605
4,159,468
4,220,991
4,278,837
4,323,921
4,442,486
4,529,870
4,558,176
4,593,376
4,614,861
4,644,493
4,658,093
4,713,753
4,796,220
4,817,140
4,827,508
4,868,376
4,882,752
4,891,838
4,924,378
4,932,054
4,937,863
4,949,187
4,953,209
4,961,142
4,975,647
4,977,594
4,999,806
5,010,571
5,014,234
5,023,907
5,047,928
5,050,213
5,052,040
5,058,164
5,103,476
5,109,413
5,113,519
5,136,643
5,138,712
5,146,499
5,148,481
5,159,182
5,183,404
5,191,193
5,204,897
5,222,134
5,224,163
5,235,642
5,247,575
5,255,106
5,260,999
5,263,157
5,263,158
5,276,444
5,276,735
5,291,596
5,295,266
5,299,263
5,301,231
5,311,591
5,319,705
5,335,346
5,337,357
5,339,091
5,341,429
5,347,579
5,375,240
5,381,526

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9/1971
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9/1994
12/1994
111995

Blevins et a!.
Callais et al.
Feistel
Barnes et al.
Hamano et a!.
Best
Guillou
Mayer
Chaum
Arnold eta!.
Yolk
Pavlov et al.
Chandra et a!.
Hellman
Beo bert et al.
Wolfe .......................... 705/56
Chandra et a!.
Shear
Lessin eta!.
Lindman et a!.
Faber
Hershey et a!.
Chou eta!.
Robert eta!.
Cohen
Ryder, Sr. et a!.
Elliott et a!.
Downer eta!.
Shear
Chernow et a!.
Katznelson
Edwards, Jr.
Johnson et a!.
Wiedemer
Shear
Preston et a!.
Elmer et al.
Waite eta!.
Comerford et a!. ........... 705/54
Johnson et a!.
Fischer
Corbin ....................... 713/200
Geffrotin
Abraham et a!.
Eisele
Aldous eta!.
LeRoux
Wyman
Waite eta!.
Gasser eta!.
Wobber et al.
Sprague et a!. ............... 705/53
Castro
Wyman
Janis
Janis
McNair
Boebert et al.
Mita
Hinsley et al. ............. 718/101
Beller et al.
Abraham et a!.
Fischer
Halter eta!.
Fabbio ....................... 7111163
Chou eta!.
Yarnazaki et a!.
Stringer et a!.
Blandford
Grundy ...................... 713/200
Elison

5,394,469
5,410,598
5,412,717
5,428,606
5,432,849
5,438,508
5,444,779
5,453,601
5,455,953
5,457,746
5,473,687
5,473,692
5,499,298
5,502,766
5,504,814
5,504,818
5,504,837
5,509,070
5,530,235
5,532,920
5,534,975
5,539,735
5,563,946
5,568,552
5,621,797
5,629,980
5,633,932
5,634,012
5,638,443
5,649,013
5,655,077
5,666,411
5,708,717
5,734,823
5,734,891
5,737,413
5,737,416
5,745,569
5,748,783
5,757,907
5,761,686
5,765,152
5,768,426
5,825,892
5,892,900
5,910,987
5,915,019
5,917,912
5,920,861
5,940,504
5,943,422
5,949,876
5,982,891
5,999,949
6,047,067
6,112,181
6,115,471
6,135,646
6,138,119
6,157,721
6,185,683
6,233,684
6,237,786
6,240,185
6,266,618
6,253,193
6,292,569
6,301,660
6,327,652
6,330,670
6,345,256
6,363,488
6,389,402

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B1
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*

2/1995
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10/1998
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8/1999
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1111999
12/1999
4/2000
8/2000
9/2000
10/2000
10/2000
12/2000
2/2001
5/2001
5/2001
5/2001
5/2001
6/2001
9/2001
10/2001
12/2001
12/2001
212002
5/2002
5/2002

Nagel et al.
Shear
Fischer
Moskowitz
Johnson et a!.
Wyman
Daniele
Rosen
Russell
Dolphin
Lipscomb et a!.
Davis
N arasirnhalu et a!. ........ 705/54
Boebert et a!.
Miyahara
Okano
Griffeth et a!.
Schull
Stefik et al.
Hartrick et a!. ............. 715/500
Stefik et al.
Moskowitz
Cooper eta!.
Davis
Rosen
Stefik et al.
Davis et al.
Stefik et al.
Stefik et al.
Stuckey et a!.
Jones eta!.
McCarty ...................... 705/51
Alasia
Saigh eta!.
Saigh
Akiyama et a!.
Cooper eta!.
Moskowitz et a!.
Rhoads
Cooper eta!.
Bloomberg
Erickson
Rhoads
Braudaway et al.
Ginter eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Hallet a!.
Griswold
VanWie eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Crandall
Rosen
Shear eta!.
Oki eta!.
Kalm eta!.
Hallet a!.
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Stefik et al.
Ginter eta!.
VanWie eta!.
Downs eta!.
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Benson
England et a!.
England et a!.
Milsted eta!.
Ginter eta!.
Ginter eta!.

US 7,225,160 B2
Page 3
6,708,157 B2 *

3/2004 Stefik eta!. .................. 705/59

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
GB
GB
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP

wo
wo
wo
wo
wo
wo
wo
wo
wo

0 180 460
0 332 707
0 538 216 A
0 651 554
0 668 695
0 725 376
2 136 175
2 236 604
62-241061
64-068835
H03-282733
04-369068
05-268415
06-175794
06-215010
07-084852
07-200317
07-244639
0 715 241
wo 92/20022
wo 93/01550
wo 94/01821
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5/1986
9/1989
4/1993
5/1995
8/1995
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10/1987
3/1989
* 3/1990
12/1992
10/1993
6/1994
8/1994
3/1995
8/1995
9/1995
6/1996
1111992
111993
111994
8/1996
12/1997
3/1998
9/1998
9/1999
8/2001

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Weber, Robert. Digital Rights Management Technologies. Oct.
1995. Retrieved from IDS.*
"National Semiconductor and EPR Partner for Information Metering/Data Security Cards" Mar. 4, 1994, Press Release from Electronic Publishing Resources, Inc.
Weber, R., "Digital Rights Management Technology" Oct. 1995.
Flasche, U. et a!., "Decentralized Processing of Documents", pp.
119-131, 1986, Comput. & Graphics, vol. 10, No.2.
Mori, R. et al., "Superdistribution: The Concept and the Architecture", pp. 1133-1146, 1990, The Transactions of.
Weber, R., "Metering Technologies for Digital Intellectual Property", pp. 1-29, Oct. 1994, A Report to the International Federation
of Reproduction Rights Organizations.
Clark, P.C. eta!., "Bits: A Smartcard protected Operating System",
pp. 66-70 and 94, Nov. 1994, Communications of the ACM, vol. 37,
No. 11.
Ross, P.E., "Data Guard", pp. 101, Jun. 6, 1994, Forbes.
Saigh, W.K., "Knowledge is Sacred", 1992, Video Pocket/Page
Reader Systems, Ltd.
Kahn, R.E., "Deposit, Registration and Recordation in an Electronic
Copyright Management System", pp. 1-19, Aug. 1992, Corporation
for National Research Initiatives, Virginia.
Hilts, P. et a!., "Books While U Wait", pp. 48-50, Jan. 3, 1994,
Publishers Weekly.

Strattner, A, "Cash Register on a Chip may Revolutionize Software
Pricing and Distribution; Wave Systems Corp.", pp. 62, Apr. 1994,
Computer Shopper, vol. 14, No. 4, ISSN 0886-0556.
O'Conner, M., "New Distribution Option for Electronic Publishers;
iOpener Data Encryption and Metering System for CD-ROM use;
col.", pp. 134, Mar. 1994, CD-ROM Professional, vol. 7, No. 2,
ISSN: 1409-0833.
Willett, S., "Metered PCs: Is Your System Watching You? Wave
System beta tests new technology", pp. 84, May 2, 1994, InfoWorld.
Linn, R., "Copyright and Information Services in the Context of the
National Research and Education Network", pp. 9-20, Jan. 1994,
IMA Intellectual Property Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Perrit, Jr., H., "Permission Headers and Contract Law", pp. 27-48,
Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property Project Proceedings, vol. 1,
Issue 1.
Upthegrove, L., "Intellectual Property Header Descriptors: A
Dynamic Approach", pp. 63-66, Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Sirbu, M., "Internet Billing Service Design and prototype Implementation", pp. 67-80, Jan. 1994, IMAintellectual Property Project
Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Simmel, S. et a!., "Metering and Licensing of Resources: Kala's
General Purpose Approach", pp. 81-110, Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Kalm, R., "Deposit Registration and Recordation in an Electronic
Copyright Management System", pp. 111-120, Jan. 1994, IMA
Intellectual Property Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Tygar, J. et a!., "Dyad: A System for Using Physically Secure
Coprocessors", pp. 121-152, Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property
Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Griswold, G., "A Method for Protecting Copyright on Networks",
pp. 169-178, Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Nelson, T., "A Publishing and Royalty Model for Networked
Documents", pp. 257-259, Jan. 1994, IMA Intellectual Property
Project Proceedings, vol. 1, Issue 1.
Robinson, E., "Redefining Mobile Computing", pp. 238-240, 247248 and 252, Jul. 1993, PC Computing.
Abadi, M. et al., "Authentication and Delegation with Smart-cards",
1990, Research Report DEC Systems Research Center.
Mark Stefik, "Letting Loose the Light: Igniting Commerce in
Electronic Publication", pp. 219-253, 1996, Internet Dreams:
Archetypes, Myths, and Metaphors, IDSN 0-262-19373-6.
Mark Stefik, "Letting Loose the Light: Igniting Commerce in
Electronic Publication", pp. 2-35, Feb. 8, 1995, Internet Dreams:
Archetypes, Myths and Metaphors.
Henry H. Perritt, Jr., "Knowbots, Permissions Headers and Contract
Law"; Papers for the conference on Technological Strategies For
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Environment, Apr. 2, 1993; pp. 1-22, XP-002233403.
European Search Report; mailed Sep. 8, 2004 (European Application No. 03 01 5128).
European Search Report; mailed Sep. 13, 2004 (European Application No. 03 01 5127).

* cited by examiner

U.S. Patent

May 29,2007

Sheet 1 of 13

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US 7,225,160 B2

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Sheet 6 of 13

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US 7,225,160 B2

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May 29,2007

US 7,225,160 B2

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Core Repository
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Transaction
Handling

1302
Operating

System
1301

Identification
Certificates

1306

1206

~~~:~
1207

U.S. Patent

Sheet 9 of 13

May 29,2007

US 7,225,160 B2

FIGURE 15

1:501 - - Digital Work Rights:= (Rights•)
~~~- Right := (Right-Code {Copy-Count} '{Control-SpK} {Time-Spec: } {Access-Spec} {Fee-

Spec})
l'Se:;-

Right-Code:= Render-Code !Transport-Code I File-Management-Code! DerivativeWorks· Code I Configuration-Code

1S e-i-

Render-Code:= (Play: {Player: Player-IDJ I Print: {Printer. Printer-ID)]
:= [Copy I Tran~fer 1 Loan {Remaining-Rights: Next-Set-ofR.i ghts)J{(N ex t-Copy-Rigbts: Next-Set-of-Rights)}

~~~-Transport-Code
ISo"~

rue-Management-Code := Backup {Back-Up-Copy-Rights: Next-Set-ofRights} I Restore I Delete I Folder I Directory
[Name: Hide-Local) Hide-Remote} {Parts: Hide-·
Local) Hide-Remote}

tscn.- Derivative-Works-Code:=
1hl ~Configuration-Code:=

t!'c'l~Nut-Set-of-Rights

[Extract 1 Embed I Edit{Proc:ess: Process-ID))
{Nut-Copy-Rights: Next-Set-of Rights}

Install) Uoinstall

:= {(Add:

Set-Of-Rights)} {(Delete: Set-Of-Rights)}
(\Replace: Set-Of-Rights IH(Keep: Set-Of'-Righu )J

.soc- Copy-Count:= (Copies:p.ositive-integer I 0 I Unlimited)
1

su- Control-Spec::= (Control: {Restrictable I Unrestrictable} {Unchargeable I Chargeable})
~~·~-

Time ..Spec:=

({F~~~-lnlerval

.1 Slidilli·lnt.ervall Met.er-Time} Until: Expiration-Date)

•:.•' ...... Fbed-Interval := From: Start-Time
!Slot~ Sllding-Jnterval := Interval: Uee-Duration
1516- Meter-Time:= Time-Remaining: Remaining-Use

1, 1.,-Acc:el!II·Spec: :=

•SO ... Fee-Spec:=

<{SC: Sea1rity-Class} {Authori1Btion: Authori~ation-ID•) {Other·
AutborU.ation: Authori:z.ation-10•} {Ticket: Tic:ket-ID})

{Schedul~·Discount}

Regular-Fee-Spec 1 Scheduled-Fee-Spec

I Markup-

Spec

Sc:bedu)ed-Discou ot:
Percentage)•)
lSI'\""'

= Scheduled-Discount:

Regular-Fee-Spec:= <{Fee: )Incentive:) !Per-Use-Spec I Metered-Rate-Spec: I BestPrice-Spec I Call-For-Price-Spec) {Min: Money-Unit Per: Time-SpecHMa:t: MoneyUnit Per: Time-Spec:} To: Acrount-IDl

1e~o-...; Per-Use-Spec:=

Per-Use: Money-unit

,,;.,- Metered-Rate-Spec::=
15.U-....

If~1 Sol 'I-

(Scheduled-Discount: (Time-Spec:

Meter~:

Money-Unit Per: Time-Spec:

Best-Price-Spec:= Best-Price: Money-unit Max:: Money-unit
Cel:J-For-Price-Spec :=Call-For -Pric:e

ScbE'duJed-Fee-Spec:

1 5#5- Muk"up-Spec::

= (Sch~ule: {Time-Spec: Regulu·FH-Spec)•)

= Markup: peruntage To: Account-ID

U.S. Patent

May 29,2007

Sheet 10 of 13

US 7,225,160 B2

Figure 16
REPOSITORY·1
1601
Generate Registration Identifier

1602
Generate Registration Message

1603

No

1605
Decrypt Registration Message
1606

Transmit Registration Message 1---_.....J

1611

Save Encrypted Repository-1
Registration Identifier

Decrypt Performance Message
Extract Repository· 1 Identifier

Yes

Generate Performance Message

r---------~----------~1610
Transmit Performance Message

Yes

1615
Transmit Nonce

1618

1616
Repository-1 Terminate
Transaction

Repository- 2 Terminate
Transaction

U.S. Patent

May 29,2007

US 7,225,160 B2

Sheet 11 of 13

Figure 17
REPOSITORY-1

REPOSITORY-2
1701

:!

Create a Session Key Pair
1702
Encrypt Second Key Using Public
Key of Repository-2

1704

Decrypt Second Key

l

1705
Generate Timestamp
Exchange Message

1703
Transmit Encrypted Second Key
To Repository-2

1706
Transmit Timestamp
Exchange Message To
Repository-1

1707
Generate Timestamp
Message

1709

1+-

Note Current Time

1708

1710
Save Time From Repository-1
lo

Transmit Timestamp
Message To Repository-2

~

1711
Compare Current Time With
Time From Repository-1

1712
Time
Difference Exceed
Tolerance'?
No

Yes

1713
Terminate Transaction

1714
Compute Adjusted Time
Delta
lo

End

f+-

U.S. Patent

May 29,2007

US 7,225,160 B2

Sheet 12 of 13

Figure 18
SERVER

REQUESTER

,803

Server Generates Transaction
Identifier

Decrement Copy
Count For Right

1813

Yes

Determine Set
Of Remaining
Rights

1805
..----1~

Terminate Transaction

1817
Decrement Copies In Use For
Right By Number In Request

1818
for Metered Use, Subtract
Elapsed Time From Remaining
Use Time For Right

1819
Initiate End-Charge Financial
Transaction to Confirm Billing

U.S. Patent

May 29,2007

US 7,225,160 B2

Sheet 13 of 13

Figure 19
SERVER

New

Transaction

~----1~

1902

Send
Next Data
1906

I

I

'

'I
'
''
',
I

\

I

I

I

Data
1907

\
SQrt\
1903 \

'
''
\

~

\
\

.

'
'
'
'
'I
'I
''
'
• • • • • • • • • • • • ' • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • '• • • • •
•
'I
l
I

CLIENT

I

\l

l

1
I

1
I

\

Wait For

'

Tran~action 1---''---___,~

1904

Wait For
Data
1905

Line
1901

• ••••••••••••••••••••• t ••••••••••••••••
'

I

:

:
I

I

1

'

Ack

I

\I

l

Ack

\
•

I

I

I

I

I
I

I

: . - - - - - - - , No More r-..._______,
:
Data
Data
Commit Report To

Received
1909

Credit Server
1916

More

Data
Report Error
To Credit Server

1918

US 7,225,160 B2
1

2

DIGITAL WORKS HAVING USAGE RIGHTS
AND METHOD FOR CREATING THE SAME

Hardware Device." Such devices are provided with the
software and are commonly referred to as dongles.
Yet another scheme is to distribute software, but which
requires a "key" to enable it's use. This is employed in
distribution schemes where "demos" of the software are
provided on a medium along with the entire product. The
demos can be freely used, but in order to use the actual
product, the key must be purchased. These scheme do not
hinder copying of the software once the key is initially
purchased.
A system for ensuring that licenses are in place for using
licensed products is described in PCT Publication WO
93/01550 to Griswold entitled "License Management System and Method." The licensed product may be any electronically published work but is most effective for use with
works that are used for extended periods of time such as
software programs. Griswold requires that the licensed product contain software to invoke a license check monitor at
predetermined time intervals. The license check monitor
generates request data grams which identifY the licensee. The
request datagrams are sent to a license control system over
an appropriate communication facility. The license control
system then checks the datagram to determine if the datagram is from a valid licensee. The license control system
then sends a reply datagram to the license check monitor
indicating denial or approval of usage. The license control
system will deny access in the event that request datagrams
go unanswered after a predetermined period of time (which
may indicate an unauthorized attempt to use the licensed
product). In this system, access is managed at a central
location by the response datagrams. So for example if
license fees have not been paid, access to the licensed
product is terminated.
It is argued by Griswold that the described system is
advantageous because it can be implemented entirely in
software. However, the system described by Griswold has
limitations. An important limitation is that during the use of
the licensed product, the user must always be coupled to an
appropriate communication facility in order to send and
receive datagrams. This creates a dependency on the communication facility. So if the communication facility is not
available, the licensed product cannot be used. Moreover,
some party must absorb the cost of communicating with the
license server.
A system for controlling the distribution of digitally
encoded books is embodied in a system available from VPR
Systems, LTD. of St. Louis, Mo. The VPR system is
self-contained and is comprised of: (1) point of sale kiosks
for storing and downloading of books, (2) personal storage
mediums (cartridges) to which the books are downloaded,
and (3) readers for viewing the book. In a purchase transaction, a purchaser will purchase a voucher card representing the desired book. The voucher will contain sufficient
information to identify the book purchased and perhaps
some demographic information relating to the sales transaction. To download the book, the voucher and the cartridge
are inserted into the kiosk.
The VPR system may also be used as a library. In such an
embodiment, the kiosk manages the number of"copies" that
may be checked out at one time. Further, the copy of the
book is erased from the users cartridge after a certain
check-out time has expired. However, individuals cannot
loan books because the cartridges may only be used with the
owners reader.
The foregoing distribution and protection schemes operate in part by preventing subsequent distribution of the work.
While this certainly prevents unauthorized distributions, it

RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/778,001, filed Feb. 7, 2001, which is a divisional of Ser.
No. 08/967,084, filed on Nov. 10, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No.
6,236,971, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/344,760,
filed Nov. 23, 1994, now abandoned, the disclosure of which
are being incorporated by reference.

10

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of distribution
and usage rights enforcement for digitally encoded works.

15

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A fundamental issue facing the publishing and information industries as they consider electronic publishing is how
to prevent the unauthorized and unaccounted distribution or
usage of electronically published materials. Electronically
published materials are typically distributed in a digital form
and recreated on a computer based system having the
capability to recreate the materials. Audio and video recordings, software, books and multimedia works are all being
electronically published. Companies in these industries
receive royalties for each accounted for delivery of the
materials, e.g. the sale of an audio CD at a retail outlet. Any
unaccounted distribution of a work results in an unpaid
royalty (e.g. copying the audio recording CD to another
digital medium.)
The ease in which electronically published works can be
"perfectly" reproduced and distributed is a major concern.
The transmission of digital works over networks is commonplace. One such widely used network is the Internet.
The Internet is a widespread network facility by which
computer users in many universities, corporations and government entities communicate and trade ideas and information. Computer bulletin boards found on the Internet and
commercial networks such as CompuServ and Prodigy
allow for the posting and retrieving of digital information.
Information services such as Dialog and LEXIS/NEXIS
provide databases of current information on a wide variety
of topics. Another factor which will exacerbate the situation
is the development and expansion of the National Information Infrastructure (the Nil). It is anticipated that, as the Nil
grows, the transmission of digital works over networks will
increase many times over. It would be desirable to utilize the
Nil for distribution of digital works without the fear of
widespread unauthorized copying.
The most straightforward way to curb unaccounted distribution is to prevent unauthorized copying and transmission. For existing materials that are distributed in digital
form, various safeguards are used. In the case of software,
copy protection schemes which limit the number of copies
that can be made or which corrupt the output when copying
is detected have been employed. Another scheme causes
software to become disabled after a predetermined period of
time has lapsed. A technique used for workstation based
software is to require that a special hardware device must be
present on the workstation in order for the software to run,
e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,054 entitled "Method and
Apparatus for Protecting Computer Software Utilizing
Coded Filter Network in Conjunction with an Active Coded

20

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45

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55

60

65

US 7,225,160 B2
3

4

does so by sacrificing the potential for subsequent revenue
bearing uses. For example, it may be desirable to allow the
lending of a purchased work to permit exposure of the work
to potential buyers. Another example would be to permit the
creation of a derivative work for a fee. Yet another example
would be to permit copying the work for a fee (essentially
purchasing it). Thus, it would be desirable to provide flexibility in the manner that the owner of a digital work may
allow it to be distributed or used.
While flexibility in manner of distribution and use is a
concern, the owners of a work want to make sure they are
paid for such distributions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,594 to
Shear, entitled "Database Usage Metering and Protection
System and Method," a system for metering and billing for
usage of information distributed on a CD-ROM is described.
The system requires the addition of a billing module to the
computer system. The billing module may operate in a
number of different ways. First, it may periodically communicate billing data to a central billing facility, whereupon
the user may be billed. Second, billing may occur by
disconnecting the billing module and the user sending it to
a central billing facility where the data is read and a user bill
generated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,575, Sprague et a!., entitled "Information Distribution System", describes an information distribution system which provides and charges only for user
selected information. A plurality of encrypted information
packages (IPs) are provided at the user site, via high and/or
low density storage media and/or by broadcast transmission.
Some of the IPs may be of no interest to the user. The IPs
of interest are selected by the user and are decrypted and
stored locally. The IPs may be printed, displayed or even
copied to other storage medias. The charges for the selected
IP's are accumulated within a user apparatus and periodically reported by telephone to a central accounting facility.
The central accounting facility also issues keys to decrypt
the IPs. The keys are changed periodically. If the central
accounting facility has not issued a new key for a particular
user station, the station is unable to retrieve information
from the system when the key is changed.
A system available from Wave Systems Corp. of Princeton, N.Y., provides for metering of software usage on a
personal computer. The system is installed onto a computer

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

~n:n~ ~~:~st::!~~~t:t~~~ ~:f:r!:!t~~~~o~et~~~~::t~~:n~~fe~

45

From the transaction center, a bill is generated and sent to
the user. The transaction center also maintains customer
accounts so that licensing fees may be forwarded directly to
the software providers. Software operating under this system
must be modified so that usage can be accounted.
Known techniques distributing digital content do not
permit the owner or other authorized party to specify a
manner of use of the content and to associate the manner of
use with the content in a persistent way.

50

55

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the invention is a digital work
adapted to be distributed within a system for controlling at
least one of the distribution and use of digital works. The
digital work comprises: digital content representing a portion of a digital work suitable for being rendered by a
rendering device and usage rights associated with the digital
content. The usage rights specify a manner of use indicating
one or more stated purposes for which the digital work can
be at least one of used and distributed by an authorized party.

60

65

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a simple instantiation of
the operation of the currently preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the various repository types and the repository transaction flow between them
in the currently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a repository coupled with a
credit server in the currently preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
FIGS. 4a and 4b are examples of rendering systems as
may be utilized in the currently preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates a contents file layout for a digital work
as may be utilized in the currently preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a contents file layout for an individual
digital work of the digital work of FIG. 5 as may be utilized
in the currently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates the components of a description block of
the currently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 illustrates a description tree for the contents file
layout of the digital work illustrated in FIG. 5.
FIG. 9 illustrates a portion of a description tree corresponding to the individual digital work illustrated in FIG. 6.
FIG. 10 illustrates a layout for the rights portion of a
description block as may be utilized in the currently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a description tree wherein certain d-blocks have
PRINT usage rights and is used to illustrate "strict" and
"lenient" rules for resolving usage rights conflicts.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the hardware components
of a repository as are utilized in the currently preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the functional (logical)
components of a repository as are utilized in the currently
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is diagram illustrating the basic components of a
usage right in the currently preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 15 lists the usage rights grammar of the currently
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of certificate
delivery, hotlist checking and performance testing as performed in a registration transaction as may be performed in
the currently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of session
information exchange and clock synchronization as may be
performed in the currently preferred embodiment of the
present invention, after each repository in the registration
transaction has successfully completed the steps described in
FIG. 16.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the basic flow for a
usage transaction, including the common opening and closing step, as may be performed in the currently preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 19 is a state diagram of server and client repositories
in accordance with a transport protocol followed when
moving a digital work from the server to the client repositories, as may be performed in the currently preferred
embodiment of the present invention.

US 7,225,160 B2
5

6

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Assuming that a session can be established, Repository 2
may then request access to the Digital Work for a stated
purpose, i.e., manner of use step 104. The purpose may be,
for example, to print the digital work or to obtain a copy of
the digital work. The purpose will correspond to a specific
usage right. In any event, Repository 1 checks the usage
rights associated with the digital work to determine if the
access to the digital work may be granted, step 105. The
check of the usage rights essentially involves a determination of whether a right associated with the access request has
been associated with the digital work and if all conditions
associated with the right are satisfied. If the access is denied,
repository 1 terminates the session with an error message,
step 106. If access is granted, repository 1 transmits the
digital work to repository 2, step 107. Once the digital work
has been transmitted to repository 2, repository 1 and 2 each
generate billing information for the access which is transmitted to a credit server, step 108. Such double billing
reporting is done to insure against attempts to circumvent
the billing process.
FIG. 2 illustrates the basic interactions between repository
types in the present invention. As will become apparent from
FIG. 2, the various repository types will serve different
functions. It is fundamental that repositories will share a
core set of functionality which will enable secure and trusted
communications. Referring to FIG. 2, a repository 201
represents the general instance of a repository. The repository 201 has two modes of operation; a server mode and a
requester mode. When in the server mode, the repository
will be receiving and processing access requests to digital
works. When in the requester mode, the repository will be
initiating requests to access digital works. Repository 201 is
general in the sense that it's primary purpose is as an
exchange medium for digital works. During the course of
operation, the repository 201 may communicate with a
plurality of other repositories, namely authorization repository 202, rendering repository 203 and master repository
204. Communication between repositories occurs utilizing a
repository transaction protocol 205.
Communication with an authorization repository 202 may
occur when a digital work being accessed has a condition
requiring an authorization. Conceptually, an authorization is
a digital certificate such that possession of the certificate is
required to gain access to the digital work. An authorization
is itself a digital work that can be moved between repositories and subjected to fees and usage rights conditions. An
authorization may be required by both repositories involved
in an access to a digital work.
Communication with a rendering repository 203 occurs in
connection with the rendering of the content of a digital
work. As will be described in greater detail below, a rendering repository is coupled with a rendering device (e.g. a
printer device) to comprise a rendering system.
Communication with a master repository 205 occurs in
connection with obtaining an identification certificate. Identification certificates are the means by which a repository is
identified as "trustworthy." The use of identification certificates is described below with respect to the registration
transaction.
FIG. 3 illustrates the repository 201 coupled to a credit
server 301. The credit server 301 is a device which accumulates billing information for the repository 201. The
credit server 301 communicates with repository 201 via
billing transactions 302 to record billing transactions. Billing transactions are reported to a billing clearinghouse 303
by the credit server 301 on a periodic basis. The credit server
301 communicates to the billing clearinghouse 303 via

The preferred embodiment is directed to supporting commercial transactions involving digital works. The transition
to digital works profoundly and fundamentally changes how
creativity and commerce can work. It changes the cost of
transporting or storing works because digital property is
almost "massless." Digital property can be transported at
electronic speeds and requires almost no warehousing.
Keeping an unlimited supply of virtual copies on hand
requires essentially no more space than keeping one copy on
hand. The digital medium also lowers the costs of alteration,
reuse and billing.
There is a market for digital works because creators are
strongly motivated to reuse portions of digital works from
others rather than creating their own completely. This is
because it is usually so much easier to use an existing stock
photo or music clip than to create a new one from scratch.
Herein the phrase "digital work" refers to any work that
has been reduced to a digital representation. This would
include any audio, video, text, or multimedia work and any
accompanying interpreter (e.g. software) that may be
required for recreating or rendering the content of the work.
The term composite work refers to a digital work comprised
of a collection of other digital works. The term "usage
rights" or "rights" is a term which refers to rights granted to
a recipient of a digital work. Generally, these rights define
the manner in which a digital work can be used and
distributed. Each usage right may have one or more specified
conditions which must be satisfied before the right may be
exercised. A Glossary of the terms used herein is provided
at the end of the specification.
Usage rights are permanently associated with the digital
work. Copies made of a digital work will also have the
associated usage rights. Thus, the usage rights and any
associated fees assigned by a creator and subsequent distributor will always remain with a digital work.
The enforcement elements of the preferred embodiment
are repositories. Among other things, repositories are used to
store digital works, control access to digital works, bill for
access to digital works and maintain the security and integrity of the system. The combination of associated usage
rights and repositories enable distinct advantages over prior
systems. As noted in the prior art, payment of fees are
primarily for the initial access. In such approaches, once a
work has been read, computational control over that copy is
gone. Metaphorically, "the content genie is out of the bottle
and no more fees can be billed." In contrast, the present
invention never separates the fee descriptions from the work.
Thus, the digital work genie only moves from one trusted
bottle (repository) to another, and all uses of copies are
potentially controlled and billable.
FIG. 1 is a high level flowchart omitting various details
but which demonstrates the basic operation of the present
invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a creator creates a digital
work, step 101. The creator will then determine appropriate
usage rights and fees, associate them with the digital work,
and store them in Repository 1, step 102. The determination
of appropriate usage rights and fees will depend on various
economic factors. The digital work remains securely in
Repository 1 until a request for access is received. The
request for access begins with a session initiation by another
repository. Here a Repository 2 initiates a session with
Repository 1, step 103. As will be described in greater detail
below, this session initiation includes steps which helps to
insure that the respective repositories are trustworthy.

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US 7,225,160 B2
7

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clearinghouse transactions 304. The clearinghouse transactions 304 enable a secure and encrypted transmission of
information to the billing clearinghouse 303.
A rendering system is generally defined as a system
comprising a repository and a rendering device which can
render the content of a digital work into its desired form.
Examples of a rendering system may be a computer system,
a digital audio system, or a printer. A rendering system has
the same security features as a repository. The coupling of a
rendering repository with the rendering device may occur in
a manner suitable for the type of rendering device.
FIG. 4a illustrates a printer as an example of a rendering
system. Referring to FIG. 4, printer system 401 has contained therein a printer repository 402 and a print device
403. It should be noted that the dashed line defining printer
system 401 defines a secure system boundary. Communications within the boundary is assumed to be secure. Depending on the security level, the boundary also represents a
barrier intended to provide physical integrity. The printer
repository 402 is an instantiation of the rendering repository
205 of FIG. 2. The printer repository 402 will in some
instances contain an ephemeral copy of a digital work which
remains until it is printed out by the print engine 403. In
other instances, the printer repository 402 may contain
digital works such as fonts, which will remain and can be
billed based on use. This design assures that all communication lines between printers and printing devices are
encrypted, unless they are within a physically secure boundary. This design feature eliminates a potential "fault" point
through which the digital work could be improperly
obtained. The printer device 403 represents the printer
components used to create the printed output.
Also illustrated in FIG. 4a is the repository 404. The
repository 404 is coupled to the printer repository 402. The
repository 404 represents an external repository which contains digital works.
FIG. 4b is an example of a computer system as a rendering
system. A computer system may constitute a "multi-function" device since it may execute digital works (e.g. software programs) and display digital works (e.g. a digitized
photograph). Logically, each rendering device can be
viewed as having it's own repository, although only one
physical repository is needed. Referring to FIG. 4b, a
computer system 410 has contained therein a display/execution repository 411. The display/execution repository 411 is
coupled to display device, 412 and execution device 413.
The dashed box surrounding the computer system 410
represents a security boundary within which communications are assumed to be secure. The display/execution
repository 411 is further coupled to a credit server 414 to
report any fees to be billed for access to a digital work and
a repository 415 for accessing digital works stored therein.
Usage rights are associated with digital works. Thus, it is
important to understand the structure of a digital work. The
structure of a digital work, in particular composite digital
works, may be naturally organized into an acyclic structure
such as a hierarchy. For example, a magazine has various
articles and photographs which may have been created and
are owned by different persons. Each of the articles and
photographs may represent a node in a hierarchical structure.
Consequently, controls, i.e. usage rights, may be placed on
each node by the creator. By enabling control and fee billing
to be associated with each node, a creator of a work can be
assured that the rights and fees are not circumvented.
In the currently preferred embodiment, the file information for a digital work is divided into two files: a "contents"
file and a "description tree" file. From the perspective of a

repository, the "contents" file is a stream of addressable
bytes whose format depends completely on the interpreter or
rendering engine used to play, display or print the digital
work. The description tree file makes it possible to examine
the rights and fees for a work without reference to the
content of the digital work. It should be noted that the term
description tree as used herein refers to any type of acyclic
structure used to represent the relationship between the
various components of a digital work.
FIG. 5 illustrates the layout of a contents file. Referring to
FIG. 5, a digital work 509 is comprised of story A 510,
advertisement 511, story B 512 and story C 513. It is
assumed that the digital work is stored starting at a relative
address of 0. Each of the parts of the digital work are stored
linearly so that story A 510 is stored at approximately
addresses 0-30,000, advertisement 511 at addresses 30,00140,000, story B 512 at addresses 40,001-60,000 and story C
513 at addresses 60,001-85 K. The detail of story A 510 is
illustrated in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6, the story A 510 is
further broken down to show text 614 stored at address
0-1500, soldier photo 615 at addresses 1501-10,000, graphics 616 stored at addresses 10,001-25,000 and sidebar 617
stored address 25,001-30,000. Note that the data in the
contents file may be compressed (for saving storage) or
encrypted (for security).
From FIGS. 5 and 6 it is readily observed that a digital
work can be represented by its component parts as a hierarchy. The description tree for a digital work is comprised of
a set of related descriptor blocks (d-blocks). The contents of
each d-block is described with respect to FIG. 7. Referring
to FIG. 7, a d-block 700 includes an identifier 701 which is
a unique identifier for the work in the repository, a starting
address 702 providing the start address of the first byte of the
work, a length 703 giving the number of bytes in the work,
a rights portion 704 wherein the granted usage rights and
their status data are maintained, a parent pointer 705 for
pointing to a parent d-block and child pointers 706 for
pointing to the child d-blocks. In the currently preferred
embodiment, the identifier 701 has two parts. The first part
is a unique number assigned to the repository upon manufacture. The second part is a unique number assigned to the
work upon creation. The rights portion 704 will contain a
data structure, such as a look-up table, wherein the various
information associated with a right is maintained. The
information required by the respective usage rights is
described in more detail below. D-blocks form a strict
hierarchy. The top d-block of a work has no parent; all other
d-blocks have one parent. The relationship of usage rights
between parent and child d-blocks and how conflicts are
resolved is described below.
A special type of d-block is a "shell" d-block. A shell
d-block adds no new content beyond the content of its parts.
A shell d-block is used to add rights and fee information,
typically by distributors of digital works.
FIG. 8 illustrates a description tree for the digital work of
FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 8, a top d-block 820 for the digital
work points to the various stories and advertisements contained therein. Here, the top d-block 820 points to d-block
821 (representing story A 510), d-block 822 (representing
the advertisement 511), d-block 823 (representing story B
512) and and d-block 824 (representing story C 513).
The portion of the description tree for Story A 510 is
illustrated in FIG. 9. D-block 925 represents text 614,
d-block 926 represents photo 615, d-block 927 represents
graphics 616 by and d-block 928 represents sidebar 617.
The rights portion 704 of a descriptor block is further
illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 illustrates a structure which

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US 7,225,160 B2
9
is repeated in the rights portion 704 for each right. Referring
to FIG. 10, each right will have a right code field 1050 and
status information field 1052. The right code field 1050 will
contain a unique code assigned to a right. The status
information field 1052 will contain information relating to
the state of a right and the digital work. Such information is
indicated below in Table 1. The rights as stored in the rights
portion 304 may typically be in numerical order based on the
right code.

10

to loan a copy for a predetermined period of time (called the
original rights). When the repository loans out a copy of the
digital work, the usage rights in the loaner copy (called the
next set of rights) could be set to prohibit any further rights
to loan out the copy. The basic idea is that one cannot grant
more rights than they have.
The association of usage rights with a digital contact may
occur in a variety of ways. If the usage rights will be the
same for an entire digital work, they could be associated
10 when the digital work is processed for deposit in the digital
work server. In the case of a digital work having different
TABLE 1
usage rights for the various components, this can be done as
DIGITAL WORK STATE INFORMATION
the digital work is being created. An authoring tool or digital
work assembling tool could be utilized which provides for
Value
Property
Use
15 an automated process of attaching the usage rights.
Copies-in-use
Number
A counter of the number of copies of a
As will be described below, when a digital work is copied,
work that are in use. Incremented when
transferred or loaned, a "next set of rights" can be specified.
another copy is used; decremented when
use is completed.
The "next set of rights" will be associated with the digital
Loan-Period
Time-Units
Indicator of the maximum nwnber of
work as it is transported.
time-units that a document can be
20
Because each part of a digital work may have its own
loaned out
Loaner-Copy
Boolean
Indicator that the current work is a
usage rights, there will be instances where the rights of a
loaned out copy of an authorized
"contained part" are different from its parent or container
digital work.
part. As a result, conflict rules must be established to dictate
RemainingTime-Units
Indicator of the remaining time of use
when and how a right may be exercised. The hierarchical
Time
on a metered document right.
25
DocwnentString
A string containing various identifying
structure of a digital work facilitates the enforcement of such
Descr
information about a docwnent. The
rules. A "strict" rule would be as follows: a right for a part
exact format of this is not specified, but
in a digital work is sanctioned if and only if it is sanctioned
it can include information such as a
for the part, for ancestor d-blocks containing the part and for
publisher name, author name, ISBN
number, and so on.
all descendent d-blocks. By sanctioned, it is meant that (1)
30
Revenue-Owner
RO-Descr
A handle identifying a revenue owner
each of the respective parts must have the right, and (2) any
for a digital work. This is used for
conditions for exercising the right are satisfied.
reporting usage fees.
It also possible to implement the present invention using
PublicationDate-Descr
The date that the digital work was
published.
Date
a more lenient rule. In the more lenient rule, access to the
History-list
History-Rec A list of events recording the
part may be enabled to the descendent parts which have the
repositories and dates for operations
35
right, but access is denied to the descendents which do not.
that copy, transfer, backup, or restore
a digital work.
Example of applying both the strict rule and lenient is
illustrated with reference to FIG. 11. Referring to FIG. 11, a
root d-block 1101 has child d-blocks 1102-1105. In this case,
The approach for representing digital works by separating
description data from content assumes that parts of a file are 40 root d-block represents a magazine, and each of the child
d-blocks 1102-1105 represent articles in the magazine. Supcontiguous but takes no position on the actual representation
pose that a request is made to PRINT the digital work
of content. In particular, it is neutral to the question of
represented by root d-block 1101 wherein the strict rule is
whether content representation may take an object oriented
followed. The rights for the root d-block 1101 and child
approach. It would be natural to represent content as objects.
In principle, it may be convenient to have content objects 45 d-blocks 1102-1105 are then examined. Root d-block 1101
and child d-blocks 1102 and 1105 have been granted PRINT
that include the billing structure and rights information that
rights. Child d-block 1103 has not been granted PRINT
is represented in the d-blocks. Such variations in the design
rights and child d-block 1104 has PRINT rights conditioned
of the representation are possible and are viable alternatives
on payment of a usage fee.
but may introduce processing overhead, e.g. the interpretaUnder the strict rule the PRINT right cannot be exercised
50
tion of the objects.
because the child d-block does not have the PRINT right.
Digital works are stored in a repository as part of a
Under the lenient rule, the result would be different. The
hierarchical file system. Folders (also termed directories and
digital works represented by child d-blocks 1102 and 1105
sub-directories) contain the digital works as well as other
could be printed and the digital work represented by d-block
folders. Digital works and folders in a folder are ordered in
alphabetical order. The digital works are typed to reflect how 55 1104 could be printed so long as the usage fee is paid. Only
the digital work represented by d-block 1103 could not be
the files are used. Usage rights can be associated with folders
printed. This same result would be accomplished under the
so that the folder itself is treated as a digital work. Access to
strict rule if the requests were directed to each of the
the folder would then be handled in the same fashion as any
individual digital works.
other digital work As will be described in more detail below,
The present invention supports various combinations of
the contents of the folder are subject to their own rights. 60
Moreover, file management rights may be associated with
allowing and disallowing access. Moreover, as will be
described below, the usage rights grammar permits the
the folder which define how folder contents can be managed.
owner of a digital work to specify if constraints may be
The usage rights are treated as part of the digital work. As
the digital work is distributed, the scope of the granted usage
imposed on the work by a container part. The manner in
rights will remain the same or may be narrowed. For 65 which digital works may be sanctioned because of usage
example, when a digital work is transferred from a document
rights conflicts would be implementation specific and would
server to a repository, the usage rights may include the right
depend on the nature of the digital works.

US 7,225,160 B2
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12

Many of the powerful functions of repositories-such as
In the description of FIG. 2, it was indicated that repositheir ability to "loan" digital works or automatically handle
tories come in various forms. All repositories provide a core
the commercial reuse of digital works-are possible because
set of services for the transmission of digital works. The
they are trusted systems. The systems are trusted because
manner in which digital works are exchanged is the basis for
they are able to take responsibility for fairly and reliably
all transaction between repositories. The various repository
carrying out the commercial transactions. That the systems
types differ in the ultimate functions that they perform.
Repositories may be devices themselves, or they may be
can be responsible ("able to respond") is fundamentally an
issue of integrity. The integrity of repositories has three
incorporated into other systems. An example is the rendering
parts: physical integrity, communications integrity, and
repository 205 of FIG. 2.
10
A repository will have associated with it a repository
behavioral integrity.
Physical integrity refers to the integrity of the physical
identifier. Typically, the repository identifier would be a
devices themselves. Physical integrity applies both to the
unique number assigned to the repository at the time of
manufacture. Each repository will also be classified as being
repositories and to the protected digital works. Thus, the
in a particular security class. Certain communications and
higher security classes of repositories themselves may have
sensors that detect when tampering is attempted on their 15 transactions may be conditioned on a repository being in a
particular security class. The various security classes are
secure cases. In addition to protection of the repository
described in greater detail below.
itself, the repository design protects access to the content of
As a prerequisite to operation, a repository will require
digital works. In contrast with the design of conventional
possession of an identification certificate. Identification cermagnetic and optical devices-such as floppy disks, CDROMs, and videotapes-repositories never allow non- 20 tificates are encrypted to prevent forgery and are issued by
a Master repository. A master repository plays the role of an
trusted systems to access the works directly. A maker of
generic computer systems cannot guarantee that their platauthorization agent to enable repositories to receive digital
form will not be used to make unauthorized copies. The
works. Identification certificates must be updated on a
manufacturer provides generic capabilities for reading and
periodic basis. Identification certificates are described in
writing information, and the general nature of the function- 25 greater detail below with respect to the registration transacality of the general computing device depends on it. Thus, a
tion.
copy program can copy arbitrary data. This copying issue is
A repository has both a hardware and functional embodinot limited to general purpose computers. It also arises for
ment. The functional embodiment is typically software
the unauthorized duplication of entertainment "software"
executing on the hardware embodiment. Alternatively, the
such as video and audio recordings by magnetic recorders. 30 functional embodiment may be embedded in the hardware
Again, the functionality of the recorders depends on their
embodiment such as an Application Specific Integrated
ability to copy and they have no means to check whether a
Circuit (ASIC) chip.
copy is authorized. In contrast, repositories prevent access to
The hardware embodiment of a repository will be
enclosed in a secure housing which if compromised, may
the raw data by general devices and can test explicit rights
and conditions before copying or otherwise granting access. 35 cause the repository to be disabled. The basic components of
Information is only accessed by protocol between trusted
the hardware embodiment of a repository are described with
repositories.
reference to FIG. 12. Referring to FIG. 12, a repository is
comprised of a processing means 1200, storage system
Communications integrity refers to the integrity of the
communications channels between repositories. Roughly
1207, clock 1205 and external interface 1206. The processspeaking, communications integrity means that repositories 40 ing means 1200 is comprised of a processor element 1201
and processor memory 1202. The processing means 1201
carmot be easily fooled by "telling them lies." Integrity in
this case refers to the property that repositories will only
provides controller, repository transaction and usage rights
communicate with other devices that are able to present
transaction functions for the repository. Various functions in
proof that they are certified repositories, and furthermore,
the operation of the repository such as decryption and/or
that the repositories monitor the communications to detect 45 decompression of digital works and transaction messages
"impostors" and malicious or accidental interference. Thus
are also performed by the processing means 1200. The
the security measures involving encryption, exchange of
processor element 1201 may be a microprocessor or other
digital certificates, and nonces described below are all
suitable computing component. The processor memory 1202
would typically be further comprised of Read Only Memosecurity measures aimed at reliable communication in a
so ries (ROM) and Random Access Memories (RAM). Such
world known to contain active adversaries.
Behavioral integrity refers to the integrity in what reposimemories would contain the software instructions utilized
by the processor element 1201 in performing the functions
tories do. What repositories do is determined by the software
of the repository.
that they execute. The integrity of the software is generally
assured only by knowledge of its source. Restated, a user
The storage system 1207 is further comprised of descripwill trust software purchased at a reputable computer store 55 tor storage 1203 and content storage 1204. The description
tree storage 1203 will store the description tree for the digital
but not trust software obtained off a random (insecure)
work and the content storage will store the associated
server on a network. Behavioral integrity is maintained by
requiring that repository software be certified and be discontent. The description tree storage 1203 and content
tributed with proof of such certification, i.e. a digital cerstorage 1204 need not be of the same type of storage
tificate. The purpose of the certificate is to authenticate that 60 medium, nor are they necessarily on the same physical
the software has been tested by an authorized organization,
device. So for example, the descriptor storage 1203 may be
which attests that the software does what it is supposed to do
stored on a solid state storage (for rapid retrieval of the
description tree information), while the content storage 1204
and that it does not compromise the behavioral integrity of
a repository. If the digital certificate cannot be found in the
may be on a high capacity storage such as an optical disk.
digital work or the master repository which generated the 65
The clock 1205 is used to time-stamp various time based
certificate is not known to the repository receiving the
conditions for usage rights or for metering usage fees which
software, then the software carmot be installed.
may be associated with the digital works. The clock 1205

US 7,225,160 B2

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13
will have an uninterruptable power supply, e.g. a battery, in
order to maintain the integrity of the time-stamps. The
external interface means 1206 provides for the signal connection to other repositories and to a credit server. The
external interface means 1206 provides for the exchange of
signals via such standard interfaces such as RS-232 or
Personal Computer Manufacturers Card Industry Association (PCMCIA) standards, or FDDI. The external interface
means 1206 may also provide network connectivity.
The functional embodiment of a repository is described
with reference to FIG. 13. Referring to FIG. 13, the functional embodiment is comprised of an operating system
1301, core repository services 1302, usage transaction handlers 1303, repository specific functions, 1304 and a user
interface 1305. The operating system 1301 is specific to the
repository and would typically depend on the type of processor being used. The operating system 1301 would also
provide the basic services for controlling and interfacing
between the basic components of the repository.
The core repository services 1302 comprise a set of
functions required by each and every repository. The core
repository services 1302 include the session initiation transactions which are defined in greater detail below. This set of
services also includes a generic ticket agent which is used to
"punch" a digital ticket and a generic authorization server
for processing authorization specifications. Digital tickets
and authorizations are specific mechanisms for controlling
the distribution and use of digital works and are described
and more detail below. Note that coupled to the core
repository services are a plurality of identification certificates 1306. The identification certificates 1306 are required
to enable the use of the repository.
The usage transactions handler 1303 comprise functionality for processing access requests to digital works and for
billing fees based on access. The usage transactions supported will be different for each repository type. For
example, it may not be necessary for some repositories to
handle access requests for digital works.
The repository specific functionality 1304 comprises
functionality that is unique to a repository. For example, the
master repository has special functionality for issuing digital
certificates and maintaining encryption keys. The repository
specific functionality 1304 would include the user interface
implementation for the repository.
For some digital works the losses caused by any individual instance of unauthorized copying is insignificant and
the chief economic concern lies in assuring the convenience
of access and low-overhead billing. In such cases, simple
and inexpensive handheld repositories and network-based
workstations may be suitable repositories, even though the
measures and guarantees of security are modest.
At the other extreme, some digital works such as a digital
copy of a first run movie or a bearer bond or stock certificate
would be of very high value so that it is prudent to employ
caution and fairly elaborate security measures to ensure that
they are not copied or forged. A repository suitable for
holding such a digital work could have elaborate measures
for ensuring physical integrity and for verifying authorization before use.
By arranging a universal protocol, all kinds of repositories
can communicate with each other in principle. However,
creators of some works will want to specifY that their works
will only be transferred to repositories whose level of
security is high enough. For this reason, document repositories have a ranking system for classes and levels of
security. The security classes in the currently preferred
embodiment are described in Table 2.

Table 2
Repository Security Levels

Level

Description of Security

0 Open system.

Document transmission is nnencrypted. No digital
certificate is required for identification. The
security of the system depends mostly on user
honesty, since only modest knowledge may be
needed to circwnvent the security measures. The
repository has no provisions for preventing
nnauthorized programs from running and accessing
or copying files. The system does not prevent
the use of removable storage and does not encrypt
stored files.
Like the previous class except that stored files
are minimally encrypted, including ones on
removable storage.
Like the previous class except that special tools
and knowledge are required to compromise the
programming, the contents of the repository, or
the state of the clock. All digital communications
are encrypted. A digital certificate is provided as
identification. Mediwn level encryption is used.
Repository identification number is unforgeable.
Like the previous class plus the requirement of
special tools are needed to compromise the
physical integrity of the repository and that
modest encryption is used on all transmissions.
Password protection is required to use the local
user interface. The digital clock system cannot
be reset without authorization. No works would
be stored on removable storage. When executing
works as programs, it runs them in their own
address space and does not give them direct
access to any file storage or other memory
containing system code or works. They can access
works only through the transmission transaction
protocol.
Like the previous class except that high level
encryption is used on all communications.
Sensors are used to record attempts at physical
and electronic tampering. After such tampering,
the repository will not perform other transactions
until it has reported such tampering to a
designated server.
Like the previous class except that if the physical
or digital attempts at tampering exceed some
preset thresholds that threaten the physical
integrity of the repository or the integrity of
digital and cryptographic barriers, then the
repository will save only document description
records of history but will erase or destroy any
digital identifiers that could be misused if released
to an unscrupulous party. It also modifies any
certificates of authenticity to indicate that the
physical system has been compromised. It also
erases the contents of designated docwnents.
Like the previous class except that the repository
will attempt wireless commnnication to report
tampering and will employ noisy alarms.
This would correspond to a very high level of
security. This server would maintain constant
commnnications to remote security systems
reporting transactions, sensor readings, and
attempts to circumvent security.

10

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1 Minimal security.

2 Basic security.
20

3 General security.
25

30

35 4 High Security

40

5 Tamper Resistant

45

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The characterization of security levels described in Table
2 is not intended to be fixed. More important is the idea of
having different security levels for different repositories. It is
anticipated that new security classes and requirements will
evolve according to social situations and changes in technology.
A user interface is broadly defined as the mechanism by
which a user interacts with a repository in order to invoke
transactions to gain access to a digital work, or exercise

US 7,225,160 B2
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usage rights. As described above, a repository may be
embodied in various forms. The user interface for a repository will differ depending on the particular embodiment. The
user interface may be a graphical user interface having icons
representing the digital works and the various transactions
that may be performed. The user interface may be a generated dialog in which a user is prompted for information.
The user interface itself need not be part of the repository.
As a repository may be embedded in some other device, the
user interface may merely be a part of the device in which
the repository is embedded. For example, the repository
could be embedded in a "card" that is inserted into an
available slot in a computer system. The user interface may
be combination of a display, keyboard, cursor control device
and software executing on the computer system.
At a minimum, the user interface must permit a user to
input information such as access requests and alpha numeric
data and provide feedback as to transaction status. The user
interface will then cause the repository to initiate the suitable
transactions to service the request. Other facets of a particular user interface will depend on the functionality that a
repository will provide.
In the preferred embodiment, fees may be associated with
the exercise of a right. The requirement for payment of fees
is described with each version of a usage right in the usage
rights language. The recording and reporting of such fees is
performed by the credit server. One of the capabilities
enabled by associating fees with rights is the possibility of
supporting a wide range of charging models. The simplest
model, used by conventional software, is that there is a
single fee at the time of purchase, after which the purchaser
obtains unlimited rights to use the work as often and for as
long as he or she wants. Alternative models, include metered
use and variable fees. A single work can have different fees
for different uses. For example, viewing a photograph on a
display could have different fees than making a hardcopy or
including it in a newly created work. A key to these
alternative charging models is to have a low overhead means
of establishing fees and accounting for credit on these
transactions.
A credit server is a computational system that reliably
authorizes and records these transactions so that fees are
billed and paid. The credit server reports fees to a billing
clearinghouse. The billing clearinghouse manages the financial transactions as they occur. As a result, bills may be
generated and accounts reconciled. Preferably, the credit
server would store the fee transactions and periodically
communicate via a network with billing clearinghouse for
reconciliation. In such an embodiment, communications
with the billing clearinghouse would be encrypted for integrity and security reasons. In another embodiment, the credit
server acts as a "debit card" where transactions occur in
"real-time" against a user account.
A credit server is comprised of memory, a processing
means, a clock, and interface means for coupling to a
repository and a financial institution (e.g. a modem). The
credit server will also need to have security and authentication functionality. These elements are essentially the same
elements as those of a repository. Thus, a single device can
be both a repository and a credit server, provided that it has
the appropriate processing elements for carrying out the
corresponding functions and protocols. Typically, however,
a credit server would be a card-sized system in the possession of the owner of the credit. The credit server is coupled
to a repository and would interact via financial transactions

as described below. Interactions with a financial institution
may occur via protocols established by the financial institutions themselves.
In the currently preferred embodiment credit servers
associated with both the server and the repository report the
financial transaction to the billing clearinghouse. For
example, when a digital work is copied by one repository to
another for a fee, credit servers coupled to each of the
repositories will report the transaction to the billing clearinghouse. This is desirable in that it insures that a transaction
will be accounted for in the event of some break in the
communication between a credit server and the billing
clearinghouse. However, some implementations may
embody only a single credit server reporting the transaction
to minimize transaction processing at the risk oflosing some
transactions.
The preferred embodiment uses statements in a high level
"usage rights language" to define rights associated with
digital works and their parts. Usage rights statements are
interpreted by repositories and are used to determine what
transactions, i.e., means of use, can be successfully carried
out for a digital work and also to determine parameters for
those transactions. For example, sentences in the language
determine whether a given digital work can be copied, when
and how it can be used, and what fees (if any) are to be
charged for that use. Once the usage rights statements are
generated, they are encoded in a suitable form for accessing
during the processing of transactions.
Defining usage rights in terms of a language in combination with the hierarchical representation of a digital work
enables the support of a wide variety of distribution and fee
schemes. An example is the ability to associate multiple
versions of a right with a work. So a creator may associate
PRINT right to make 5 copies for $10.00 and a PRINT right
to make unlimited copies for $100.00. A purchaser may then
choose which option best fits his needs. Another example is
that rights and fees are additive. So in the case of a
composite work, the rights and fees of each of the components works is used in determining the rights and fees for the
work as a whole. Other features and benefits of the usage
rights language will become apparent in the description of
distribution and use scenarios provided below.
The basic contents of a right are illustrated in FIG. 14.
Referring to FIG. 14, a right 1450 has a transactional
component 1451 and a specifications component 1452. A
right 1450 has a label (e.g. COPY or PRINT) which indicate
the manners of use that are embodied by the right. The
transactional component 1451 corresponds to a particular
way in which a digital work may be used or distributed. The
transactional component 1451 is typically embodied in
software instructions in a repository which implement the
manners of use for the right. The specifications components
1452 are used to specifY conditions which must be satisfied
prior to the right being exercised or to designate various
transaction related parameters. In the currently preferred
embodiment, these specifications include copy count 1453,
Fees and Incentives 1454, Time 1455, Access and Security
1456 and Control1457. Each of these specifications will be
described in greater detail below with respect to the language grammar elements.
The usage rights language is based on the grammar
described below. A grammar is a convenient means for
defining valid sequence of symbols for a language. In
describing the grannnar the notation "[a.vertline.b.vertline.c ]"is used to indicate distinct choices among alternatives.
In this example, a sentence can have either an "a", "b" or
"c". It must include exactly one of them. The braces { } are

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used to indicate optional items. Note that brackets, bars and
braces are used to describe the language of usage rights
sentences but do not appear in actual sentences in the
language.
In contrast, parentheses are part of the usage rights
language. Parentheses are used to group items together in
lists. The notation (x*) is used to indicate a variable length
list, that is, a list containing one or more items of type x. The
notation (x)* is used to indicate a variable number of lists
containing x.
Keywords in the grammar are words followed by colons.
Keywords are a common and very special case in the
language. They are often used to indicate a single value,
typically an identifier. In many cases, the keyword and the
parameter are entirely optional. When a keyword is given, it
often takes a single identifier as its value. In some cases, the
keyword takes a list of identifiers. In the usage rights
language, time is specified in an hours:minutes:seconds (or
hh:mm:ss) representation. Time zone indicators, e.g. PDT
for Pacific Daylight Time, may also be specified. Dates are
represented as year/month/ day (or YYYY/MMM/D D). Note
that these time and date representations may specify
moments in time or units of time Money units are specified
in terms of dollars.
Finally, in the usage rights language, various "things" will
need to interact with each other. For example, an instance of
a usage right may specify a bank account, a digital ticket,
etc. Such things need to be identified and are specified herein
using the suffix "-ID."
The Usage Rights Grammar of the preferred embodiment
is listed in it's entirety in FIG. 15 and is described below.
Grammar element 1501 "Digital Work Rights:=
(Rights*)" define the digital work rights as a set of rights.
The set of rights associated with a digital work define how
that digital work may be transferred, used, performed or
played. A set of rights will attach to the entire digital work
and in the case of compound digital works, each of the
components of the digital work. The usage rights of components of a digital may be different.
Grammar element 1502 "Right:=(Right-Code {CopyCount} {Control-Spec} {Time-Spec } {Access-Spec} {FeeSpec})" enumerates the content of a right. Each usage right
must specifY a right code. Each right may also optionally
specifY conditions which must be satisfied before the right
can be exercised. These conditions are copy count, control,
time, access and fee conditions. In the currently preferred
embodiment, for the optional elements, the following
defaults apply: copy count equals 1, no time limit on the use
of the right, no access tests or a security level required to use
the right and no fee is required. These conditions will each
be described in greater detail below.
It is important to note that a digital work may have
multiple versions of a right, each having the same right code.
The multiple version would provide alternative conditions
and fees for accessing the digital work.
Grammar element 1503 "Right-Code:=Render-Code.vertline.Transport-Code.vertline.File-Management-Code.vertlin e.Derivative-Works-Code Configuration-Code" distinguishes each of the specific rights into a particular right type
(although each right is identified by distinct right codes). In
this way, the grammar provides a catalog of possible rights
that can be associated with parts of digital works. In the
following, rights are divided into categories for convenience
in describing them.
Grammar element 1504 "Render-Code:=[Play: {Player:
Player-ID}.vertline.Print: {Printer: Printer-ID} ]"lists a cat-

egory of rights all involving the making of ephemeral,
transitory, or non-digital copies of the digital work. After use
the copies are erased.
Play A process of rendering or performing a digital work
on some processor. This includes such things as playing
digital movies, playing digital music, playing a video game,
running a computer program, or displaying a document on
a display.
Print To render the work in a medium that is not further
protected by usage rights, such as printing on paper.
Grammar element 1505 "Transport-Code:=[Copy.vertline. Transfer. vertline.Loan {Remaining-Rights: Next -Set -ofRights}] {(Next-Copy-Rights: Next-Set of Rights)}" lists a
category of rights involving the making of persistent, usable
copies of the digital work on other repositories. The optional
Next-Copy-Rights determine the rights on the work after it
is transported. If this is not specified, then the rights on the
transported copy are the same as on the original. The
optional Remaining-Rights specifY the rights that remain
with a digital work when it is loaned out. If this is not
specified, then the default is that no rights can be exercised
when it is loaned out.
Copy Make a new copy of a work
Transfer Moving a work from one repository to another.
Loan Temporarily loaning a copy to another repository for
a specified period of time.
1506
"File-ManagementGrammar
element
Code:=Backup
{Back-Up-Copy-Rights:
Next-Set-of
Rights} .vertline.Restore.vertline.Delete.vertline.Folder.
vertline.Director
y
{Name:Hide-Local.vertline.HideRemote} {Parts: Hide-Local.vertline.Hide-Remote}" lists a
category of rights involving operations for file management,
such as the making of backup copies to protect the copy
owner against catastrophic equipment failure.
Many software licenses and also copyright law give a
copy owner the right to make backup copies to protect
against catastrophic failure of equipment. However, the
making of uncontrolled backup copies is inherently at odds
with the ability to control usage, since an uncontrolled
backup copy can be kept and then restored even after the
authorized copy was sold.
The File management rights enable the making and restoring of backup copies in a way that respects usage rights,
honoring the requirements of both the copy owner and the
rights grantor and revenue owner. Backup copies of work
descriptions (including usage rights and fee data) can be sent
under appropriate protocol and usage rights control to other
document repositories of sufficiently high security. Further
rights permit organization of digital works into folders
which themselves are treated as digital works and whose
contents may be "hidden" from a party seeking to determine
the contents of a repository.
Backup To make a backup copy of a digital work as
protection against media failure.
Restore To restore a backup copy of a digital work.
Delete To delete or erase a copy of a digital work.
Folder To create and name folders, and to move files and
folders between folders.
Directory To hide a folder or it's contents.
Grammar element 1507 "Derivative-Works-Code: [Extract.vertline.Embed.vertline.Edit {Process: Process-ID}]
{Next-Copy-Rights: Next-Set-of Rights}" lists a category
of rights involving the use of a digital work to create new
works.
Extract To remove a portion of a work, for the purposes
of creating a new work.
Embed To include a work in an existing work.

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Edit To alter a digital work by copying, selecting and
modifYing portions of an existing digital work.
Grammar element 1508 "Configuration-Code:=Install.vertline.Uninstall" lists a category of rights for in
stalling and uninstalling software on a repository (typically
a rendering repository.) This would typically occur for the
installation of a new type of player within the rendering
repository.
Install: To install new software on a repository.
Uninstall: To remove existing software from a repository.
Grammar element 1509 "Next-Set-of-Rights:={ (Add:
Set-Of-Rights)} {(Delete: Set-Of-Rights)} {(Replace: SetOf-Rights)} {(Keep: Set-Of-Rights)}" defines how rights
are carried forward for a copy of a digital work. If the
Next-Copy-Rights is not specified, the rights for the next
copy are the same as those of the current copy. Otherwise,
the set of rights for the next copy can be specified. Versions
of rights after Add: are added to the current set of rights.
Rights after Delete: are deleted from the current set of rights.
If only right codes are listed after Delete:, then all versions
of rights with those codes are deleted. Versions of rights after
Replace: subsume all versions of rights of the same type in
the current set of rights.
If Remaining-Rights is not specified, then there are no
rights for the original after all Loan copies are loaned out. If
Remaining-Rights is specified, then the Keep: token can be
used to simplifY the expression of what rights to keep
behind. A list of right codes following keep means that all of
the versions of those listed rights are kept in the remaining
copy. This specification can be overridden by subsequent
Delete: or Replace: specifications.
Copy Count Specification. For various transactions, it
may be desirable to provide some limit as to the number of
"copies" of the work which may be exercised simultaneously for the right. For example, it may be desirable to
limit the number of copies of a digital work that may be
loaned out at a time or viewed at a time.
Grammar element 1510 "Copy-Count:=(Copies: positiveinteger.vertline.O.vertline.unlimited)" provides a condition
which defines the number of "copies" of a work subject to
the right. A copy count can be 0, a fixed number, or
unlimited. The copy-count is associated with each right, as
opposed to there being just a single copy-count for the
digital work. The Copy-Count for a right is decremented
each time that a right is exercised. When the Copy-Count
equals zero, the right can no longer be exercised. If the
Copy-Count is not specified, the default is one.
Rights and fees depend in general on rights granted by the
creator as well as further restrictions imposed by later
distributors. Control specifications deal with interactions
between the creators and their distributors governing the
imposition of further restrictions and fees. For example, a
distributor of a digital work may not want an end consumer
of a digital work to add fees or otherwise profit by commercially exploiting the purchased digital work.
Grammar element 1511 "Control-Spec:=(Control:
{Restrictable.vertline.Unrestrictable} {Unchargeable.vertline.Chargeable} )" provides a condition to specifY the effect
of usage rights and fees of parents on the exercise of the
right. A digital work is restrictable if higher level d-blocks
can impose further restrictions (time specifications and
access specifications) on the right. It is unrestrictable if no
further restrictions can be imposed. The default setting is
restrictable. A right is unchargeable if no more fees can be
imposed on the use of the right. It is chargeable if more fees
can be imposed. The default is chargeable.

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It is often desirable to assign a start date or specify some
duration as to when a right may be exercised. Grammar
element 1512 "Time-Spec:=({Fixed-Interval.vertline.Sliding-Interval.vertline.Meter-Time} Until: Expiration-Date)"
provides for specification of time conditions on the exercise
of a right. Rights may be granted for a specified time.
Different kinds of time specifications are appropriate for
different kinds of rights. Some rights may be exercised
during a fixed and predetermined duration. Some rights may
10 be exercised for an interval that starts the first time that the
right is invoked by some transaction. Some rights may be
exercised or are charged according to some kind of metered
time, which may be split into separate intervals. For
example, a right to view a picture for an hour might be split
15 into six ten minute viewings or four fifteen minute viewings
or twenty three minute viewings.
The terms "time" and "date" are used synonymously to
refer to a moment in time. There are several kinds of time
specifications. Each specification represents some limitation
20 on the times over which the usage right applies. The
Expiration-Date specifies the moment at which the usage
right ends. For example, if the Expiration-Date is "Jan. 1,
1995," then the right ends at the first moment of 1995. If the
Expiration-Date is specified as *forever*, then the rights are
25 interpreted as continuing without end. If only an expiration
date is given, then the right can be exercised as often as
desired until the expiration date.
Grammar element 1513 "Fixed-Interval:=From: StartTime" is used to define a predetermined interval that runs
30 from the start time to the expiration date.
Grammar element 1514 "Sliding-Interval:=Interval: UseDuration" is used to define an indeterminate (or "open")
start time. It sets limits on a continuous period of time over
which the contents are accessible. The period starts on the
35 first access and ends after the duration has passed or the
expiration date is reached, whichever comes first. For
example, if the right gives 10 hours of continuous access, the
use-duration would begin when the first access was made
and end 10 hours later.
40
Grammar element 1515 "Meter-Time:=Time-Remaining:
Remaining-Use" is used to define a "meter time," that is, a
measure of the time that the right is actually exercised. It
differs from the Sliding-Interval specification in that the time
that the digital work is in use need not be continuous. For
45
example, if the rights guarantee three days of access, those
days could be spread out over a month. With this specification, the rights can be exercised until the meter time is
exhausted or the expiration date is reached, whichever
comes first.
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Remaining-U se:=Time-Unit
Start-Time:=Time-Unit
Use-Duration:=Time-Unit
All of the time specifications include time-unit specifica55 tions in their ultimate instantiation.
The present invention provides for various security
mechanisms to be introduced into a distribution or use
scheme. Grmar element 1516 "Access-Spec:=({SC:
Security-Class}
{Authorization:
Authorization-ID*}
60 {Other-Authorization: Authorization-ID*} {Ticket: TicketID} )" provides a means for restricting access and transmission. Access specifications can specifY a required security
class for a repository to exercise a right or a required
authorization test that must be satisfied.
65
The keyword "SC:" is used to specifY a minimum security
level for the repositories involved in the access. If "SC:" is
not specified, the lowest security level is acceptable.

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The optional "Authorization:" keyword is used to specify
required authorizations on the same repository as the work.
The optional "Other-Authorization:" keyword is used to
specifY required authorizations on the other repository in the
transaction.
The optional "Ticket:" keyword specifies the identity of a
ticket required for the transaction. A transaction involving
digital tickets must locate an appropriate digital ticket agent
who can "punch" or otherwise validate the ticket before the
transaction can proceed. Tickets are described in greater
detail below.
In a transaction involving a repository and a document
server, some usage rights may require that the repository
have a particular authorization, that the server have some
authorization, or that both repositories have (possibly different) authorizations. Authorizations themselves are digital
works (hereinafter referred to as an authorization object) that
can be moved between repositories in the same manner as
other digital works. Their copying and transferring is subject
to the same rights and fees as other digital works. A
repository is said to have an authorization if that authorization object is contained within the repository.
In some cases, an authorization may be required from a
source other than the document server and repository. An
authorization object referenced by an Authorization-ID can
contain digital address information to be used to set up a
communications link between a repository and the authorization source. These are analogous to phone numbers. For
such access tests, the communication would need to be
established and authorization obtained before the right could
be exercised.
For one-time usage rights, a variant on this scheme is to
have a digital ticket. A ticket is presented to a digital ticket
agent, whose type is specified on the ticket. In the simplest
case, a certified generic ticket agent, available on all repositories, is available to "punch" the ticket. In other cases, the
ticket may contain addressing information for locating a
"special" ticket agent. Once a ticket has been punched, it
carmot be used again for the same kind of transaction (unless
it is unpunched or refreshed in the manner described below.)
Punching includes marking the ticket with a timestamp of
the date and time it was used. Tickets are digital works and
can be copied or transferred between repositories according
to their usage rights. In the currently preferred embodiment,
a "punched" ticket becomes "unpunched" or "refreshed"
when it is copied or extracted. The Copy and Extract
operations save the date and time as a property of the digital
ticket. When a ticket agent is given a ticket, it can simply
check whether the digital copy was made after the last time
that it was punched. Of course, the digital ticket must have
the copy or extract usage rights associated therewith.
The capability to unpunch a ticket is important in the
following cases:
A digital work is circulated at low cost with a limitation
that it can be used only once.
A digital work is circulated with a ticket that can be used
once to give discounts on purchases of other works.
A digital work is circulated with a ticket (included in the
purchase price and possibly embedded in the work) that can
be used for a future upgrade.
In each of these cases, if a paid copy is made of the digital
work (including the ticket) the new owner would expect to
get a fresh (unpunched) ticket, whether the copy seller has
used the work or not. In contrast, loaning a work or simply
transferring it to another repository should not revitalize the
ticket.

The billing for use of a digital work is often fundamental
to a commercial distribution system. Grammar Element
1517 "Fee-Spec:={ Scheduled-Discount} Regular-FeeSpec.vertline.Scheduled-Fee-Spec.vertline.Markup-Spec"
provides a range of options for billing for the use of digital
works.
A key feature of this approach is the development of
low-overhead billing for transactions in potentially small
amounts. Thus, it becomes feasible to collect fees of only a
few cents each for thousands of transactions.
The grammar differentiates between uses where the
charge is per use from those where it is metered by the time
unit. Transactions can support fees that the user pays for
using a digital work as well as incentives paid by the right
grantor to users to induce them to use or distribute the digital
work.
The optional scheduled discount refers to the rest of the
fee specification--discounting it by a percentage over time.
If it is not specified, then there is no scheduled discount.
Regular fee specifications are constant over time. Scheduled
fee specifications give a schedule of dates over which the fee
specifications change. Markup specifications are used in
d-blocks for adding a percentage to the fees already being
charged.
Grammar Element 1518 "Scheduled-Discount:=(Scheduled-Discount: (Time-Spec Percentage)*)" A ScheduledDiscount is a essentially a scheduled modifier of any other
fee specification for this version of the right of the digital
work. (It does not refer to children or parent digital works or
to other versions of rights.). It is a list of pairs of times and
percentages. The most recent time in the list that has not yet
passed at the time of the transaction is the one in effect. The
percentage gives the discount percentage. For example, the
number 10 refers to a 10% discount.
Grammar Element 1519 "Regular-Fee-Spec:=( {Fee:.vertline.Incentive:}
[Per-Use-Spec.vertline.Metered-RateSpec .vertline.Best-Spec. vertline.Call-For-Price-Spec]
{Min: Money-Unit Per: Time-Spec} {Max: Money-Unit
Per: Time-Spec} To: Account-ID)" provides for several
kinds of fee specifications.
Fees are paid by the copy-owner/user to the revenueowner if Fee: is specified. Incentives are paid by the revenue-owner to the user iflncentive: is specified. If the Min:
specification is given, then there is a minimum fee to be
charged per time-spec unit for its use. If the Max: specification is given, then there is a maximum fee to be charged
per time-spec for its use. When Fee: is specified, Account-ID
identifies the account to which the fee is to be paid. When
Incentive: is specified, Account-ID identifies the account
from which the fee is to be paid.
Grammar element 1520 "Per-Use-Spec:=Per-Use:
Money-unit" defines a simple fee to be paid every time the
right is exercised, regardless of how much time the transaction takes.
Grammar element 1521 "Metered-Rate-Spec:=Metered:
Money-Unit Per: Time-Spec" defines a metered-rate fee paid
according to how long the right is exercised. Thus, the time
it takes to complete the transaction determines the fee.
Grammar element 1522 "Best-Price-Spec:=Best-Price:
Money-unit Max: Money-unit" is used to specify a bestprice that is determined when the account is settled. This
specification is to accommodate special deals, rebates, and
pricing that depends on information that is not available to
the repository. All fee specifications can be combined with
tickets or authorizations that could indicate that the consumer is a wholesaler or that he is a preferred customer, or
that the seller be authorized in some way. The amount of

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money in the Max: field is the maximum amount that the use
will cost. This is the amount that is tentatively debited from
the credit server. However, when the transaction is ultimately reconciled, any excess amount will be returned to the
consumer in a separate transaction.
Grammar element 1523 "Call-For-Price-Spec:=Call-ForPrice" is similar to a "Best-Price-Spec" in that it is intended
to accommodate cases where prices are dynamic. A CallFor-Price Spec requires a communication with a dealer to
determine the price. This option cannot be exercised if the
repository cannot communicate with a dealer at the time that
the right is exercised. It is based on a secure transaction
whereby the dealer names a price to exercise the right and
passes along a deal certificate which is referenced or
included in the billing process.
Grammar element 1524 "Scheduled-Fee-Spec:=(Schedule: (Time-Spec Regular-Fee-Spec)*)" is used to provide a
schedule of dates over which the fee specifications change.
The fee specification with the most recent date not in the
future is the one that is in effect. This is similar to but more
general than the scheduled discount. It is more general,
because it provides a means to vary the fee agreement for
each time period.
Grammar element 1525 "Markup-Spec:=Markup: percentage To: Account-ID" is provided for adding a percentage
to the fees already being charged. For example, a 5%
markup means that a fee of 5% of cumulative fee so far will
be allocated to the distributor. A markup specification can be
applied to all of the other kinds of fee specifications. It is
typically used in a shell provided by a distributor. It refers
to fees associated with d-blocks that are parts of the current
d-block. This might be a convenient specification for use in
taxes, or in distributor overhead.
Usage rights can be grouped in predetermined sets that are
commonly opposite. The following are examples of sets of
usage rights
((Play) (Transfer(SC: 3)) (Delete) This work can be
played without requirements for fee or authorization on any
rendering system. It can be transferred to any other repository of security level 3 or greater. It can be deleted.
((Play) (Transfer (SC: 3)) (Delete) (Backup) (Restore
(Fee: Per-Use: $5 To: Account-ID-678)))
Same as the previous example plus rights for backup and
restore. The work can be backed up without fee. It can be
restored for a $5 fee payable to the account described by
Account-ID-678.
((Play) (Transfer (SC: 3)) (Copy (SC: 3)(Fee: Per-Use: $5
To: Account-ID-678)) (Delete (Incentive: Per-Use: $2.50
To: Account-ID-678)))
This work can be played, transferred, copied, or deleted.
Copy or transfer operations can take place only with repositories of security level three or greater. The fee to make a
copy is $5 payable to Account-ID-678. If a copy is deleted,
then an incentive of $2.50 is paid to the former copy owner.
((Play) (Transfer (SC: 3)) Copy (SC: 3) (Fee: Per-Use:
$10 To: Account-ID-678)) Delete) (Backup) (Restore (SC:
3) (Fee: Per-Use: $5 To: Account-ID-678)))
Same as the previous example plus fees for copying. The
work can be copied digitally for a fee of $10 payable to
Account-ID-678. The repository on which the work is
copied or restored must be at security level 3 or greater.
((Play) (Transfer (SC: 3)) (Copy Authorization: License123-ID (SC: 3))) The digital work can be played, transferred,
or copied. Copies or transfers must be on repositories of
security level 3 or greater. Copying requires the license
License-123-ID issued to the copying repository. None of
the rights require fees.

((Play) (Print Printer: Printer-567-ID (Fee: Per-Use: $1
To: Account-ID-678))) This work can be played for free. It
can be printed on any printer with the identifier Printer-567ID for a fee of $1 payable to the account described by
Account-ID-678.
((Play Player: Player-876-ID) (From: 94/02/14 Until:
95/02/15) (Fee: Metered: $0.01 Per: 0:1:0 Min: $0.25 Per:
0/1/0 To: Account-ID-567)) This work can be played on any
player holding the ID Player-876-ID. The time of this right
is from Feb. 14, 1994 until Feb. 15, 1995. The fee for use is
one cent per minute with a minimum of 25 cents in any day
that it is used, payable to the account described by AccountID-567.
((Play) (Transfer) (Delete) (Loan 2(Delete: Transfer
Loan))) This work can be played, transferred, deleted, or
loaned. Up to two copies can be loaned out at a time. The
loaned copy has the same rights except that it cannot be
transferred. When both copies are loaned out, no rights can
be exercised on the original on the repository.
((Play) (Transfer) (Delete) (Backup) (Restore (SC:3))
(Loan 2 Remaining-Copy-Rights: (Delete: Play Transfer)
Next-Set-of-Rights: (Delete: Transfer Loan))) Similar to
previous example. Rights to Backup and Restore the work
are added, where restoration requires a repository of at least
security level three. When all copies of the work are loaned
out, the remaining copy cannot be played or transferred.
((Play) (Transfer) (Copy) (Print) (Backup) (Restore (SC:
3)) (Loan 1 Remaining-Copy-Rights: (Add: Play Print
Backup) Next-Set-of-Rights: (Delete: Transfer Loan) (Fee:
Metered: $10 Per: 1:0:0 To: Account-ID-567)) (Loan 1
Remaining-Copy-Rights: Add: ((Play Player: Player-876ID) 2 (From: 94/02/15 Until: 95/02/15) (Fee: Metered: $0.01
Per: 0:1:0 Min: $0.25 Per: 0/1/0 To: Account-ID-567))))
The original work has rights to Play, Transfer, Copy, Print,
Backup, Restore, and Loan. There are two versions of the
Loan right. The first version of the loan right costs $10 per
day but allows the original copy owner to exercise free use
of the Play, Print and Backup rights. The second version of
the Loan right is free. None of the original rights are
applicable. However a right to Play the work at the specified
metered rate is added.
((Play Player: Player-Small-Screen-123-ID) (Embed
(Fee: Per-Use $0.0.1 To: Account-678-ID)) (Copy (Fee:
Per-Use $1.00 To: Account-678-ID))) The digital work can
be played on any player with the identifier Player-SmallScreen-123-ID. It can be embedded in a larger work. The
embedding requires a modest one cent registration fee to
Account-678-ID. Digital copies can be made for $1.00.
When a user requests access to a digital work, the
repository will initiate various transactions. The combination of transactions invoked will depend on the specifications assigned for a usage right. There are three basic types
of transactions, Session Initiation Transactions, Financial
Transactions and Usage Transactions. Generally, session
initiation transactions are initiated first to establish a valid
session. When a valid session is established, transactions
corresponding to the various usage rights are invoked.
Finally, request specific transactions are performed.
Transactions occur between two repositories (one acting
as a server), between a repository and a document playback
platform (e.g. for executing or viewing), between a repository and a credit server or between a repository and an
authorization server. When transactions occur between more
than one repository, it is assumed that there is a reliable
communication channel between the repositories. For
example, this could be a TCP/IP channel or any other
commercially available channel that has built-in capabilities

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for detecting and correcting transmission errors. However, it
is not assumed that the communication channel is secure.
Provisions for security and privacy are part of the requirements for specifying and implementing repositories and thus
form the need for various transactions.
Transactions require that there be some communication
between repositories. Communication between repositories
occurs in units termed as messages. Because the communication line is assumed to be unsecure, all communications
with repositories that are above the lowest security class are
encrypted utilizing a public key encryption technique. Public key encryption is a well known technique in the encryption arts. The term key refers to a numeric code that is used
with encryption and decryption algorithms. Keys come in
pairs, where "writing keys" are used to encrypt data and
"checking keys" are used to decrypt data. Both writing and
checking keys may be public or private. Public keys are
those that are distributed to others. Private keys are maintained in confidence.
Key management and security is instrumental in the
success of a public key encryption system. In the currently
preferred embodiment, one or more master repositories
maintain the keys and create the identification certificates
used by the repositories.
When a sending repository transmits a message to a
receiving repository, the sending repository encrypts all of
its data using the public writing key of the receiving repository. The sending repository includes its name, the name of
the receiving repository, a session identifier such as a nonce
(described below), and a message counter in each message.
In this way, the communication can only be read (to a high
probability) by the receiving repository, which holds the
private checking key for decryption. The auxiliary data is
used to guard against various replay attacks to security. If
messages ever arrive with the wrong counter or an old
nonce, the repositories can assume that someone is interfering with communication and the transaction terminated.
The respective public keys for the repositories to be used
for encryption are obtained in the registration transaction
described below.
A usage transaction is carried out in a session between
repositories. For usage transactions involving more than one
repository, or for financial transactions between a repository
and a credit server, a registration transaction is performed. A
second transaction termed a login transaction, may also be
needed to initiate the session. The goal of the registration
transaction is to establish a secure channel between two
repositories who know each other's identities. As it is
assumed that the communication channel between the
repositories is reliable but not secure, there is a risk that a
non-repository may mimic the protocol in order to gain
illegitimate access to a repository.
The registration transaction between two repositories is
described with respect to FIGS. 16 and 17. The steps
described are from the perspective of a "repository-!"
registering its identity with a "repository-2". The registration must be symmetrical so the same set of steps will be
repeated for repository-2 registering its identity with repository-!. Referring to FIG. 16, repository-! first generates an
encrypted registration identifier, step 1601 and then generates a registration message, step 1602. A registration message is comprised of an identifier of a master repository, the
identification certificate for the repository-! and an
encrypted random registration identifier. The identification
certificate is encrypted by the master repository in its private
key and attests to the fact that the repository (here repository-!) is a bona fide repository. The identification certificate

also contains a public key for the repository, the repository
security level and a timestamp (indicating a time after which
the certificate is no longer valid.) The registration identifier
is a number generated by the repository for this registration.
The registration identifier is unique to the session and is
encrypted in repository-l's private key. The registration
identifier is used to improve security of authentication by
detecting certain kinds of communications based attacks.
Repository-! then transmits the registration message to
repository-2, step 1603.
Upon receiving the registration message, repository-2
determines if it has the needed public key for the master
repository, step 1604. If repository-2 does not have the
needed public key to decrypt the identification certificate,
the registration transaction terminates in an error, step 1618.
Assuming that repository-2 has the proper public key the
identification certificate is decrypted, step 1605. Repository-2 saves the encrypted registration identifier, step 1606,
and extracts the repository identifier, step 1607. The
extracted repository identifier is checked against a "hotlist"
of compromised document repositories, step 1608. In the
currently preferred embodiment, each repository will contain "hotlists" of compromised repositories. If the repository
is on the "hotlist", the registration transaction terminates in
an error per step 1618. Repositories can be removed from
the hotlist when their certificates expire, so that the list does
not need to grow without bound. Also, by keeping a short list
of hotlist certificates that it has previously received, a
repository can avoid the work of actually going through the
list. These lists would be encrypted by a master repository.
A minor variation on the approach to improve efficiency
would have the repositories first exchange lists of names of
hotlist certificates, ultimately exchanging only those lists
that they had not previously received. The "hotlists" are
maintained and distributed by Master repositories.
Note that rather than terminating in error, the transaction
could request that another registration message be sent based
on an identification certificate created by another master
repository. This may be repeated until a satisfactory identification certificate is found, or it is determined that trust
cannot be established.
Assuming that the repository is not on the hotlist, the
repository identification needs to be verified. In other words,
repository-2 needs to validate that the repository on the other
end is really repository-!. This is termed performance testing and is performed in order to avoid invalid access to the
repository via a counterfeit repository replaying a recording
of a prior session initiation between repository-! and repository-2. Performance testing is initiated by repository-2 generating a performance message, step 1609. The performance
message consists of a nonce, the names of the respective
repositories, the time and the registration identifier received
from repository-!. A nonce is a generated message based on
some random and variable information (e.g. the time or the
temperature.) The nonce is used to check whether repository-! can actually exhibit correct encrypting of a message
using the private keys it claims to have, on a message that
it has never seen before. The performance message is
encrypted using the public key specified in the registration
message ofrepository-1. The performance message is transmitted to repository-!, step 1610, where it is decrypted by
repository-! using its private key, step 1611. Repository-!
then checks to make sure that the names of the two repositories are correct, step 1612, that the time is accurate, step
1613 and that the registration identifier corresponds to the
one it sent, step 1614. If any of these tests fails, the
transaction is terminated per step 1616. Assuming that the

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tests are passed, repository-! transmits the nonce to repository-2 in the clear, step 1615. Repository-2 then compares
the received nonce to the original nonce, step 1617. If they
are not identical, the registration transaction terminates in an
error per step 1618. If they are the same, the registration
transaction has successfully completed.
At this point, assuming that the transaction has not
terminated, the repositories exchange messages containing
session keys to be used in all communications during the
session and synchronize their clocks. FIG. 17 illustrates the
session information exchange and clock synchronization
steps (again from the perspective of repository-!.) Referring
to FIG. 17, repository-! creates a session key pair, step 1701.
A first key is kept private and is used by repository-! to
encrypt messages. The second key is a public key used by
repository-2 to decrypt messages. The second key is
encrypted using the public key of repository-2, step 1702
and is sent to repository-2, step 1703. Upon receipt, repository-2 decrypts the second key, step 1704. The second key
is used to decrypt messages in subsequent communications.
When each repository has completed this step, they are both
convinced that the other repository is bona fide and that they
are communicating with the original. Each repository has
given the other a key to be used in decrypting further
communications during the session. Since that key is itself
transmitted in the public key of the receiving repository only
it will be able to decrypt the key which is used to decrypt
subsequent messages.
After the session information is exchanged, the repositories must synchronize their clocks. Clock synchronization is
used by the repositories to establish an agreed upon time
base for the financial records of their mutual transactions.
Referring back to FIG. 17, repository-2 initiates clock
synchronization by generating a time stamp exchange message, step 1705, and transmits it to repository-!, step 1706.
Upon receipt, repository-! generates its own time stamp
message, step 1707 and transmits it back to repository-2,
step 1708. Repository-2 notes the current time, step 1709
and stores the time received from repository-!, step 1710.
The current time is compared to the time received from
repository-!, step 1711. The difference is then checked to see
if it exceeds a predetermined tolerance (e.g. one minute),
step 1712. If it does, repository-2 terminates the transaction
as this may indicate tampering with the repository, step
1713. If not repository-2 computes an adjusted time delta,
step 1714. The adjusted time delta is the difference between
the clock time of repository-2 and the average of the times
from repository-! and repository-2.
To achieve greater accuracy, repository-2 can request the
time again up to a fixed number of times (e.g. five times),
repeat the clock synchronization steps, and average the
results.
A second session initiation transaction is a Login transaction. The Login transaction is used to check the authenticity of a user requesting a transaction. A Login transaction
is particularly prudent for the authorization of financial
transactions that will be charged to a credit server. The Login
transaction involves an interaction between the user at a user
interface and the credit server associated with a repository.
The information exchanged here is a login string supplied by
the repository/credit server to identifY itself to the user, and
a Personal Identification Number (PIN) provided by the user
to identifY himself to the credit server. In the event that the
user is accessing a credit server on a repository different
from the one on which the user interface resides, exchange
of the information would be encrypted using the public and
private keys of the respective repositories.

Billing Transactions are concerned with monetary transaction with a credit server. Billing transactions are carried
out when all other conditions are satisfied and a usage fee is
required for granting the request. For the most part, billing
transactions are well understood in the state of the art. These
transactions are between a repository and a credit server, or
between a credit server and a billing clearinghouse. Briefly,
the required transactions include the following:
Registration and LOGIN transactions by which the
repository and user establish their bona fides to a credit
server. These transactions would be entirely internal in cases
where the repository and credit server are implemented as a
single system.
Registration and LOGIN transactions, by which a credit
server establishes its bona fides to a billing clearinghouse.
An Assign-fee transaction to assign a charge. The information in this transaction would include a transaction identifier, the identities of the repositories in the transaction, and
a list of charges from the parts of the digital work. If there
has been any unusual event in the transaction such as an
interruption of communications, that information is included
as well.
An Begin-charges transaction to assign a charge. This
transaction is much the same as an assign-fee transaction
except that it is used for metered use. It includes the same
information as the assign-fee transaction as well as the usage
fee information. The credit-server is then responsible for
running a clock.
An End-charges transaction to end a charge for metered
use. (In a variation on this approach, the repositories would
exchange periodic charge information for each block of
time.)
A report-charges transaction between a personal credit
server and a billing clearinghouse. This transaction is
invoked at least once per billing period. It is used to pass
along information about charges. On debit and credit cards,
this transaction would also be used to update balance
information and credit limits as needed.
All billing transactions are given a transaction ID and are
reported to the credit severs by both the server and the client.
This reduces possible loss of billing information if one of the
parties to a transaction loses a banking card and provides a
check against tampering with the system.
After the session initiation transactions have been completed, the usage request may then be processed. To simplifY
the description of the steps carried out in processing a usage
request, the term requester is used to refer to a repository in
the requester mode which is initiating a request, and the term
server is used to refer to a repository in the server mode and
which contains the desired digital work. In many cases such
as requests to print or view a work, the requester and server
may be the same device and the transactions described in the
following would be entirely internal. In such instances,
certain transaction steps, such as the registration transaction,
need not be performed.
There are some common steps that are part of the semantics of all of the usage rights transactions. These steps are
referred to as the common transaction steps. There are two
sets-the "opening" steps and the "closing" steps. For
simplicity, these are listed here rather than repeating them in
the descriptions of all of the usage rights transactions.
Transactions can refer to a part of a digital work, a
complete digital work, or a digital work containing other
digital works. Although not described in detail herein, a
transaction may even refer to a folder comprised of a
plurality of digital works. The term "work" is used to refer
to what ever portion or set of digital works is being accessed.

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Many of the steps here involve determining if certain
conditions are satisfied. Recall that each usage right may
have one or more conditions which must be satisfied before
the right can be exercised. Digital works have parts and parts
have parts. Different parts can have different rights and fees.
Thus, it is necessary to verify that the requirements are met
for ALL of the parts that are involved in a transaction For
brevity, when reference is made to checking whether the
rights exist and conditions for exercising are satisfied, it is
meant that all such checking takes place for each of the
relevant parts of the work.
FIG. 18 illustrates the initial common opening and closing
steps for a transaction. At this point it is assumed that
registration has occurred and that a "trusted" session is in
place. General tests are tests on usage rights associated with
the folder containing the work or some containing folder
higher in the file system hierarchy. These tests correspond to
requirements imposed on the work as a consequence of its
being on the particular repository, as opposed to being
attached to the work itself. Referring to FIG. 18, prior to
initiating a usage transaction, the requester performs any
general tests that are required before the right associated
with the transaction can be exercised, step, 1801. For
example, install, uninstall and delete rights may be implemented to require that a requester have an authorization
certificate before the right can be exercised. Another
example is the requirement that a digital ticket be present
and punched before a digital work may be copied to a
requester. If any of the general tests fail, the transaction is
not initiated, step, 1802. Assuming that such required tests
are passed, upon receiving the usage request, the server
generates a transaction identifier that is used in records or
reports of the transaction, step 1803. The server then checks
whether the digital work has been granted the right corresponding to the requested transaction, step 1804. If the
digital work has not been granted the right corresponding to
the request, the transaction terminates, step 1805. If the
digital work has been granted the requested right, the server
then determines if the various conditions for exercising the
right are satisfied. Time based conditions are examined, step
1806. These conditions are checked by examining the time
specification for the version of the right. If any of the
conditions are not satisfied, the transaction terminates per
step 1805.
Assuming that the time based conditions are satisfied, the
server checks security and access conditions, step 1807.
Such security and access conditions are satisfied if: 1) the
requester is at the specified security class, or a higher
security class, 2) the server satisfies any specified authorization test and 3) the requester satisfies any specified authorization tests and has any required digital tickets. If any of
the conditions are not satisfied, the transaction terminates
per step 1805.
Assuming that the security and access conditions are all
satisfied, the server checks the copy count condition, step
1808. If the copy count equals zero, then the transaction
cannot be completed and the transaction terminates per step
1805.
Assuming that the copy count does not equal zero, the
server checks if the copies in use for the requested right is
greater than or equal to any copy count for the requested
right (or relevant parts), step 1809. If the copies in use is
greater than or equal to the copy count, this indicates that
usage rights for the version of the transaction have been
exhausted. Accordingly, the server terminates the transaction, step 1805. If the copy count is less than the copies in
use for the transaction the transaction can continue, and the

copies in use would be incremented by the number of digital
works requested in the transaction, step 1810.
The server then checks if the digital work has a "Loan"
access right, step 1811. The "Loan" access right is a special
case since remaining rights may be present even though all
copies are loaned out. If the digital work has the "Loan"
access right, a check is made to see if all copies have been
loaned out, step 1812. The number of copies that could be
loaned is the sum of the Copy-Counts for all of the versions
of the loan right of the digital work. For a composite work,
the relevant figure is the minimal such sum of each of the
components of the composite work. If all copies have been
loaned out, the remaining rights are determined, step 1813.
The remaining-rights is determined from the remaining
rights specifications from the versions of the Loan right. If
there is only one version of the Loan right, then the
determination is simple. The remaining rights are the ones
specified in that version of the Loan right, or none if
Remaining-Rights: is not specified. If there are multiple
versions of the Loan right and all copies of all of the versions
are loaned out, then the remaining rights is taken as the
minimum set (intersection) of remaining rights across all of
the versions of the loan right. The server then determines if
the requested right is in the set of remaining rights, step
1814. If the requested right is not in the set of remaining
rights, the server terminates the transaction, step 1805.
If Loan is not a usage right for the digital work or if all
copies have not been loaned out or the requested right is in
the set of remaining rights, fee conditions for the right are
then checked, step 1815. This will initiate various financial
transactions between the repository and associated credit
server. Further, any metering of usage of a digital work will
commence. If any financial transaction fails, the transaction
terminates per step 1805.
It should be noted that the order in which the conditions
are checked need not follow the order of steps 1806-1815.
At this point, right specific steps are now performed and
are represented here as step 1816. The right specific steps are
described in greater detail below.
The common closing transaction steps are now performed. Each of the closing transaction steps are performed
by the server after a successful completion of a transaction.
Referring back to FIG. 18, the copies in use value for the
requested right is decremented by the number of copies
involved in the transaction, step 1817. Next, if the right had
a metered usage fee specification, the server subtracts the
elapsed time from the Remaining-Use-Time associated with
the right for every part involved in the transaction, step
1818. Finally, if there are fee specifications associated with
the right, the server initiates End-Charge financial transaction to confirm billing, step 1819.
An important area to consider is the transmission of the
digital work from the server to the requester. The transmission protocol described herein refers to events occurring
after a valid session has been created. The transmission
protocol must handle the case of disruption in the communications between the repositories. It is assumed that interference such as injecting noise on the communication channel can be detected by the integrity checks (e.g., parity,
checksum, etc.) that are built into the transport protocol and
are not discussed in detail herein.
The underlying goal in the transmission protocol is to
preclude certain failure modes, such as malicious or accidental interference on the communications channel. Suppose, for example, that a user pulls a card with the credit
server at a specific time near the end of a transaction. There
should not be a vulnerable time at which "pulling the card"

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causes the repositories to fail to correctly account for the
number of copies of the work that have been created.
Restated, there should be no time at which a party can break
a connection as a means to avoid payment after using a
digital work.
If a transaction is interrupted (and fails), both repositories
restore the digital works and accounts to their state prior to
the failure, modulo records of the failure itself.
FIG. 19 is a state diagram showing steps in the process of
transmitting information during a transaction. Each box
represents a state of a repository in either the server mode
(above the central dotted line 1901) or in the requester mode
(below the dotted line 1901). Solid arrows stand for transitions between states. Dashed arrows stand for message
communications between the repositories. A dashed message arrow pointing to a solid transition arrow is interpreted
as meaning that the transition takes place when the message
is received. Unlabeled transition arrows take place unconditionally. Other labels on state transition arrows describe
conditions that trigger the transition.
Referring now to FIG. 19, the server is initially in a state
1902 where a new transaction is initiated via start message
1903. This message includes transaction information including a transaction identifier and a count of the blocks of data
to be transferred. The requester, initially in a wait state 1904
then enters a data wait state 1905.
The server enters a data transmit state 1906 and transmits
a block of data 1907 and then enters a wait for acknowledgement state 1908. As the data is received, the requesters
enters a data receive state 1909 and when the data blocks is
completely received it enters an acknowledgement state
1910 and transmits an Acknowledgement message 1911 to
the server.
If there are more blocks to send, the server waits until
receiving an Acknowledgement message from the requester.
When an Acknowledgement message is received it sends the
next block to the requester and again waits for acknowledgement. The requester also repeats the same cycle of
states.
If the server detects a communications failure before
sending the last block, it enters a cancellation state 1912
wherein the transaction is cancelled. Similarly, if the
requester detects a communications failure before receiving
the last block it enters a cancellation state 1913.
If there are no more blocks to send, the server commits to
the transaction and waits for the final Acknowledgement in
state 1914. If there is a communications failure before the
server receives the final Acknowledgement message, it still
commits to the transaction but includes a report about the
event to its credit server in state 1915. This report serves two
purposes. It will help legitimize any claims by a user of
having been billed for receiving digital works that were not
completely received. Also it helps to identify repositories
and communications lines that have suspicious patterns of
use and interruption. The server then enters its completion
state 1916.
On the requester side, when there are no more blocks to
receive, the requester commits to the transaction in state
1917. If the requester detects a communications failure at
this state, it reports the failure to its credit server in state
1918, but still commits to the transaction. When it has
committed, it sends an acknowledgement message to the
server. The server then enters its completion state 1919.
The key property is that both the server and the requester
cancel a transaction if it is interrupted before all of the data
blocks are delivered, and commits to it if all of the data
blocks have been delivered.

There is a possibility that the server will have sent all of
the data blocks (and committed) but the requester will not
have received all of them and will cancel the transaction. In
this case, both repositories will presumably detect a communications failure and report it to their credit server. This
case will probably be rare since it depends on very precise
timing of the communications failure. The only consequence
will be that the user at the requester repository may want to
request a refund from the credit services-and the case for
that refund will be documented by reports by both repositories.
To prevent loss of data, the server should not delete any
transferred digital work until receiving the final acknowledgement from the requester. But it also should not use the
file. A well known way to deal with this situation is called
"two-phase commit" or 2PC. Two-phase commit works as
follows. The first phase works the same as the method
described above. The server sends all of the data to the
requester. Both repositories mark the transaction (and appropriate files) as uncommitted. The server sends a ready-tocommit message to the requester. The requester sends back
an acknowledgement. The server then commits and sends
the requester a commit message. When the requester
receives the commit message, it commits the file.
If there is a communication failure or other crash, the
requester must check back with the server to determine the
status of the transaction. The server has the last word on this.
The requester may have received all of the data, but if it did
not get the final message, it has not committed. The server
can go ahead and delete files (except for transaction records)
once it commits, since the files are known to have been fully
transmitted before starting the 2PC cycle.
There are variations known in the art which can be used
to achieve the same effect. For example, the server could use
an additional level of encryption when transmitting a work
to a client. Only after the client sends a message acknowledging receipt does it send the key. The client then agrees to
pay for the digital work. The point of this variation is that it
provides a clear audit trail that the client received the work.
For trusted systems, however, this variation adds a level of
encryption for no real gain in accountability.
The transaction for specific usage rights are now discussed. A Copy transaction is a request to make one or more
independent copies of the work with the same or lesser usage
rights. Copy differs from the extraction right discussed later
in that it refers to entire digital works or entire folders
containing digital works. A copy operation cannot be used to
remove a portion of a digital work.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate the
Copy Transaction. This message indicates the work to be
copied, the version of the copy right to be used for the
transaction, the destination address information (location in
a folder) for placing the work, the file data for the work
(including its size), and the number of copies requested.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the client according to the transmission protocol. If a
Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided in the version of the
right, those rights are transmitted as the rights for the work.
Otherwise, the rights of the original are transmitted. In any
event, the Copy-Count field for the copy of the digital work
being sent right is set to the number-of-copies requested.
The requester records the work contents, data, and usage
rights and stores the work. It records the date and time that
the copy was made in the properties of the digital work.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Transfer transaction is a request to move copies of

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the work with the same or lesser usage rights to another
repository. In contrast with a copy transaction, this results in
removing the work copies from the server.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate the
Transfer Transaction. This message indicates the work to be
transferred, the version of the transfer right to be used in the
transaction, the destination address information for placing
the work, the file data for the work, and the number of copies
involved.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the requester according to the transmission protocol. If a
Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided, those rights are
transmitted as the rights for the work. Otherwise, the rights
of the original are transmitted. In either case, the CopyCount field for the transmitted rights are set to the numberof-copies requested.
The requester records the work contents, data, and usage
rights and stores the work.
The server decrements its copy count by the number of
copies involved in the transaction.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps.
If the number of copies remaining in the server is now
zero, it erases the digital work from its memory.
A loan transaction is a mechanism for loaning copies of a
digital work. The maximum duration of the loan is determined by an internal parameter of the digital work. Works
are automatically returned after a predetermined time
period.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate the
Transfer Transaction. This message indicates the work to be
loaned, the version of the loan right to be used in the
transaction, the destination address information for placing
the work, the number of copies involved, the file data for the
work, and the period of the loan.
The server checks the validity of the requested loan
period, and ends with an error if the period is not valid.
Loans for a loaned copy cannot extend beyond the period of
the original loan to the server.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the requester. If a Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided,
those rights are transmitted as the rights for the work.
Otherwise, the rights of the original are transmitted, as
modified to reflect the loan period.
The requester records the digital work contents, data,
usage rights, and loan period and stores the work.
The server updates the usage rights information in the
digital work to reflect the number of copies loaned out.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. The server updates the usage rights data for the digital
work. This may preclude use of the work until it is returned
from the loan. The user on the requester platform can now
use the transferred copies of the digital work. A user
accessing the original repository cannot use the digital work,
unless there are copies remaining. What happens next
depends on the order of events in time.
Case 1. If the time of the loan period is not yet exhausted
and the requester sends the repository a Return message.
The return message includes the requester identification,
and the transaction ID. The server decrements the copiesin-use field by the number of copies that were returned. (If
the number of digital works returned is greater than the
number actually borrowed, this is treated as an error.) This
step may now make the work available at the server for other
users.

The requester deactivates its copies and removes the
contents from its memory.
Case 2. If the time of the loan period is exhausted and the
requester has not yet sent a Return message. The server
decrements the copies-in-use field by the number digital
works that were borrowed.
The requester automatically deactivates its copies of the
digital work. It terminates all current uses and erases the
digital work copies from memory. One question is why a
requester would ever return a work earlier than the period of
the loan, since it would be returned automatically anyway.
One reason for early return is that there may be a metered fee
which determines the cost of the loan. Returning early may
reduce that fee.
A play transaction is a request to use the contents of a
work. Typically, to "play" a work is to send the digital work
through some kind of transducer, such as a speaker or a
display device. The request implies the intention that the
contents will not be communicated digitally to any other
system. For example, they will not be sent to a printer,
recorded on any digital medium, retained after the transaction or sent to another repository.
This term "play" is natural for examples like playing
music, playing a movie, or playing a video game. The
general form of play means that a "player" is used to use the
digital work. However, the term play covers all media and
kinds of recordings. Thus one would "play" a digital work,
meaning, to render it for reading, or play a computer
program, meaning to execute it. For a digital ticket the
player would be a digital ticket agent.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate the
play transaction. This message indicates the work to be
played, the version of the play right to be used in the
transaction, the identity of the player being used, and the file
data for the work.
The server checks the validity of the player identification
and the compatibility of the player identification with the
player specification in the right. It ends with an error if these
are not satisfactory.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server and requester read and write the blocks of
data as requested by the player according to the transmission
protocol. The requester plays the work contents, using the
player.
When the player is finished, the player and the requester
remove the contents from their memory.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Print transaction is a request to obtain the contents
of a work for the purpose of rendering them on a "printer."
We use the term "printer" to include the common case of
writing with ink on paper. However, the key aspect of
"printing" in our use of the term is that it makes a copy of
the digital work in a place outside of the protection of usage
rights. As with all rights, this may require particular authorization certificates.
Once a digital work is printed, the publisher and user are
bound by whatever copyright laws are in effect. However,
printing moves the contents outside the control of repositories. For example, absent any other enforcement mechanisms, once a digital work is printed on paper, it can be
copied on ordinary photocopying machines without intervention by a repository to collect usage fees. If the printer to
a digital disk is permitted, then that digital copy is outside
of the control of usage rights. Both the creator and the user
know this, although the creator does not necessarily give
tacit consent to such copying, which may violate copyright
laws.

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The requester sends the server a message to initiate a Print
transaction. This message indicates the work to be played,
the identity of the printer being used, the file data for the
work, and the number of copies in the request.
The server checks the validity of the printer identification
and the compatibility of the printer identification with the
printer specification in the right. It ends with an error if these
are not satisfactory.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps.
The server transmits blocks of data according to the
transmission protocol.
The requester prints the work contents, using the printer.
When the printer is finished, the printer and the requester
remove the contents from their memory.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Backup transaction is a request to make a backup
copy of a digital work, as a protection against media failure.
In the context of repositories, secure backup copies differ
from other copies in three ways: (1) they are made under the
control of a Backup transaction rather than a Copy transaction, (2) they do not count as regular copies, and (3) they are
not usable as regular copies. Generally, backup copies are
encrypted.
Although backup copies may be transferred or copied,
depending on their assigned rights, the only way to make
them useful for playing, printing or embedding is to restore
them.
The output of a Backup operation is both an encrypted
data file that contains the contents and description of a work,
and a restoration file with an encryption key for restoring the
encrypted contents. In many cases, the encrypted data file
would have rights for "printing" it to a disk outside of the
protection system, relying just on its encryption for security.
Such files could be stored anywhere that was physically safe
and convenient. The restoration file would be held in the
repository. This file is necessary for the restoration of a
backup copy. It may have rights for transfer between repositories.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate a
backup transaction. This message indicates the work to be
backed up, the version of the backup right to be used in the
transaction, the destination address information for placing
the backup copy, the file data for the work.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the requester. If a Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided,
those rights are transmitted as the rights for the work.
Otherwise, a set of default rights for backup files of the
original are transmitted by the server.
The requester records the work contents, data, and usage
rights. It then creates a one-time key and encrypts the
contents file. It saves the key information in a restoration
file.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. In some cases, it is convenient to be able to archive the
large, encrypted contents file to secure offline storage, such
as a magneto-optical storage system or magnetic tape. This
creation of a non-repository archive file is as secure as the
encryption process. Such non-repository archive storage is
considered a form of "printing" and is controlled by a print
right with a specified "archive-printer." An archive-printer
device is progrannned to save the encrypted contents file
(but not the description file) offline in such a way that it can
be retrieved.
The Restore Transaction A Restore transaction is a request
to convert an encrypted backup copy of a digital work into

a usable copy. A restore operation is intended to be used to
compensate for catastrophic media failure. Like all usage
rights, restoration rights can include fees and access tests
including authorization checks.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate a
Restore transaction. This message indicates the work to be
restored, the version of the restore right for the transaction,
the destination address information for placing the work,
and the file data for the work.
The server verifies that the contents file is available (i.e.
a digital work corresponding to the request has been backedup.) If it is not, it ends the transaction with an error.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps.
The server retrieves the key from the restoration file. It
decrypts the work contents, data, and usage rights.
The server transmits the requested contents and data to the
requester according to the transmission protocol. If a NextSet-Of-Rights has been provided, those rights are transmitted as the rights for the work. Otherwise, a set of default
rights for backup files of the original are transmitted by the
server.
The requester stores the digital work.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Delete transaction deletes a digital work or a
number of copies of a digital work from a repository.
Practically all digital works would have delete rights.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate a
delete transaction. This message indicates the work to be
deleted, the version of the delete right for the transaction.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps.
The server deletes the file, erasing it from the file system.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Directory transaction is a request for information
about folders, digital works, and their parts. This amounts to
roughly the same idea as protection codes in a conventional
file system like TENEX, except that it is generalized to the
full power of the access specifications of the usage rights
language.
The Directory transaction has the important role of passing along descriptions of the rights and fees associated with
a digital work. When a user wants to exercise a right, the
user interface of his repository implicitly makes a directory
request to determine the versions of the right that are
available. Typically these are presented to the user-such as
with different choices of billing for exercising a right. Thus,
many directory transactions are invisible to the user and are
exercised as part of the normal process of exercising all
rights.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate a
Directory transaction. This message indicates the file or
folder that is the root of the directory request and the version
of the directory right used for the transaction.
The server verifies that the information is accessible to the
requester. In particular, it does not return the names of any
files that have a HIDE-NAME status in their directory
specifications, and it does not return the parts of any folders
or files that have HIDE-PARTS in their specification. If the
information is not accessible, the server ends the transaction
with an error.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps.
The server sends the requested data to the requester
according to the transmission protocol. The requester
records the data.

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The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A Folder transaction is a request to create or rename
a folder, or to move a work between folders. Together with
Directory rights, Folder rights control the degree to which
organization of a repository can be accessed or modified
from another repository.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate a
Folder transaction. This message indicates the folder that is
the root of the folder request, the version of the folder right
for the transaction, an operation, and data. The operation can
be one of create, rename, and move file. The data are the
specifications required for the operation, such as a specification of a folder or digital work and a name.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server performs the requested operation---creating a folder, renaming a folder, or moving a work between
folders.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. A extract transaction is a request to copy a part of a
digital work and to create a new work containing it. The
extraction operation differs from copying in that it can be
used to separate a part of a digital work from d-blocks or
shells that place additional restrictions or fees on it. The
extraction operation differs from the edit operation in that it
does not change the contents of a work, only its embedding
in d-blocks. Extraction creates a new digital work.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate an
Extract transaction. This message indicates the part of the
work to be extracted, the version of the extract right to be
used in the transaction, the destination address information
for placing the part as a new work, the file data for the work,
and the number of copies involved.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the requester according to the transmission protocol. If a
Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided, those rights are
transmitted as the rights for the new work. Otherwise, the
rights of the original are transmitted. The Copy-Count field
for this right is set to the number-of-copies requested.
The requester records the contents, data, and usage rights
and stores the work. It records the date and time that new
work was made in the properties of the work.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. An embed transaction is a request to make a digital
work become a part of another digital work or to add a shell
d-block to enable the adding of fees by a distributor of the
work.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate an
Embed transaction. This message indicates the work to be
embedded, the version of the embed right to be used in the
transaction, the destination address information for placing
the part as a work, the file data for the work, and the number
of copies involved.
The server checks the control specifications for all of the
rights in the part and the destination. If they are incompatible, the server ends the transaction with an error.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The server transmits the requested contents and data
to the requester according to the transmission protocol. If a
Next-Set-Of-Rights has been provided, those rights are
transmitted as the rights for the new work. Otherwise, the
rights of the original are transmitted. The Copy-Count field
for this right is set to the number-of-copies requested.
The requester records the contents, data, and usage rights
and embeds the work in the destination file.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. An Edit transaction is a request to revise a digital work

by copying, selecting and modifying portions of an existing
digital work. This operation can actually change the contents
of a digital work. The kinds of changes that are permitted
depend on the process being used. Like the extraction
operation, edit operates on portions of a digital work. In
contrast with the extract operation, edit does not effect the
rights or location of the work. It only changes the contents.
The kinds of changes permitted are determined by the type
specification of the processor specified in the rights. In the
currently preferred embodiment, an edit transaction changes
the work itself and does not make a new work. However, it
would be a reasonable variation to cause a new copy of the
work to be made.
The requester sends the server a message to initiate an
Edit transaction. This message indicates the work to be
edited, the version of the edit right to be used in the
transaction, the file data for the work (including its size), the
process-ID for the process, and the number of copies
involved.
The server checks the compatibility of the process-ID to
be used by the requester against any process-ID specification
in the right. If they are incompatible, it ends the transaction
with an error.
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The requester uses the process to change the contents
of the digital work as desired. (For example, it can select and
duplicate parts of it; combine it with other information; or
compute functions based on the information. This can
amount to editing text, music, or pictures or taking whatever
other steps are useful in creating a derivative work.)
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. The edit transaction is used to cover a wide range of
kinds of works. The category describes a process that takes
as its input any portion of a digital work and then modifies
the input in some way. For example, for text, a process for
editing the text would require edit rights. A process for
"summarizing" or counting words in the text would also be
considered editing. For a music file, processing could
involve changing the pitch or tempo, or adding reverberations, or any other audio effect. For digital video works,
anything which alters the image would require edit rights.
Examples would be colorizing, scaling, extracting still photos, selecting and combining frames into story boards,
sharpening with signal processing, and so on.
Some creators may want to protect the authenticity of
their works by limiting the kinds of processes that can be
performed on them. If there are no edit rights, then no
processing is allowed at all. A processor identifier can be
included to specifY what kind of process is allowed. If no
process identifier is specified, then arbitrary processors can
be used. For an example of a specific process, a photographer may want to allow use of his photograph but may not
want it to be colorized. A musician may want to allow
extraction of portions of his work but not changing of the
tonality.
There are many ways that authorization transactions can
be defined. In the following, our preferred way is to simply
define them in terms of other transactions that we already
need for repositories. Thus, it is convenient sometimes to
speak of "authorization transactions," but they are actually
made up of other transactions that repositories already have.
A usage right can specifY an authorization-ID, which
identifies an authorization object (a digital work in a file of
a standard format) that the repository must have and which
it must process. The authorization is given to the generic
authorization (or ticket) server of the repository which
begins to interpret the authorization.

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As described earlier, the authorization contains a server
identifier, which may just be the generic authorization server
or it may be another server. When a remote authorization
server is required, it must contain a digital address. It may
also contain a digital certificate.
If a remote authorization server is required, then the
authorization process first performs the following steps:
The generic authorization server attempts to set up the
communications channel. (If the channel cannot be set up,
then authorization fails with an error.)
When the channel is set up, it performs a registration
process with the remote repository. (If registration fails, then
the authorization fails with an error.)
When registration is complete, the generic authorization
server invokes a "Play" transaction with the remote repository, supplying the authorization document as the digital
work to be played, and the remote authorization server (a
program) as the "player." (If the player cannot be found or
has some other error, then the authorization fails with an
error.)
The authorization server then "plays" the authorization.
This involves decrypting it using either the public key of the
master repository that issued the certificate or the session
key from the repository that transmitted it. The authorization
server then performs various tests. These tests vary according to the authorization server. They include such steps as
checking issue and validity dates of the authorization and
checking any hot-lists of known invalid authorizations. The
authorization server may require carrying out any other
transactions on the repository as well, such as checking
directories, getting some person to supply a password, or
playing some other digital work. It may also invoke some
special process for checking information about locations or
recent events. The "script" for such steps is contained within
the authorization server.
If all of the required steps are completed satisfactorily, the
authorization server completes the transaction normally,
signaling that authorization is granted.
An Install transaction is a request to install a digital work
as runnable software on a repository. In a typical case, the
requester repository is a rendering repository and the software would be a new kind or new version of a player. Also
in a typical case, the software would be copied to file system
of the requester repository before it is installed.
The requester sends the server an Install message. This
message indicates the work to be installed, the version of the
Install right being invoked, and the file data for the work
(including its size).
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The requester extracts a copy of the digital certificate
for the software. If the certificate cannot be found or the
master repository for the certificate is not known to the
requester, the transaction ends with an error.
The requester decrypts the digital certificate using the
public key of the master repository, recording the identity of
the supplier and creator, a key for decrypting the software,
the compatibility information, and a tamper-checking code.
(This step certifies the software.)
The requester decrypts the software using the key from
the certificate and computes a check code on it using a 1-way
hash function. If the check-code does not match the tamperchecking code from the certificate, the installation transaction ends with an error. (This step assures that the contents
of the software, including the various scripts, have not been
tampered with.)
The requester retrieves the instructions in the compatibility-checking script and follows them. If the software is not

compatible with the repository, the installation transaction
ends with an error. (This step checks platform compatibility.)
The requester retrieves the instructions in the installation
script and follows them. If there is an error in this process
(such as insufficient resources), then the transaction ends
with an error. Note that the installation process puts the
runnable software in a place in the repository where it is no
longer accessible as a work for exercising any usage rights
other than the execution of the software as part of repository
operations in carrying out other transactions.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. An Uninstall transaction is a request to remove
software from a repository. Since uncontrolled or incorrect
removal of software from a repository could compromise its
behavioral integrity, this step is controlled.
The requester sends the server an Uninstall message. This
message indicates the work to be uninstalled, the version of
the Uninstall right being invoked, and the file data for the
work (including its size).
The repositories perform the common opening transaction
steps. The requester extracts a copy of the digital certificate
for the software. If the certificate cannot be found or the
master repository for the certificate is not known to the
requester, the transaction ends with an error.
The requester checks whether the software is installed. If
the software is not installed, the transaction ends with an
error.
The requester decrypts the digital certificate using the
public key of the master repository, recording the identity of
the supplier and creator, a key for decrypting the software,
the compatibility information, and a tamper-checking code.
(This step authenticates the certification of the software,
including the script for uninstalling it.)
The requester decrypts the software using the key from
the certificate and computes a check code on it using a 1-way
hash function. If the check-code does not match the tamperchecking code from the certificate, the installation transaction ends with an error. (This step assures that the contents
of the software, including the various scripts, have not been
tampered with.)
The requester retrieves the instructions in the uninstallation script and follows them. If there is an error in this
process (such as insufficient resources), then the transaction
ends with an error.
The repositories perform the common closing transaction
steps. To appreciate the robustness and flexibility of the
present invention, various distribution and use scenarios for
digital works are illustrated below. These scenarios are
meant to be exemplary rather than exhaustive.
In this scenario, a creator distributes copies of his works
to various consumers. Each consumer is a potential distributor of the work. If the consumer copies the digital work
(usually for a third party), a fee is collected and automatically paid to the creator.
This scenario is a new twist for digital works. It depends
on the idea that "manufacturing" is just copying and is
essentially free. It also assumes that the consumers as
distributors do not require a fee for their time and effort in
distributing the work.
This scenario is performed as follows: A creator creates a
digital work. He grants a Copy right with fees paid back to
himself. If he does not grant an Embed right, then consumers
cannot use the mechanism to act as distributors to cause fees
to be paid to themselves on future copies. Of course, they
could negotiate side deals or trades to transfer money on
their own, outside of the system.

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In another scenario, every time a copy of a digital work
is sold a fee is paid to the creator and also to the immediate
distributor.
This scenario does not give special status to any particular
distributor. Anyone who sells a document has the right to
add a fee to the sale price. The fee for sale could be
established by the consumer. It could also be a fixed nominal
amount that is contributed to the account of some charity.
This scenario is performed as follows: A creator creates a
digital work. He grants a Copy right with fees to be paid
back to himself. He grants an Embed right, so that anyone
can add shells to have fees paid to themselves.
A distributor embeds the work in a shell, with fees
specified to be paid back to himself. If the distributor is
content to receive fees only for copies that he sells himself,
he grants an Extract right on the shell.
When a consumer buys a copy from the distributor, fees
are paid both to the distributor and to the creator. If he
chooses, the consumer can extract the work from the distributor's shell. He cam10t extract it from the creator's shell.
He can add his own shell with fees to be paid to himself.
In this scenario, a creator wants to protect the reputation
and value of his work by making certain requirements on its
distributors. He issues licenses to distributors that satisfY the
requirements, and in tum, promises to reward their efforts by
assuring that the work will not be distributed over competing
channels. The distributors incur expenses for selecting the
digital work, explaining it to buyers, promoting its sale, and
possibly for the license itself. The distributor obtains the
right to enclose the digital work in a shell, whose function
is to permit the attachment of usage fees to be paid to the
distributor in addition to the fees to be paid to the creator.
This differs from the previous scenario in that it precludes
the typical copy owner from functioning as a distributor,
since the consumer lacks a license to copy the document.
Thus, a consumer cannot make copies, even for free. All
copies must come initially from authorized distributors. This
version makes it possible to hold distributors accountable in
some way for the sales and support of the work, by controlling the distribution of certificates that enable distributors
to legitimately charge fees and copy owners to make copies.
Since licenses are themselves digital works, the same
mechanisms give the creators control over distributors by
charging for licenses and putting time limits on their validity.
This scenario is performed as follows: A creator purchases
a digital distribution license that he will hand out to his
distributors. He puts access requirements (such as a personal
license) on the Copy and Transfer rights on the distribution
license so that only he can copy or transfer it.
The creator also creates a digital work. He grants an
Embed right and a Copy right, both of which require the
distribution license to be exercised. He grants a Play right so
that the work can be played by anyone. He may optionally
add a Transfer or Loan right, so that end consumers can do
some non-commercial exchange of the work among friends.
A distributor obtains the distribution license and a number
of copies of the work. He makes copies for his customers,
using his distribution license.
A customer buys and uses the work. He cannot make new
copies because he lacks a distribution license.
This is a variation on the previous scenarios. A distributor
can sell to anyone and anyone can sell additional copies,
resulting in fees being paid back to the creator. However,
only licensed distributors can add fees to be paid to themselves.

This scenario gives distributors the right to add fees to
cover their own advertising and promotional costs, without
making them be the sole suppliers. Their customers can also
make copies, thus broadening the channel without diminishing their revenues. This is because distributors collect
fees from copies of any copies that they originally sold. Only
distributors can add fees.
This scenario is performed similarly to the previous ones.
There are two key differences. (1) The creator only grants
Embed rights for people who have a Distribution license.
This is done by putting a requirement for a distributor's
license on the Embed right. Consequently, non-distributors
cannot add their own fees. (2) The Distributor does not grant
Extract rights, so that consumers cannot avoid paying fees to
the Distributor if they make subsequent copies. Consequently, all subsequent copies result in fees paid to the
Distributor and the Creator.
In this scenario, a distributor gets a fee for any copy he
sells directly. However, if one of his customers sells further
copies, he gets no further fee for those copies.
This scenario pays a distributor only for use of copies that
he actually sold. This scenario is performed similarly to the
previous ones. The key feature is that the distributor creates
a shell which specifies fees to be paid to him. He puts Extract
rights on the shell. When a consumer buys the work, he can
extract away the distributor's shell. Copies made after that
will not require fees to be paid to the distributor.
In another scenario, distributors sell to other distributors
and fees are collected at each level. Every copy sold by any
distributor-even several d-blocks down in the chainresults in a fee being paid back to all of the previous
distributors.
This scenario is like a chain letter or value chain. Every
contributor or distributor along the way obtains fees, and is
thereby encouraged to promote the sale of copies of the
digital work.
This scenario is performed similarly to the previous ones.
The key feature is that the distributor creates a shell which
specifies fees to be paid to him. He does not grant Extract
rights on the shell. Consequently, all future copies that are
made will result in fees paid to him.
In this scenario, distributors make money according to a
distribution tree. The fee that they make depends on various
parameters, such as time since their sale or the number of
subsequent distributors.
This is a generalized version of the Distribution Tree
scenario, in that it tries to vary the fee to account for the
significance of the role of the distributor.
This scenario is similar to the previous one. The difference is that the fee specification on the distributor's shell has
provisions for changes in prices. For example, there could be
a fee schedule so that copies made after the passage of time
will require lower fees to be paid to the distributor. Alternatively, the distributor could employ a "best-price" billing
option, using any algorithm he chooses to determine the fee
up to the maximum specified in the shell.
In this scenario, a first creator creates a work. It is
distributed by a first distributor and purchased by a second
creator. The second creator extracts a portion of the work
and embeds in it a new work distributed by a second
distributor. A consumer buys the new work from the second
distributor. The first creator receives fees from every transaction; the first distributor receives fees only for his sale; the
second creator and second distributor receive fees for the
final sale.
This scenario shows how that flexible automatic arrangements can be set up to create automatic charging systems

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that mirror current practice. This scenario is analogous to
when an author pays a fee to reuse a figure in some paper.
In the most common case, a fee is paid to the creator or
publisher, but not to the bookstore that sold the book.
The mechanisms for derived works are the same as those
for distribution. In this scenario, several first creators create
works. A second creator makes a selection of these, publishing a collection made up of the parts together with some
new interstitial material. (For example, the digital work
could be a selection of music or a selection of readings.) The
second creator wants to continue to allow some of the
selected works to be extractable, but not the interstitial
material.
This scenario deals with fine grained control of the rights
and fees for reuse.
This scenario is performed as follows: The first creators
create their original works. If they grant extraction and
embedding rights, then the second creator can include them
in a larger collected work. The second creator creates the
interstitial material. He does grant an Extract right on the
interstitial material. He grants Extract rights on a subset of
the reused material. A consumer of the collection can only
extract portions that have that right. Fees are automatically
collected for all parts of the collection.
Commercial libraries buy works with the right to loan.
They limit the loan period and charge their own fees for use.
This scenario deals with fees for loaning rather than fees for
making copies. The fees are collected by the same automatic
mechanisms.
The mechanisms are the same as previous scenarios
except that the fees are associated with the Loan usage right
rather than the Copy usage right.
A creator believes that if people try his work that they will
want to buy it or use it. Consumers of his work can copy the
work for free, and play (or execute) a limited version of the
work for free, and can play or use the full featured version
for a fee.
This scenario is performed as follows: The creator creates
a digital work and grants various rights and fees. The creator
grants Copy and Embed rights without a fee, in order to
ensure widespread distribution of the work. Another of the
rights is a limited play right with little or no fee attached. For
example, this right may be for playing only a portion of the
work. The play right can have various restrictions on its use.
It could have a ticket that limits the number of times it is
used. It could have internal restrictions that limit its functionality. It could have time restrictions that invalidate the
right after a period of time or a period of use. Different fees
could be associated with other versions of the Play right.
A consumer buys a digital work together with an agreement that he can upgrade to a new version at a later date for
a modest fee, much less than the usual purchase price. When
the new version becomes available, he goes to a qualified
vendor to make the transaction.
This scenario deals with a common situation in computer
software. It shows how a purchase may include future
"rights." Two important features of the scenario are that the
transaction must take place at a qualified vendor, and that the
transaction can be done only once per copy of the digital
work purchased.
This scenario is performed as follows: The creator creates
a digital work, an upgrade ticket, and a distribution license.
The upgrade ticket uses the a generic ticket agent that comes
with repositories. As usual, the distribution license does not
have Copy or Transfer rights. He distributes a bundled
copies of the work and the ticket to his distributors as well
as distribution licenses.

The distributor sells the old bundled work and ticket to
customers. The customer extracts the work and the ticket. He
uses the work according to the agreements until the new
version becomes available.
When the new work is ready, the creator gives it to
distributors. The new work has a free right to copy from a
distributor if a ticket is available.
The consumer goes to distributors and arranges to copy
the work. The transaction offers the ticket. The distributor's
repository punches the ticket and copies the new version to
the consumers repository.
The consumer can now use the new version of the work.
A consumer buys a digital work together with an agreement
that he can upgrade to a new version at a later date for a
modest fee, much less than the usual purchase price. When
the new version becomes available, he goes to anyone who
has the upgraded version and makes the transaction.
This scenario is like the previous one in that the transaction can only be done once per copy of the digital work
purchased, but the transaction can be accomplished without
the need to connect to a licensed vendor.
This scenario is similar to the previous one except that the
Copy right on the new work does not require a distribution
license. The consumer can upgrade from any repository
having the new version. He cannot upgrade more than once
because the ticket carmot work after it has been punched. If
desired, the repository can record the upgrade transaction by
posting a zero cost bill to alert the creator that the upgrade
has taken place.
A consumer buys a digital work and wants to make a few
ephemeral copies. For example, he may want to print out a
paper copy of part of a digital newspaper, or he may want to
make a (first generation) analog cassette tape for playing in
his car. He buys the digital work together with a ticket
required for printing rights.
This scenario is like the common practice of people
making cassette tapes to play in their car. If a publisher
permits the making of cassette tapes, there is nothing to
prevent a consumer from further copying the tapes. However, since the tapes are "analog copies," there is a noticeable quality loss with subsequent generations. The new
contribution of the present invention is the use of tickets in
the access controls for the making of the analog copies.
This scenario is performed as follows: The creator sells a
work together with limited printing rights. The printing
rights specifY the kind of printer (e.g., a kind of cassette
recorder or a kind of desktop paper printer) and also the kind
of ticket required. The creator either bundles a limited
number of tickets or sells them separately. If the tickets use
the generic ticket agent, the consumer with the tickets can
exercise the right at his convenience.
Professors in a business school want to put together
course books of readings selected from scenario studies
from various sources. The bookstore wants to be able to print
the books from digital masters, without negotiating for and
waiting for approval of printing of each of the scenarios. The
copyright holders of the scenarios want to be sure that they
are paid for every copy of their work that is printed.
On many college campuses, the hassle of obtaining copy
clearances in a timely way has greatly reduced the viability
of preparing course books. Print shops have become much
more cautious about copying works in the absence of
documented permission.
Demand Publishing is performed as follows: the creator
sells a work together with printing rights for a fee. There can
be rights to copy (distribute) the work between bookstore
repositories, with or without fee. The printing rights specify

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the kind of printer. Whenever a bookstore prints one of the
works (either standalone or embedded in a collection), the
fee is credited to the creator automatically. To discourage
unauthorized copying of the print outs, it would be possible
for the printer to print tracer messages discretely on the
pages identifYing the printing transaction, the copy number,
and any other identifYing information. The tracer information could be secretly embedded in the text itself (encoded
in the grey scale) or hidden in some other way.
A consumer does not know what music to purchase until
he decides whether he likes it. He would like to be able to
take it home and listen to it, and then decide whether to
purchase. Furthermore, he would like the flexibility of
paying less if he listens to it very infrequently.
This scenario just uses the capability of the approach to
have multiple versions of a right on a digital work. Each
version of the right has its own billing scheme. In this
scenario, the creator of the work can offer the Copy right
without fee, and defer billing to the exercise of the Play
right. One version of the play right would allow a limited
performance without fee-a right to "demo". Another version of the right could have a metered rate, of say $0.25 per
hour of play. Another version could have a fee of $15.00 for
the first play, but no fee for further playing. When the
consumer exercises a play right, he specifies which version
of the right is being selected and is billed accordingly.
A designer of type fonts invests several months in the
design of special fonts. The most common way of obtaining
revenue for this work is to sell copies of the fonts to
publishers for unlimited use over unlimited periods of time.
A font designer would like to charge a rate that reflects the
amount that the font is used.
This scenario is performed as follows: the font designer
creates a font as a digital work. He creates versions of the
Play right that bill either for metered use or "per-use". Each
version of the play right would require that the player (a
print layout program) be of an approved category. The font
designer assigns appropriate fees to exercise the Copy right.
When a publisher client wants to use a font, he includes it
as input to a layout program, and is billed automatically for
its use. In this way, a publisher who makes little use of a font
pays less than one who uses it a lot.
Online information retrieval services typically charge for
access in a way that most clients find unpredictable and
uncorrelated to value or information use. The fee depends on
which databases are open, dial-up connect time, how long
the searches require, and which articles are printed out.
There are no provisions for extracting articles or photographs, no method for paying to reuse information in new
works, no distinction between having the terminal sit idly
versus actively searching for data, no distinction between
reading articles on the screen and doing nothing, and higher
rates per search when the centralized facility is busy and
slow servicing other clients. Articles can not be oflloaded to
the client's machine for off-site search and printing. To offer
such billing or the expanded services, the service company
would need a secure way to account for and bill for how
information is used.
This scenario is performed as follows: The information
service bundles its database as files in a repository. The
information services company assigns different fees for
different rights on the information files. For example, there
could be a fee for copying a search database or a source file
and a different fee for printing. These fees would be in
addition to fees assigned by the original creator for the
services. The fees for using information would be different
for using them on the information service company's com-

puters or the client's computers. This billing distinction
would be controlled by having different versions of the
rights, where the version for use on the service company's
computer requires a digital certificate held locally. Fees for
copying or printing files would be handled in the usual way,
by assigning fees to exercising those rights. The distinction
between searching and viewing information would be made
by having different "players" for the different functions. This
distinction would be maintained on the client's computers as
well as the service computers. Articles could be extracted for
reuse under the control of Extract and Embed rights. Thus,
if a client extracts part of an article or photograph, and then
sells copies of a new digital work incorporating it, fees could
automatically be collected both by the information service
and earlier creators and distributors of the digital work. In
this way, the information retrieval service could both offer a
wider selection of services and billing that more accurately
reflects the client's use of the information.
In the simplest scenario, when a user wants to print a
digital document he issues a print command to the user
interface. If the document has the appropriate rights and the
conditions are satisfied, the user agrees to the fee and the
document is printed. In other cases, the printer may be on a
remote repository and it is convenient to spool the printing
to a later time. This leads to several issues. The user
requesting the printing wants to be sure that he is not billed
for the printing until the document is actually printed.
Restated, if he is billed at the time the print job is spooled
but the job is canceled before printing is done, he does not
want to pay. Another issue is that when spooling is permitted, there are now two times at which rights, conditions and
fees could be checked: the time at which a print job is
spooled and the time at which a print is made. As with all
usage rights, it is possible to have rights that expire and to
have rights whose fee depends on various conditions. What
is needed is a means to check rights and conditions at the
time that printing is actually done.
This scenario is performed as follows: A printing repository is a repository with the usual repository characteristics
plus the hardware and software to enable printing. Suppose
that a user logs into a home repository and wants to spool
print jobs for a digital work at a remote printing repository.
The user interface for this could treat this as a request to
"spool" prints. Underneath this "spooling" request, however, are standard rights and requests. To support such
requests, the creator of the work provides a Copy right,
which can be used to copy the work to a printing repository.
In the default case, this Copy right would have no fees
associated for making the copy. However, the Next-Set-OfRights for the copy would only include the Print rights, with
the usual fees for each variation of printing. This version of
the Copy right could be called the "print spooling" version
of the Copy right. The user's "spool request" is implemented
as a Copy transaction to put a copy of the work on the
printing repository, followed by Print transactions to create
the prints of the work. In this way, the user is only billed for
printing that is actually done. Furthermore, the rights, conditions and fees for printing the work are determined when
the work is about to be printed.
Thus, a system for enforcing the usage rights of digital
works is disclosed. While the embodiments disclosed herein
are preferred, it will be appreciated from this teaching that
various alternative, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be made by those skilled in the art, which
are intended to be encompassed by the appended claims
which define the invention.

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Glossary
Authorization Repository-A special type of repository
which provides an authorization service. An authorization
may be specified by a usage right. The authorization must be
obtained before manner of use specified by the right may be
exercised.
Billing Clearinghouse-A financial institution or the like
whose purpose is to reconcile billing information received
from credit servers. The billing clearinghouse may generate
bills to users or alternatively, credit and debit accounts
involved in the commercial transactions.
Billing Transactions-The protocol used by which a
repository reports billing information to a credit server.
Clearinghouse Transactions-The protocol used between
a credit server and a clearinghouse.
Composite Digital Work-A digital work comprised of
distinguishable parts. Each of the distinguishable parts is
itself a digital work which may have associated usage rights.
Content-The digital information that is to be rendered of
digital work.
Copy Owner-A term which refers to the party who owns
a digital work stored in a repository. In the typical case, this
party has purchased various rights to the document for
printing, viewing, transferring, or other specific uses.
Creator-A term which refers to a party who produces a
digital work.
Credit Server-A device which collects and reports billing information for a repository. In many implementations,
this could be built as part of a repository. It requires a means
for periodically communicating with a billing clearinghouse.
Description Tree-A structure which describes the location of content and the usage rights and usage fees for a
digital work. A description tree is comprised of description
blocks. Each description block corresponds to a digital work
or to an interest (typically a revenue bearing interest) in a
digital work.
Digital Work (Work)-Digital content with any associated usage rights. Such digital content may represent music,
a magazine or book, or a multimedia composition.
Distributor-A term which refers to a party who legitimately obtains a copy of a digital work and offers it for sale.
Identification (Digital) Certificate-A signed digital message that attests to the identity of the possessor. Typically,
digital certificates are encrypted in the private key of a
well-known master repository.
Master Repository-A special type of repository which
issues identification certificates and distributes lists of
repositories whose integrity have been compromised and
which should be denied access to digital works (referred to
as repository "hotlists".)
Public Key Encryption-An encryption technique used
for secure transmission of messages on a communication
channel. Key pairs are used for the encryption and decryption of messages. Typically one key is referred to as the
public key and the other is the private key. The keys are
inverses of each other from the perspective of encryption.
Restated, a digital work that is encrypted by one key in the
pair can be decrypted only by the other.
Registration Transactions-The protocol used between
repositories to establish a trusted session.
Rendering Repository-A special type of repository
which is typically coupled to a rendering system. The
rendering repository will typically be embodied within the
secure boundaries of a rendering system.
Rendering System-The combination of a rendering
repository and a rendering device. Examples of a rendering

systems include printing systems, display systems, general
purpose computer systems, video systems or audio systems.
pository---Conceptually a set of functional specifications
defining core functionality in the support of usage rights. A
repository is a trusted system in that it maintains physical,
communications and behavioral integrity.
quester Mode-A mode of a repository where it is
requesting access to a digital work.
venue Owners-A term which refers to the parties that
maintain an interest in collecting fees for document use or
who stand to lose revenue if illegitimate copies of the digital
work are made.
Server Mode-A mode of a repository where it is processing an incoming request to access a digital work.
ell Description Block-A special type of description
block designating an interest in a digital work, but which
does not add content. This will typically be added by a
distributor of a digital work to add their fees.
Transactions-A term used to refer to the protocols by
which repositories communicate.
Usage Fees-A fee charged to a requester for access to a
digital work. Usage fees are specified within the usage rights
language.
Usage Rights-An indication of the manner of use by
which a digital work may be used or distributed, as well as
any conditions on which marmer of use is premised.
Usage Transactions-A set of protocols by which repositories communicate in the exercise of a usage rights. Each
usage right has it's own transaction steps.

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What is claimed is:
1. A computer readable medium having embedded
thereon a digital work adapted to be distributed within a
system for controlling use of digital works, said digital work
comprising:
a digital content portion that is renderable by a rendering
device;
a usage rights portion associated with said digital content
portion and comprising one or more computer readable
instructions configured to permit or prohibit said rendering device to render said digital content portion, said
usage rights portion being expressed as statements from
a usage rights language having a grammar defining a
valid sequence of symbols, and specifYing a manner of
use relating to one or more purposes for which the
digital work can be used by an authorized party; and
a description structure comprising a plurality of description blocks, each of said description blocks comprising
address information for at least one part of said digital
work, and a usage rights part for associating one or
more usage rights portions.
2. The digital work as recited in claim 1, wherein said
usage rights portion further specifies status information
indicating the status of the digital work.
3. The digital work as recited in claim 1, wherein said
usage rights portion further specifies a usage fee associated
with exercise of the manner of use, said usage fee comprising a fee type and fee parameters.
4. The digital work as recited in claim 3 wherein said fee
type is a metered use fee and said fee parameters comprise
a fee unit and a time unit.
5. The digital work as recited in claim 3 wherein said fee
type is a mark-up fee and said fee parameters comprise a
mark-up percentage.
6. The digital work as recited in claim 3 wherein said fee
type is a scheduled fee and said fee parameters comprise
time units and fee units.

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7. The digital work as recited in claim 3 wherein said fee

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22. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said descriptype is a per use fee and said fee parameter comprises a fee
tion blocks further include one or more pointers to other
unit.
description blocks.
23. A computer readable medium having embedded
8. The digital work as recited in claim 3 wherein said fee
thereon a digital work adapted to be distributed within a
type is a best price fee and said fee parameters comprise an
system for controlling use of digital works, said digital work
identifier to identify said best price.
comprising:
9. The digital work as recited in claim 1 wherein said
a digital content portion that is renderable by a rendering
digital content portion and said usage rights portion are
device;
stored on the same physical device.
10
a usage rights portion associated with said digital content
10. The digital work as recited in claim 1, wherein said
portion and comprising one or more computer readable
digital content portion and said usage rights portion are
instructions configured to permit or prohibit said renstored on different physical devices.
dering device to render said digital content portion, said
11. The digital work as recited in claim 1, wherein said
usage rights portion being expressed as statements from
description blocks further included one or more pointers to 15
a usage rights language having a grammar defining a
other description blocks.
valid sequence of symbols, and specifYing conditions
12. A method for creating a digital work to be used in a
relating to one or more purposes for which the digital
system for use of the digital work, said method comprising:
work can be used by an authorized party; and
obtaining a digital content portion that is renderable by a
a description structure comprising a plurality of descriprendering device;
20
tion blocks, each of said description blocks comprising
associating a usage rights portion with the digital content
address information for at least one part of said digital
portion, the usage rights portion comprising one or
work, and a usage rights part for associating one or
more computer readable instructions configured to permore usage rights portions.
mit or prohibit said rendering device to render said
24. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein the
digital content portion, said usage rights portion being 25
conditions relate to the number of copies of the digital work
expressed as statements from a usage rights language
that are in use.
having a grmar defining a valid sequence of sym25. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein the
bols, and specifying a mam1er of use relating to one or
conditions relate to the number of time units for which the
more purposes for which the digital work can be used
digital work can be used.
30
by an authorized party;
26. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein the
describing said digital work by a description structure
conditions relate to the revenue owner of the digital work.
comprising a plurality of description blocks, each of
27. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein the
said description blocks comprising address information
conditions relate to the publication date of the digital work.
for at least one part of said digital work, and a usage
28. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein the
rights part for associating one or more usage rights 35
conditions relate to the history of the use and distribution of
portions; and
the digital work.
combining the digital content portion and the usage rights
29. A digital work as recited in claim 23, wherein said
portion to create the digital work.
description blocks further include one or more pointers to
13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said com40 other description blocks.
bining step comprises storing the digital content portion and
30. A method for creating a digital work to be used in a
the usage rights portion on the same physical device.
system for controlling use of the digital work, said method
14. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said comcomprising:
bining step comprises storing the digital content portion and
obtaining a digital content portion that is renderable by a
the usage rights portion on different physical devices.
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rendering device;
15. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said usage
associating a usage rights portion with the digital content
rights portion further specifies a usage fee associated with
portion, the usage rights portion comprising one or
exercise of the manner of use.
more computer readable instructions configured to per16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said usage
mit or prohibit said rendering device to render said
fee comprises usage fee information including a fee type and 50
digital content portion, the usage rights portion being
fee parameters.
expressed as statements from a usage rights language
17. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said fee
having a grmar defining a valid sequence of symtype is a metered use fee and said fee parameters comprise
bols, and specifYing conditions relating to one or more
a fee unit and a time unit.
purposes for which the digital work can be used by an
18. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said fee 55
authorized party;
type is a per use fee and said fee parameters comprise a fee
describing said digital work by a description structure
unit.
comprising a plurality of description blocks, each of
19. The method as recited in claim 18 wherein said fee
said description blocks comprising address information
type is a mark-up fee and said fee parameters comprise a 60
for at least one part of said digital work, and a usage
mark-up percentage.
rights part for associating one or more usage rights
portions; and
20. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said fee
type is a best price fee and said fee parameters comprise an
combining the digital content portion and the usage rights
identifier to identify the best price.
portion to create the digital work.
21. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said fee 65
31. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein said comtype is a scheduled fee and said fee parameters comprise
bining step comprises storing the digital content portion and
time units and fee units.
the usage rights portion on the same physical device.

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32. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein said com-

36. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein the condi-

bining step comprises storing the digital content portion and
the usage rights portion on different physical devices.
33. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein the conditions relate to the number of copies of the digital work that
are muse.
34. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein the conditions relate to the number of time units for which the digital
work can be used.
35. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein the conditions relate to the revenue owner of the digital work.

tions relate to the publication date of the digital work.
37. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein the conditions relate to the history of the use and distribution of the
digital work.
38. A method as recited in claim 30, wherein said description blocks further include one or more pointers to other
description blocks.

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