ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. v. Google, Inc.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT against Google, Inc. ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0540-4510268.), 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 F

111111

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US00800 1053B2

United States Patent

(10)

Nguyen et al.

c12)

(45)

(54)

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RIGHTS
OFFERING AND GRANTING USING SHARED
STATE VARIABLES

(58)

(75)

Inventors: Mai Nguyen, Buena Park, CA (US); Xin
Wang, Torrance, CA (US); Eddie J.
Chen, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Bijan Tadayon, Germantown, MD (US)

Patent No.:
Date of Patent:

(56)

US 8,001,053 B2
*Aug. 16, 2011

Field of Classification Search ................ 705/1, 54,
705/57
See application file for complete search history.
References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,263,158 A

7/1966 Janis

(Continued)
(73)

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

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

BR
( *)

Notice:

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 278 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(21)

Appl. No.: 10/956,070

(22)

Filed:

9810967 A

10/2001

(Continued)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Delaigle, "Digital Watermarking," Spie Conference in Optical Security and Counterfeit Deterrence Techniques, San Jose, CA (Feb.
1996).

(Continued)
Oct. 4, 2004

(65)

Prior Publication Data

US 2005/0137984 Al

Jun.23,2005

Related U.S. Application Data

(63)

Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/162,212,
filed on Jun. 5, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of
application No. 09/867,745, filed on May 31, 2001,
now Pat. No. 6,754,642.

(60)

Provisional application No. 60/296,113, filed on Jun.
7, 2001, provisional application No. 60/331,625, filed
on Nov. 20, 2001, provisional application No.
60/331,624, filed on Nov. 20, 2001.

(51)

Int. Cl.
H04L 9100
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl. ................. 705/57; 705/51; 705/53; 705/59

(52)

Primary Examiner- Evens J Augustin
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm- Reed Smith LLP; Marc S.
Kaufman; Stephen M. Hertzler

(57)

ABSTRACT

A method, system and device for sharing rights adapted to be
associated with items, the method and system including generating at least one of usage rights and meta-rights for the
items; defining, via the usage rights, a manner of use for the
items; and defining, via the meta-rights, a manner of rights
transfer for the items. The device including receiving at least
one of usage rights and meta -rights for the items; interpreting,
via the usage rights, a manner of use for the items; and
interpreting, via the meta-rights, a mauner of rights transfer
for the items. The usage rights or the meta-rights include at
least one state variable that is shared by one or more rights.
35 Claims, 17 Drawing Sheets

400
402

416

!

Consumer Component

38

40

36

US 8,001,053 B2
Page 2
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,609,697
3,790,700
3,798,605
4,159,468
4,200,700
4,220,991
4,278,837
4,323,921
4,361,851
4,423,287
4,429,385
4,442,486
4,529,870
4,558,176
4,593,376
4,614,861
4,621,321
4,644,493
4,658,093
4,713,753
4,736,422
4,740,890
4,796,220
4,816,655
4,817,140
4,827,508
4,868,376
4,888,638
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
5,113,519
5,129,083
5,136,643
5,138,712
5,146,499
5,148,481
5,159,182
5,174,641
5,183,404
5,191,193
5,204,897
5,222,134
5,235,642
5,247,575
5,255,106
5,260,999
5,263,157
5,263,158
5,276,444
5,276,735
5,287,408
5,291,596
5,293,422
5,301,231
5,311,591
5,319,705
5,335,275
5,337,357
5,339,091
5,341,429
5,347,579
5,381,526

A
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9/1971
2/1974
3/1974
6/1979
4/1980
9/1980
7/1981
4/1982
1111982
12/1983
111984
4/1984
7/1985
12/1985
6/1986
9/1986
1111986
2/1987
4/1987
12/1987
4/1988
4/1988
111989
3/1989
3/1989
5/1989
9/1989
12/1989
111990
5/1990
6/1990
6/1990
8/1990
8/1990
10/1990
12/1990
12/1990
3/1991
4/1991
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9/1991
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4/1992
5/1992
7/1992
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10/1992
12/1992
2/1993
3/1993
4/1993
6/1993
8/1993
9/1993
10/1993
1111993
1111993
1111993
111994
111994
2/1994
3/1994
3/1994
4/1994
5/1994
6/1994
8/1994
8/1994
8/1994
8/1994
9/1994
111995

Blevins et al.
Callais eta!.
Feistel
Barnes eta!.
Mader
Hamano et a!.
Best
Guillou
Asip et al.
Zeidler
Cichelli eta!.
Mayer
Chaum
Arnold eta!.
Yolk
Pavlov eta!.
Boebert et a!.
Chandra et a!.
Hellman
Boebert et a!.
Mason
William
Wolfe
Musycket a!.
Chandra et a!.
Shear
Lessin et al.
Bohn
Faber
Hershey et a!.
Chou eta!.
Robert eta!.
Cohen
Ryder eta!.
Elliott et a!.
Downer eta!.
Shear
Chernow et a!.
Katznelson
Edwards
Johnson et a!.
Wiedemer
Shear
Preston et al.
Elmer eta!.
Waite et al.
Johnson et a!.
Cutler eta!.
Fischer
Corbin
Geffrotin
Abraham et al.
Eisele
Lim
Aldous eta!.
LeRoux
Wyman
Waite et al.
Wobber eta!.
Sprague et a!.
Castro
Wyman
Janis
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McNair
Boebert et a!.
Samson
Mita
Loiacono
Abraham et al.
Fischer
Halter eta!.
Millar eta!.
Chou eta!.
Yarnazaki et a!.
Stringer et a!.
Blandford
Elison

5,386,369
5,390,297
5,394,469
5,410,598
5,412,717
5,414,852
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
5,485,577
5,499,298
5,502,766
5,504,814
5,504,816
5,504,818
5,504,837
5,509,070
5,530,235
5,532,920
5,534,975
5,535,276
5,539,735
5,553,143
5,557,678
5,563,946
5,564,038
5,568,552
5,619,570
5,621,797
5,625,690
5,629,980
5,633,932
5,634,012
5,636,346
5,638,443
5,638,513
5,649,013
5,655,077
5,671,412
5,708,709
5,708,717
5,715,403
5,734,823
5,734,891
5,737,413
5,737,416
5,745,569
5,745,879
5,748,783
5,757,907
5,758,069
5,761,686
5,764,807
5,765,152
5,768,426
5,787,172
5,790,664
5,790,677
5,794,207
5,812,664
5,825,876
5,825,879
5,825,892
5,838,792
5,848,154
5,848,378
5,850,443
5,892,900
5,910,987
5,915,019
5,917,912
5,920,861
5,925,127

A
A
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*

111995
2/1995
2/1995
4/1995
5/1995
5/1995
6/1995
7/1995
8/1995
8/1995
9/1995
10/1995
10/1995
12/1995
12/1995
111996
3/1996
3/1996
4/1996
4/1996
4/1996
4/1996
4/1996
6/1996
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7/1996
7/1996
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4/1997
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9/1997
111998
111998
2/1998
3/1998
3/1998
4/1998
4/1998
4/1998
4/1998
5/1998
5/1998
5/1998
6/1998
6/1998
6/1998
6/1998
7/1998
8/1998
8/1998
8/1998
9/1998
10/1998
10/1998
10/1998
1111998
12/1998
12/1998
12/1998
4/1999
6/1999
6/1999
6/1999
7/1999
7/1999

Christiano
Barber eta!.
Nagel eta!.
Shear
Fischer
Kramer et a!.
Moskowitz
Johnson et al.
Wyman
Daniele
Rosen
Russell
Dolphin
Lipscomb et al.
Davis
Eyer eta!.
Narasirnhalu et al.
Boebert et a!.
Miyahara
Hamilton et a!.
Okano
Griffeth et a!.
Schull
Stefik eta!.
Hartrick et a!.
Stefik eta!.
Ganesan
Moskowitz
Ross eta!.
Ganesan
Cooper et al.
Grantz eta!.
Davis
Tsutsui
Rosen
Michel eta!.
Stefik eta!. ..................... 705/54
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Stefik eta!.
Saxe
Stefik eta!.
Ananda
Stuckey et a!.
Jones eta!.
Christiano
Rose
Alasia
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Saigh eta!.
Saigh
Akiyama et al.
Cooper et al.
Moskowitz et a!.
Wyman
Rhoads
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Olsen
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Pearlman et a!.
Erickson
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Arnold
Coley et al.
Fox eta!.
Walker eta!.
Bernobich et a!.
Peterson
Davis
Braudaway et a!.
Ganesan
Nishio eta!.
Shelton et a!.
Van Oorschot et al.
Ginter et al.
Ginter et al.
Ginter et al.
Ginter et al.
Hallet a!.
Ahmad

US 8,001,053 B2
Page 3
5,933,498
5,940,504
5,943,422
5,949,876
5,982,891
5,987,134
5,991,306
5,999,624
5,999,949
6,006,332
6,009,401
6,020,882
6,047,067
6,056,786
6,073,234
6,091,777
6,112,181
6,112,239
6,115,471
6,135,646
6,138,119
6,141,754
6,157,719
6,157,721
6,169,976
6,185,683
6,189,037
6,189,146
6,209,092
6,216,112
6,219,652
6,226,618
6,233,684
6,236,971
6,237,786
6,240,185
6,253,193
6,292,569
6,301,660
6,307,939
6,327,652
6,330,670
6,345,256
6,353,888
6,363,488
6,389,402
6,397,333
6,401,211
6,405,369
6,424,717
6,424,947
6,442,517
6,487,659
6,516,052
6,516,413
6,523,745
6,636,966
6,697,944
6,772,340
6,775,655
6,796,555
6,816,596
6,829,708
6,850,252
6,885,748
6,947,571
6,947,910
6,973,444
6,985,588
6,993,131
7,010,808
7,024,393
7,039,615
7,051,005
7,065,507
7,068,787
7,103,574
7,120,254
7,134,144

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112006
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Ginter et al.
Shin eta!.
Burns eta!.
Hopkins
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Rabne et al.
Horstmann
Kinghorn et a!.
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Rivera eta!.
Kigo eta!.
Guetz eta!.
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Kenner eta!.
Oki et al.
Kahnet a!.
Hallet a!.
Choy
Wasilewski eta!.
Shear eta!.
Colosso
Ginter et al.
Adams eta!.
Misra eta!.
Linnartz
Fuller eta!.
Carteret a!.
Downs eta!. ................... 705/51
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Ginter et al.
VanWie eta!.
Ginter et al.
Shear eta!.
Benson
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England et al.
Milsted eta!.
Kakehi eta!.
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Ginter et al.
Sohne eta!.
Brezak, Jr. eta!.
Tsuria
Pinder et al.
T suria et al.
Miller eta!. .................. 704/201
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Voudouris
Aratani et a!.
Tarnori
Lee et al . ...................... 713/165
Jones et al. ................... 713/168
Peinado et a!. ............... 713/168
Peinado et a!. ................. 705/59
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Peinado et a!. ............... 380/277
Peinado et a!. ............... 713/156
Hofiberg ...................... 7151716
Wang ............................ 380/201
Rhoads et al. ................ 382/100
Hsu eta!. ........................ 705/57
Blinn et al. ..................... 705/51
Glick et al. ................... 380/258
Meyers ......................... 380/201
Leung et al. .................... 726/26
Peinado et a!. ................. 705/59
Gajjala et a!. ................... 705/59
Peinado et a!. ................. 705/57
Mohannned et a!. ........... 705/59
Ta eta!. ........................ 380/240
Peinado et a!. ................. 705/51
Glick et al. ................... 380/258
McKune ......................... 726/26

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7,181,438
7,233,948
7,319,759
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200110014206
200110032312
200110037467
200110039659
200110051996
2002/0001387
2002/0019814
2002/0035618
2002/0044658
2002/0051540
2002/0056118
2002/0069282
2002/0099948
2002/0127423
2002/0141584
2002/0169974
2003/0028488
2003/0066884
2003/0097 567
2004/0052370
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4/2002
5/2002
5/2002
6/2002
7/2002
9/2002
10/2002
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2/2003
4/2003
5/2003
3/2004
9/2004

Peinado et a!. ................. 705/59
Abburi ............................ 705/59
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111
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111
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Terao eta!.
Durst, Jr. et al.
Arti galas et a!.
Runje eta!. ................... 713/172
O'Toole, Jr. eta!.
Simmons et a!.
Cooper et al . ................ 709/217
Dillon
Ganesan ......................... 705/59
Mendez et al.
Wasilewski eta!.
Glick eta!. ................... 380/258
Hunter eta!.
Reisman
Kocher eta!.
Kayanakis
Razdan eta!. ................ 380/203
McKune ....................... 713/200
Mohannned et a!. ........... 705/59
Reddy eta!. ............... 235/382.5
Terao eta!.
Katznelson
Boyles et al.

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
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0 067 556
0084441
0 180 460
0 257 585
0 262 025
0 332 304
0 332 304
0 332 707
0 393 806
0 450 841
0 529 261
0 613 073
0 651 554
0 668 695
0 678 836
0 679 977
0 715 243
0 715 243
0 715 244
0 715 244
0 715 245
0 715 246
0 725 376
0731404
0 763 936
0 818 748
0 840 194
0 892 521
0 934 765
0 946 022
0 964 572
1 041 823
1 103 922
1483282
2022969
2 136 175
2 236 604
2236604
2309364
2316503
2354102
62-241061
64-068835
3-063717
04-369068
5-100939
5168039
05-268415
6-131371

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A2
A2
A2
A3
A2
A2
A2
A1
A1
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12/1982
7/1983
5/1986
3/1988
3/1988
9/1989
9/1989
9/1989
10/1990
10/1991
3/1993
8/1994
5/1995
8/1995
10/1995
1111995
6/1996
6/1996
6/1996
6/1996
6/1996
6/1996
8/1996
9/1996
3/1997
111998
5/1998
111999
8/1999
9/1999
12/1999
10/2000
5/2001
8/1977
12/1979
9/1984
4/1991
4/1991
7/1997
2/1998
3/2001
10/1987
3/1989
3/1991
12/1992
4/1993
7/1993
10/1993
5/1994

US 8,001,053 B2
Page 4
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
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06-175794
06-215010
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07-084852
07-200317
07-244639
0 715 241
11031130
11032037
11205306
11215121
2000215165
2005218143
2005253109
2006180562
WO 83/04461
wo 92/20022
WO 92/20022
wo 93/01550
WO 93/01550
WO 93/11480
wo 94/01821
WO 94/03003
WO 96/13814
wo 96/24092
WO 96/24092
WO 96/27155
WO 97/25800
WO 97/37492
WO 97/41661
WO 97/43761
wo 97/48203
WO 98/09209
WO 98/10561
wo 98/11690
WO 98/11690
WO 98/19431
wo 98/42098
WO 98/43426
WO 98/45768
WO 99/24928
WO 99/34553
WO 99/35782
WO 99/48296
wo 99/49615
WO 99/60461
WO 99/60750
WO 00/04727
WO 00/05898
WO 00/08909
WO 00/46994
wo 00/59152
WO 00/59152
WO 00/62260
W000/72118
WO 00/73922
WO 01103044
WO 01 13198
WO 01124530
WO 01137209
wo 01163528
WO 2004/034223
wo 2004/103843

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4/2004
12/2004

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* cited by examiner

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Aug. 16, 2011

Sheet 15 of 17

US 8,001,053 B2

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any affiliated club
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play
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simultaneous use 5
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play
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simultaneous use =5
state variable id =
um:acme:club _s- 1809
state variable id =priority_2

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US 8,001,053 B2
1

2

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RIGHTS
OFFERING AND GRANTING USING SHARED
STATE VARIABLES

mechanism to prevent legitimate users from obtaining the
clear document and then using and redistributing it in violation of content owners' intellectual property.
In the "trusted system" approach, the entire system is
responsible for preventing unauthorized use and distribution
of the document. Building a trusted system usually entails
introducing new hardware such as a secure processor, secure
storage and secure rendering devices. This also requires that
all software applications that run on trusted systems be certified to be trusted. While building tamper-proof trusted systems is a real challenge to existing technologies, current market trends suggest that open and untrusted systems, such as
PC's and workstations using browsers to access the Web, will
be the dominant systems used to access digital works. In this
sense, existing computing envirouments such as PC's and
workstations equipped with popular operating systems (e.g.,
Windows, Linux, and UNIX) and rendering applications,
such as browsers, are not trusted systems and cannot be made
trusted without significantly altering their architectures. Of
course, alteration of the architecture defeats a primary purpose of the Web, i.e. flexibility and compatibility.
Some DRM systems allow content owners to specify usage
rights and conditions, and associate them with content. These
usage rights control how the recipient thereof can use the
content. Usually after a content distributor or consumer has
completed selecting and ordering specific content, the content is delivered either electronically from some content
repository or via a conventional distribution channel to the
recipient, such as tangible media sent via a common carrier.
Corresponding DRM systems used by the recipient, for
example the distributor or consumer, will then interpret the
rights and conditions associated with the content, and use
them to control how the content is distributed and/or used.
Examples of usage rights include view, print and extract the
content, and distribute, repackage and loan content. Associated conditions may include any term upon which the rights
may be contingent such as payment, identification, time
period, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,012, discloses a system for controlling
the distribution of digital documents. Each rendering device
has a repository associated therewith. A predetermined set of
usage transaction steps define a protocol used by the repositories for enforcing usage rights associated with a document.
Usage rights persist with the document content. The usage
rights can permit various manners of use such as, viewing
only, use once, distribution, and the like. Usage rights can be
contingent on payment or other conditions.
However, there are limitations associated with the abovementioned paradigms wherein only usage rights and conditions associated with content are specified by content owners
or other grantors of rights. Once purchased by an end user, a
consumer, or a distributor, of content along with its associated
usage rights and conditions has no means to be legally passed
on to a next recipient in a distribution chain. Further the
associated usage rights have no provision for specifying
rights to derive other rights, i.e. Rights to modifY, transfer,
offer, grant, obtain, transfer, delegate, track, surrender,
exchange, transport, exercise, revoke, or the like. Common
content distribution models often include a multi-tier distribution and usage chain. Known DRM systems do not facilitate the ability to prescribe rights and conditions for all participants along a content distribution and usage chain.
Therefore, it is difficult for a content owner to commercially
exploit content unless the owner has a relationship with each
party in the distribution chain.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA
This application is a continuation-in-part application of
co-pending application Ser. No. 10/162,212 filed on Jun. 5,
2002, which is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 09/867,745 filed on May 31, 2001, and which
claims benefit from U.S. provisional application Ser. No.
60/296,113, filed in Jun. 7, 2001, U.S. provisional application, Ser. No. 60/331,625 filed in Nov. 20, 2001, and U.S.
provisional application Ser. No. 60/331,624 filed on Nov. 20,
2001, the entire disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

10

15

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to offering and
granting of rights and more particularly to a method, system
and device for offering and granting of rights using shared
state variables.

20

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

25

The digital age has greatly increased concerns about ownership, access, and control of copyrighted information,
restricted services and valuable resources. Rapid evolution
and wide deployment has occurred for computers, and other
electronic devices such as cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, and
e-book readers, and these devices are interconnected through
communication links including the Internet, intranets and
other networks. These interconnected devices are especially
conducive to publication of content, offering of services and
availability of resources electronically.
One of the most important issues impeding the widespread
distribution of digital works (i.e. documents or other content
in forms readable by computers), via electronic means, and
the Internet in particular, is the current lack of ability to
enforce the intellectual property rights of content owners
during the distribution and use of digital works. Efforts to
resolve this problem have been termed "Intellectual Property
Rights Management" ("IPRM"), "Digital Property Rights
Management" ("DPRM"), "Intellectual Property Management" ("IPM"), "Rights Management" ("RM"), and "Electronic Copyright Management" ("ECM"), collectively
referred to as "Digital Rights Management (DRM)" herein.
There are a number of issues to be considered in effecting a
DRM System. For example, authentication, authorization,
accounting, payment and financial clearing, rights specification, rights verification, rights enforcement, and document
protection issues should be addressed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,
235, 5,634,012, 5,715,403, 5,638,443, and 5,629,980, the
disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference,
disclose DRM systems addressing these issues.
Two basic DRM schemes have been employed, secure
containers and trusted systems. A "secure container" (or simply an encrypted document) offers a way to keep document
contents encrypted until a set of authorization conditions are
met and some copyright terms are honored (e.g., payment for
use). After the various conditions and terms are verified with
the document provider, the document is released to the user in
clear form. Commercial products such as Cryptolopes and
Digiboxes fall into this category. Clearly, the secure container
approach provides a solution to protecting the document during delivery over insecure channels, but does not provide any

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60

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
65

Exemplary aspects of the present invention include a
method, system and device for sharing rights adapted to be

US 8,001,053 B2
3

4

associated with items, the method and system including generating at least one of usage rights and meta-rights for the
items; defining, via the usage rights, a manner of use for the
items; and defining, via the meta-rights, a manner of rights
transfer for the items. The device including receiving at least
one of usage rights and meta-rights for the items; interpreting,
via the usage rights, a manner of use for the items; and
interpreting, via the meta-rights, a manner of rights transfer
for the items. The usage rights or the meta-rights include at
least one state variable that is shared by one or more rights.
Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present
invention are readily apparent from the following detailed
description, simply by illustrating a number of exemplary
embodiments and implementations, including the best mode
contemplated for carrying out the present invention. The
present invention is also capable of other and different
embodiments, and its several details can be modified in various respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of
the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as
restrictive.

FIG. 17 illustrates employing of a state variable in maintaining a state shared by multiple rights;
FIG. 18 illustrates employing of multiple state variables to
represent one state of rights;
FIG. 19 illustrates a case where not all rights are associated
with states;
FIG. 20 illustrates a case where not all rights which are
associated with states are shared or inherited; and
FIG. 21 illustrates a case of rights sharing based on an offer
which does not explicitly include meta-rights.

10

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
15

20

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
25

Exemplary embodiments of this invention will be
described in detail, with reference to the attached drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-tier model for
content distribution;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating rights offering
and granting processes in the model of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram of a simple supplierconsumer push model for rights generating, issuing and exercising;
FIG. 3(b) is a schematic diagram of a simple supplierconsumer pull model for rights generating, issuing and exercising;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a rights offering-granting
architecture in accordance with the preferred embodiment;
FIGS. Sa and Sb are workflow diagrams for examples of
offering and granting rights between a rights supplier and a
rights consumer with a push and pull model respectively;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a rights offer generation process in
accordance with the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a rights offer consideration process
in accordance with the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a rights offercustomization process
in accordance with the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 9 is block diagram of a DRM system that may be
utilized in connection with the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an exemplary structure of a
license containing usage rights and meta-rights of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a rights label of the
preferred embodiment;
FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary system including a stateof-rights server;
FIG. 13 illustrates employing of a state variable in deriving
exclusive usage rights;
FIG. 14 illustrates employing of a state variable in deriving
inherited usage rights;
FIG. 15 illustrates employing of a state variable in deriving
rights that are shared among a known set of rights recipients;
FIG. 16 illustrates employing of a state variable in deriving
rights that are shared among a dynamic set of rights recipients;

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Prior to providing detailed description of the apparatus and
method for offering and granting rights, a description of a
DRM system that can be utilized to specify and enforce usage
rights and meta-rights for specific content, services, or other
items is first described below.
FIG. 9 illustrates DRM System 10 that includes a user
activation component, in the form of activation server 20, that
issues public and private key pairs, or other identification
mechanisms, to content users in a protected fashion, as is well
known. Typically, when a user uses DRM system 10 for the
first time, the user installs software that works with, or
includes, a rendering application for a particular content format. The software is installed in client environment 30, a
computer associated with the content recipient, for example.
The software is part ofDRM 10 system and is used to enforce
usage rights for protected content. During the activation process, some information is exchanged between activation
server 20 and client environment 30. Client component 60
preferably is tamper resistant and contains the set of public
and private keys issued by activation server 20 as well as other
components, such as rendering components for example.
Rights label 40 is associated with content 42 and specifies
usage rights and meta-rights that are available to a recipient,
i.e. a consumer of rights, when corresponding conditions are
satisfied. License Server 50 manages the encryption keys and
issues licenses 52 for protected content 42. Licenses 52
embody the actual granting of rights, including usage rights
and meta-rights, to an end user. For example, rights offer 40
may permit a user to view content for a fee of five dollars and
print content for a fee often dollars, or it may permit a user to
offer rights to another user, for example, by utilizing the
concept of meta-rights described below. License 52 can be
issued for the view right when the five dollar fee has been
paid. Client component 60 interprets and enforces the rights,
including usage rights and meta-rights, that have been specified in the license. Rights label40 and license 52 are described
in detail below.
FIG. 11 illustrates rights label 40 in accordance with the
preferred embodiment. Rights label 40 includes plural rights
options 44. Each rights option 44 includes usage rights 44a,
conditions 44b, and content specification 44c. Content specification 44c can include any mechanism for referencing, calling, locating, or otherwise specifYing content 42 associated
with rights offer 44.
As shown in FIG. 10, license 52 includes license 52a, grant
52b, and digital signature 52c. Grant 52b includes granted
usage rights and/or meta-rights selected from label. The
structure of the grant also includes one or more principals, to
whom the specified usage rights and/or meta-rights are
granted, a list of conditions, and state variables required to
enforce the license. Like usage rights, access and exercise of
the granted meta-rights are controlled by the condition list
and state variables as described below.

US 8,001,053 B2
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6

Clear (unprotected) content can be prepared with document preparation application 72 installed on computer 70
associated with a content publisher, a content distributor, a
content service provider, or any other party. Preparation of
content consists of specifYing the usage rights, meta-rights,
and conditions under which content 42 can be used and distributed, associating rights label 40 with content 42 and protecting content 42 with some crypto algorithm. A rights language such as XrML can be used to specify the rights and
conditions. However, the usage rights and meta-rights can be
specified in any manner. Also, the rights can be in the form of
a pre-defined specification or template that is merely associated with the content. Accordingly, the process of specifying
rights refers to any process for associating rights with content.
Rights label40 associated with content 42 and the encryption
key used to encrypt the content can be transmitted to license
server 50.
Rights can specify transfer rights, such as distribution
rights, and can permit granting of rights to others or the
derivation of rights. Such rights are referred to as "metarights". Meta-rights are the rights that one has to manipulate,
modifY, or otherwise derive other meta-rights or usage rights.
Meta-rights can be thought of as usage rights to usage rights.
Meta-rights can include rights to offer, grant, obtain, transfer,
delegate, track, surrender, exchange, and revoke usage rights
to/from others. Meta-rights can include the rights to modify
any of the conditions associated with other rights. For
example, a meta-right may be the right to extend or reduce the
scope of a particular right. A meta-right may also be the right
to extend or reduce the validation period of a right.
Often, conditions must be satisfied in order to exercise the
manner of use in a specified right. For, example a condition
may be the payment of a fee, submission of personal data, or
any other requirement desired before permitting exercise of a
manner of use. Conditions can also be "access conditions" for
example, access conditions can apply to a particular group of
users, say students in a university, or members of a book club.
In other words, the condition is that the user is a particular
person or member of a particular group. Rights and conditions can exist as separate entities or can be combined.
State variables track potentially dynamic states conditions.
State variables are variables having values that represent status of an item, usage rights, license or other dynamic conditions. State variables can be tracked, by clearinghouse 90
license or server 30 another device, based on identification
mechanisms in license 52. Further, the value of state variables
can be used in a condition. For example, a usage right can be
the right to print content 42 three times. Each time the usage
right is exercised, the value of the state variable "number of
prints" is incremented. In this example, when the value of the
state variable is three, the condition is not longer satisfied and
content 42 cannot be printed. Another example of a state
variable is time. A condition of license 52 may require that
content 42 is printed within thirty days. A state variable can be
used to track the expiration of thirty days. Further, the state of
a right can be tracked as a collection of state variables. The
collection of the change is the state of a usage right represents
the usage history of that right.
A typical workflow for DRM system 10 is described below.
A recipient, such as a user, operating within client environment 30 is activated for receiving content by activation server
20. This results in a public-private key pair (and some user/
machine specific information) being downloaded to client
environment 30 in the form of client software component 60
in a known manner. This activation process can be accomplished at any time prior to the issuing of a license.

When a user wishes to use protected content 42, the user
makes a request for the content 42. For example, a user might
browse a Web site running on Web server 80 associated with
a grantor of rights such as a content distributor, using a
browser installed in client environment 30, and attempt to
download protected content 42. During this process, the user
may go through a series of steps possibly including a fee
transaction (as in the sale of content) or other transactions
(such as collection of information). When the appropriate
conditions and other prerequisites, such as the collection of a
fee and verification that the user has been activated, are satisfied, Web server 80 contacts license server 50 through a
secure communications channel, such as a channel using a
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). License server 50 then generates license 52 for the content and Web server 80 causes both
protected content 42 and license 52 to be downloaded.
License 52 can be downloaded from license server 50 or an
associated device. Content 42 can be downloaded from computer 70 associated with a publisher, distributor, or other
party.
Client component 60 in client environment 30 will then
proceed to interpret license 52 and allow use of content 42
based on the rights and conditions specified in license 52. The
interpretation and enforcement of usage rights are well
known generally. The steps above may take place sequentially or approximately simultaneously or in various order.
DRM system 10 addresses security aspects of protecting
content 42. In particular, DRM system 10 may authenticate
license 52 that has been issued by license server 50. One way
to accomplish such authentication is for application 60 to
determine if the licenses can be trusted. In other words, application 60 has the capability to verify and validate the cryptographic signature of digital signature 52c, or other identifying
characteristic of the license. During the activation step
described above, both client environment 30 and license
server 50 receive a set of keys in a tamper-resistant software
"package" that also includes other components, such as the
necessary components for activated client environment 30 to
verifY signature 52 of license 52 in a known manner. Of
course, the example above is merely one way to effect a DRM
system. For example, the license and content can be distributed from different entities. Also, rights offer 40 can be associated with content by a party other than the party preparing
the content. Also, clearinghouse 90 can be used to process
payment transactions and verifY payment prior to issuing a
license.
For any set of rights, there are two kinds of entities
involved, the "supplier" and the "consumer". The function of
the supplier is to offer, and possibly grant, the rights, and the
function of the consumer is to select, and possibly exercise the
rights. Both the supplier and consumer may actually represent
two or more entities. In general, multiple entities may collectively make an offer and grant rights to multiple entities. The
supplier and consumer represent any two entities in the content value chain that have a direct relationship with each other
regarding the granting of rights. At the beginning of the value
chain, the supplier and consumer may be author and publisher. Going down along the value chain, the supplier and
consumer may be a publisher and another publisher (for content aggregation), a publisher and distributor (for content
distribution), a distributor and another distributor (for multitier content distribution), a distributor and a retailer (for content retailing), a retailer and a consumer (for content consumption), and a consumer and another consumer (for
content supper-distribution or personal lending).
An "offer of rights" or "rights offer" expresses how a
consumer (e.g. a content distributor or user) can acquire a

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US 8,001,053 B2
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particular instance of content together with its associated
usage rights and/or meta-rights. An offer may or may not
contain financial terms. An offer is an expression of mere
willingness to commerce negotiation and also an expression
of willingness to grant on terms stated. An offer may be
expressed in the form of a rights label. A "consideration of
rights" is a process as part of the rights granting in which the
rights consumer has examined the rights being offered and
possibly bargained them and associated terms and conditions.
A "choice of rights" is a selection of rights and their associated terms and conditions from a rights offer. It indicates the
intent of the consumer to accept these rights and the corresponding terms and conditions. For example, selection can
comprise selecting one option 44 from label40. "Customization of rights" is a process as part of the rights granting in
which the rights supplier assembles rights and terms and
conditions based on a choice of the rights consumer. The
output of this process can be a draft license to be accepted by
the rights consumer. A "license of rights" is an expression of
rights and possibly conditions accepted and agreed upon by
the rights supplier and consumer. It is the output of the rights
offering and granting process. A license is a grant to exercise
the rights that govern the usage (possibly including further
distribution) of content or other items.
As described above, a rights label, such as rights label 40,
may contain a number of options 44 allowing the consumer to
make a selection and conduct negotiation (if permitted),
while license 52 contains rights the consumer has selected
and accepted. Note that the accepted rights may include a
right to present offers to others or make selections of offers.
An example of a distribution chain model is illustrated in
FIG. 1. The distribution chain includes a content provider
100, distributor 110, and end user 120. Of course content may
be prepared in the manner described above. It is assumed that
the content has already been prepared in the model of FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is directed to the transfer of content and shows that, in
this example, provider 100 may publish content to distributor
110 or receive content for reuse from distributor 110. Distributor 110 may in turn distribute content to user 120 or
receive returned content form user 120. User 100 can use
content. To further illustrate the potential complexities of
multi-tier distribution chains provider 100 can aggregate content from others, distributor 110, can receive content from
other distributors for redistribution, and user 120 can share
content with the other users. It is clear that there are plural
stages in the content life cycle and plural relationships
between the various parties. A precise and consistent specification of rights at the different stages of the life cycle and
relationships is important and crucial to persistent protection
of content in multi-tier distribution and usage.
FIG. 2 illustrates the flow of rights in the same model,
including rights generating, aggregating, issuing, relinquishing, driving, granting, surrendering, delegating and exercising. The model of FIG. 2 includes the same entities, provider
100, distributor 110, and user 120. It can be seen that, with
respect to the flow of rights, each party can grant and accept
rights. User 120 can grant and accept rights from other users,
a process called "delegation", in this example.
The model ofFIG. 2 covers many specific content publishing, distribution and use relationships. Other models can be
derived from on this model by a different consolidation or
segregation of the parties. For example, every provider can be
a distributor. This is "direct publishing", which allows individual authors to distribute/sell their content without any
intermediate publisher. Further, every consumer can be a
potential distributor. This allows consumers to pass content to
each other. This includes supper-distribution, gifting, and

personal lending. In a "Web community" and everyone is able
to publish, distribute and consume content. "Content aggregation" allows publishers to compose content from other
publishers into composite works. Site license and enterprise
use allows sharing content among consumers.
In general, all the rights relationships shown in FIG. 2 can
be captured by two generic supplier-consumer models, as
shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). FIG. 3(a) shows a "push"
model and FIG. 3(b) shows a "pull" model. In the push model
shown in FIG. 3(a), rights supplier 200 initiates the rights
offering and granting process by generating an offer and
granting the rights to the rights consumer 210. In the pull
model shown in FIG. 3(b), rights consumer 210 initiates the
process by requesting an offer and accepting the rights from
the rights supplier 200.
An architecture of the preferred embodiment for rights
offering and granting is shown in FIG. 4.Architecture400 can
be implemented as a combination of computer hardware and
software and includes rights supplier component 402, rights
consumer component 438 and communication channel 422
linking these two components. For example, communication
channel 42 can be Internet, a direct computer to computer
connection, a LAN, a wireless connection or the like. Supplier component 402 is associated with the supplier, i.e. the
entity making rights available to a consumer who is the entity
going to exercise, i.e., consume the rights. The supplier could
be the content owner or provider, or could be a distributor or
any "middle-man," such as a retailer or operator of a web site.
Consumer component 438 is associated with the consumer
who could be the ultimate user (i.e., content consumer) or a
"middle-man," such as a retailer, whole-seller, or reseller.
Keep in mind that the consumer consumes rights and does not
necessarily use (i.e. consume) the content. Both supplier
component 402 and consumer component 438 can embody
any type of hardware devices, and or software modules, such
as a personal computer, a handheld computer, a mobile phone
a server, a network, or any combination of the same. Supplier
component 402 generates rights label 40 as offers, presents
draft licenses and grants license 52 to the consumer. Consumer component 438 issues requests, select choices of
options 44 from rights labels 40, generates counter offers, and
accepts licenses 52. Supplier component 402 and consumer
component 438 can be embodied in the same device(s) and
communication channel 422 can be an internal channel.
Supplier component 402 contains user interface module
404, communication interface module 420 identity module
406 repository 412 for supplier's rights (e.g., in the form of
issued licenses) and database 414 for management related
information. User interface 404 accomplishes presentation to
the user of the component functions and acceptance of user
interactions in a known manner. Communication interface
422 provides the proper formatting and protocols for messages between supplier component 402 and consumer component 438. Identity module 406 ensures that the identity of
supplier component 402 can be authenticated by consumer
component 438 and may contain authentication information
like a password, cryptographic keys or biometric information
of the user of supplier component 402. Rights repository 412
stores rights granted to the user of supplier component 402
and may include functions for indexing, searching and updating the rights stored within. Management database 414 is
used to archive information generated during the rights offering and granting processes. Such information includes information related to initial offers, consumer choices, possible
counter-offers, agreements and final licenses.
Consumer component 438 includes user interface module
428, communication interface module 424, identity module

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426, repository 434 for consumer's rights (e.g., in the form of
issued licenses), and database 436 for management related
information. User interface 424 deals handles presentation to
the user of the component and acceptance of user interactions.
Communication interface 422 provides the proper formatting
and protocols for rights offering and granting messages
between supplier component 402 and consumer component
438. Identity module 426 ensures that the identity of the
consumer component 438 can be authenticated by supplier
component 402 and may contain authentication information
like a password, cryptographic keys or biometric information
of the user. Rights repository 434 stores rights granted to the
user of consumer component 438 and may include functions
for indexing, searching and updating the rights stored within.
Management database 436 is used to archive information
generated during the rights offering and granting process. The
information includes that related to offers 44, consumer
choices, possible counter-offers, agreements and licenses 52.
Note that database 436 can store information that is the same
as or different from database 414 because the parties may
interact with other parties and thus have different archived
information.
Supplier component 402 also includes offer generator
module 408 for generating offers, rights composer module
410 for composing licenses, offer templates module 418 for
providing templates for generating offers based on previous
transactions and common formality of offers, and consumer
profiles module 416 for customizing and granting rights
based on past consumer characteristics and relationships.
Consumer component 438 also includes offer analyzer
module 430 for understanding rights and their terms and
conditions presented within offers, a choice maker module
432 for selecting favorable options specified in offers, a supplier preference module 438 for describing any preferred
suppliers based on past and existing supplier characteristics
and relationships, and choice patterns module 440 for providing patterns and interests in selection options in offers. For
example, the choice pattern module 440 may include a list of
preferred suppliers or a list of lowest prices for the item of
interest to the consumer. Offer analyzer module 430 and
choice maker module 432, respectively, may be combined
into one module.
The process of offering and granting rights within architecture 400 is based on protocols followed by supplier component 402 and consumer component 438. These protocols
generally consist of an offer and acceptance of that offer.
Specifically, the protocols include an offering of rights by one
party to another and acceptance of that offer by the person to
whom it is made. An offer, once made, may be styled so that
it may revoked before acceptance or the offeror could styled
it so that it cannot be revoked at all or only under certain
circumstances definable by the offeror. An offer can also
expire in various way, for example if a deadline for acceptance passes. If there is no specified deadline, then the offer
could expire in a predetermined reasonable time, depending
on the subject matter of the offer. For periodically available
content such as magazines, journals, and even newspapers, a
reasonable time could be accord to the period of the content
publication, for example. For dynamically generated or provided content such as streaming content, a reasonable time
could be any time before the availability of the content. The
rights supplier can dictate other terms of the acceptance, to
which the rights consumer is bound. For example, the offer
may require acceptance in sending back in a certain form via
an email or through a certain web page interface.
FIG. 5(a) illustrates the workflow of protocol500 of a push
model for rights granting. Supplier component 402 generates

an offer of rights in the form of rights label 40 for example,
with possibly many options 44, and sends it to consumer
component 438 (510). Consumer component 438 considers
the offer and its possible options, and responds to supplier
component 402 with a choice of any of the optional rights
offer 44 (512). Supplier component 402 customizes rights
according to the consumer's response, and issues the rights
the user of consumer component 432 (514) in the form of a
draft license.
Consumer component 438 then accepts the draft license if
it corresponds to the choice made and is otherwise acceptable
(516). Upon acceptance, supplier component 402 generates
license 52 and transmits license 52 to consumer component
(518). Keep in mind that grant 52b oflicense 52 can include
usage rights and/or meta-rights. Therefore license 52 can
permit the user of consumer component 438 to grant rights to
others in a similar fashion. However, the derivable rights are
controlled by upstream parties through the use of meta-rights.
Additionally, the protocol can include steps where supplier
component 402 requests to make payment through a credit
card of the user of consumer component 438, and the user
component 402 provides the information and authorizes the
charge. Both supplier component 402 and consumer component 438 can generate status reports on success or failure of
the process. Further, parties can authenticate each other during the process and maintain authentication through the process.
FIG. 5(b) shows a protocol of pull model for rights granting. First, consumer component 438 sends a request to supplier component 402 to indicate an interest in obtaining certain rights in content (520). Supplier component 402 then
responds with an offer, in the form of label 40 having plural
offer options 44, covering the rights requested by consumer
component 438, and sends the offer to consumer component
438 (522).
Consumer component 438 then considers the offer and its
options, and responds to supplier component 402 with a
choice of one of the offer options (524). Supplier component
402 customizes rights according to the response, and grant the
rights to the consumer in the form of a draft license (526).
Consumer component 438 then accepts the draft license (528)
and supplier component 402 issues license 52 granting rights
to consumer component 438 (530). Once again the rights can
include meta-rights.
FIG. 6 illustrates the offer generation process 600 performed by offer generator module 408 in supplier component
402. In offer generation process 600, available rights are first
collected in block 602. Rights may be available from a previous supplier by being derived from meta-rights granted to
the supplier or may be originally created rights. In step 604 it
is determined whether supplier has a right to make an offer to
the consumer. For example, if the consumer is known to be a
minor and the content is restricted to an adult consumer or if
the consumer is on a list of those prohibited from receiving
content, the supplier may not make an offer. In such case, the
offer generation process terminates in step 606. If the supplier
has the right to make an offer, the process then determines all
the rights that can be offered to the consumer in step 608 by
parsing the rights collected in step 602. Next, in step 610, the
process determines whether the consumer has requested any
specific rights. If a request has been received, the process
further filters the determined rights that can be offered, taking
the received consumer requested rights into consideration and
comparing them to the available rights. Then, the process
determines whether an offer template needs to be applied in
steps 614.

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For example, the consumer might be offered standard
rights included in the template, such as printing right,
archiving right, etc. of the content. If an offer template is
available and needed, the offer template is then applied in
steps 616. In steps 618, human intervention may be provided
to further make adjustments to the offer template or to any of
the rights that are available for offering thus far in the process.
Next, restrictions can be applied, through conditions and/or
state variables. For example, a time restriction may be place
on certain rights in step 620. Finally, a digital signature or
other authentication is provided with the collection of rights
to be offered in step 622 and an authenticated offer, in the
form of rights label 40 is made in step 624 and presented to
consumer component 438 in step 624.
FIG. 8 illustrates rights customization process 800 which is
performed by rights composer module 410 in supplier component 402. Initially, consumers choices are received in step
802. Choices are rights and conditions of an option 44
selected label 40 of step 624 (FIG. 6). The process then
determines if supplier component 402 has the right to grant
rights to consumer component 438 in step 804. For example,
if the consumer fails to meet a certain requirement, such as
minimum age or proof of residence in a locale where content
may be licensed, for example, granting a license may not be
proper, and the rights customization process 800 terminates
in step 806. Otherwise, consumer selected choices are analyzed in step 808 to ascertain if they are an discernible by
supplier component 402. For example, the choices can be
parsed to see if they are understandable.
Next, the process determines if consumer information is
available in step 810. For example, consumer profiles may be
stored in database 414 (FIG. 4). If available, the consumer
information is taken into consideration in step 812 for further
analysis of consumer choices. In step 812, dynamic information can also considered as described below. For example, the
profile may include a trust rating or address of the consumer
that renders it desirable of undesirable to provide certain
rights. The process then determines if the choices are reasonable in step 814. This determination may be carried out, for
example, computationally or with human intervention. If the
customer's choices are deemed unreasonable, re-negotiation
of the customer's choices is then performed in block 816. In
this re-negotiation process, the customer is presented with a
new proposed offer based on the previously analyzed choices,
the customer is given an opportunity to submit new choices
offered, and the right customization process 800 begins again
in step 802. Otherwise, a license including the selected rights
is created in step 818.
After a license is created, if consumer acceptance is necessary (step 820), it is presented to the consumer for review in
step 822. If the consumer does not agree with the terms in the
license in step 824, re-negotiation is then initiated in step 816,
which re-starts the rights customization process 800 again in
step 802. In step 820, if a review by the consumer is not
required, then the license is authenticated in step 826 to create
a completed license 52 in step 828 which is to be issued and
associated with content 42.
FIG. 7 illustrates offer consideration process 700 which is
performed by offer analyzer module 430 and choice maker
module 432 of consumer component 438. Available offers are
first collected in step 702. In step 704, process 700 determines
whether it has a right to accept offers from the supplier. For
example, if the consumer certain restrictions on the purchase
of content, such as an age restriction or a restriction against
accepting content from outside an enterprise, the consumer
may not accept an offer. In such a case, the offer consideration
process terminates in step 706. If the consumer has the right

to accept offers from the supplier, the offers are then analyzed
in step 708 to ascertain if they are discernible. If it is determined that supplier preferences are available in step 710, the
offers are filtered in step 712 based on the preferences. For
example, the consumer may trust a specific supplier, or otherwise prefer transactions with that supplier, more that other
suppliers. Next, step 714 determines if consumer preferences
are available and, if so, they are applied in step 716 to the
offers. Once all the offers are analyzed, by applying the logic
of steps 708-714 and any other desired logic, the consumer
then selects options in block 718 and specifies contingencies
in block 720. The selection of options can be done automatically. If human intervention is desired, the customer can
intervene and further specify additional choices or conditions
desired. Any preferences, rules, or other logic can be used to
analyze offers.
Overall, as can be seen in the description ofFIGS. 6, 7, and
8 above, the consumer sends a request, and then a license is
constructed. Either the supplier or the consumer could draft
the content of the license, but in the example above the supplier does so. The request is a subset of an offer and the offer
has one or more options. The supplier makes the offer available to the consumer sending the request (and to other consumers if that is the desire), and the consumer (including
other consumers, if applicable) makes choices. Then, the
supplier analyzes the choices, and constructs the license (i.e.
a grant of rights). Note that the request can also be rejected, or
a counter proposal could be made and the same process could
then repeat for the counter proposal.
Also, when the supplier analyzes the request, the analysis
may be done automatically, or with human intervention.
When the consumer considers the offer, the choice or acceptance may be done automatically, or with human intervention.
Either the offer or a license, or both, may be generated based
on the dynamic information, the consumer's information, and
the consumer's request, such as described above.
The dynamic information may include many kinds of
information including information related to pricing, status of
the network, the traffic of a web site at each moment of time,
discounts given, coupons given, the habits of the consumer,
how many times the content has been used, for how long the
content was used, where it was used, or the like. The dynamic
information can be tracked as state variables and the values of
the state variables can be checked and updated as necessary.
Dynamic information is information capable of being (although, it need not actually be) changed or created by or by
reference to a non-static element. For example, the dynamic
information can be obtained based on a formula, database,
curve, predetermined table, percentage of a value, a function,
reference to other data, such as the prime rate of interest or the
change in a stock market index, and/or by a human intervention of the user or distributor, and/or consumer's input.
The consumer's information may include information
such as the age of the consumer, the credit history of the
consumer, the credit limit of the consumer, income of the
consumer, what kind of rights or licenses obtained, the password of the consumer, the key assigned to the consumer, club
membership for access or discount, the class of the consumer
based on a predetermined criteria, or any other data, identification characteristics and information. The supplier's information may include some or all of the subjects of information
as the consumer's information, and may also include, for
example, available options or variations, suppliers, shipping
information, and other information.
The system and processes disclosed in this invention support multi-tier and super distributions of content. The following is a use case that shows how this can be modeled and

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supported. It illustrates the process of offering and granting
rights by showing the process of transforming offered rights
to a rights supplier (the content distributor in this case) to
granted rights to a rights consumer (the end user in this case).
It specifically shows how an offer is generated from an existing license, how this offer is considered with a choice, and
how a final license is issued. Meta-rights provide a mechanism for permitting the transfer of rights from one party to the
next party in a content distribution chain.
Suppose that a content provider P of some content C wants
to specify that a distributor D may sell, to any end user within
the region of the United States (US), the "play" right at a flat
rate of $1 and the "print" right at a cost of $4 per copy (both
are paid by D to P). The provider also allows the content
distributor to add its own conditions to the "play" and "print"
rights it issues to end users.
A license from the content provider to the distributor may
resemble the following using the XrML rights language.

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<license>
<grant>
<forAll varName~"user"/>
<forAll varName~"distributorConditionForPlay"/>
<principal id~"distributor"/>
<issue/>
<grant>
<principal varRef~"user"/>
<play/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<all Condition>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
<condition varRef~''distributorConditionForPlay''/>
</all Condition>
</grant>
<fee>
<flat currencycode~"USD"> 1</flat>
<to licensePartld~"provider"/>
</fee>
</grant>
<grant>
<forAll varName~"user"/>
<forAll varName~''distributorConditionForPrint''/>
<principal id~"distributor"/>
<issue/>
<grant>
<principal varRef~"user"/>
<play/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<all Condition>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
<condition varRef~''distributorConditionForPrint''/>
</all Condition>
</grant>
<fee>
<perUse regionCode~"USD">5</perUse>
<to licensePartld~"provider"/>
</fee>
</grant>
<issuer id="provider"/>
</license>

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The distributor may make an offer to the end user based on
the rights it has as expressed in the license above. Note that
usage rights and conditions of each option are set forth as
XML elements between <grant> tags. In the following offer,
note that the distributor adds a fee condition for getting the
"play" right, charging the end user $2 ($1 more than it pays to
the provider), and another fee condition for the "print" right,
charging the end user $6 per print copy ($1 more than it pays
to the provider). The distributor also limits the offer to an
acceptance time period (up to Dec. 31, 2002). Meta rights
granted to the distributor permit the distributor to modify the
grant in the license, as described above, and make the offer.

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<offer>
<grant>
<forAll varName~"user"/>
<principal varRef="user"/>
<obtain/>
<grant>
<principal varRef~"user"/>
<play/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
</grant>
<fee>
<flat currencyCode~"USD">2</flat>
<to licensePartld~"distributor"/>
</fee>
</grant>
<grant>
<forAll varName~"user"/>
<principal varRef="user"/>
<obtain/>
<grant>
<principal varRef~"user"/>
<print/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<all Condition>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
<fee>
<perUse currencyCode~''USD''>6</perUse>
<to licensePartld~"distributor"/>
</fee>
</all Condition>
</grant>
</grant>
<issuer id="distributor">
<validityInterval>
<until>2002:12:31 </until>
</validityInterval>
</issuer>
</offer>

When the offer is presented to an end user, the end user may
choose to get only the right to "play" for the flat fee of $2 and
responds to the distributor with a choice set forth as an XML
element between <choice> tags as follows.

<choice>
<grant>
<principal id~"anEndUser"/>
<obtain/>
<grant>
<principal id~"anEndUser"/>
<play/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
</grant>
<fee>
<flat currencyCode~"USD">2</flat>
<to licensePartld~"distributor"/>
</fee>
</grant>
<issuer id="anEndUser">
<validityInterval>
<until>2002:12:31 </until>
</validityInterval>
</issuer>
</choice>

Note that the request can also be rejected. Note also that a
response can also be constructed as a counter offer for rights
not originally offered by the distributor. When the distributor
receives the choice from the end user, it then issues a license
to the user as shown below.

US 8,001,053 B2
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<license>
<grant>
<principal id~"anEndUser"/>
<obtain/>
<grant>
<principal id~"anEndUser"/>
<play/>
<digitalResource licensePartld~"book"/>
<region regionCode~"US"/>
</grant>
<fee>
<flat currencyCode~"USD">2</flat>
<to licensePartld~"distributor"/>
</fee>
</grant>
<issuer id="distributor">
<issued Time>
2002:05:06
<!issuedTime>
<!issuer>
</license>

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Note that in all the XML documents above, the issuers may
choose to digitally sign the documents using some digital
signature algorithms. The recipients of these documents have
options to verify the validity of these documents by checking
the validity of the attached digital signatures. Access to the
various documents, and elements thereof, can be controlled
using known techniques.
In some situations offering and granting result in a license
with a fresh state for content usage. As one starts to exercise
the rights, derived rights, obtained as a result of meta-rights,
may inherit and/or share the state variable values associated
with the rights. For example, when one is granted with the
right to print 5 times and make 4 copies of some document, all
new copies may have the same set of rights but share the state
(or remaining rights) with the original. After the original has
been printed 2 times and a new copy was then made, the copy
and original can all together print 3 times and make 2 more
new copies.
Thus, the exemplary embodiments include a method for
transferring usage rights adapted to be associated with items.
The method includes generating, by a supplier, at least one
first offer containing usage rights and meta-rights for the
item, the usage rights defining a manner of use for the items,
the meta-rights specifYing rights to derive usage rights or
other meta-rights, presenting the offer to a first consumer,
receiving a selection from the first consumer indicating
desired usage rights and meta-rights, and generating a first
license granting the desired usage rights and meta-rights to
the first consumer. The exemplary embodiments further
include a system for transferring usage rights adapted to be
associated with an item to be licensed in multi -tier channels of
distribution with downstream rights and conditions assigned
at least one level. The system includes a supplier component,
comprising a supplier user interface module, an offer generator module for generating an offer containing at least usage
rights and of meta-rights, a rights composer module for composing a draft license, and a repository for supplier's rights, a
supplier management database. The system further includes a
consumer component comprising a consumer user interface
module, an offer-consideration module configured to analyze
the offers generated by the supplier component and select
offers based on the analysis, and a repository for consumer's
rights, a consumer management database. The exemplary
embodiments still further include a method for generating a
license to digital content to be used within a system for at least
one of managing use and distribution of the digital content.

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The method includes presenting a consumer with an offer
including meta-rights, receiving a selection by the consumer
of at least one meta-right in the offer, generating a license
based on the selection, wherein the license permits the consumer to exercise the at least one meta-right and permits the
consumer to offer at least one derived right derived from the
at least one meta-right and generate a license including the at
least one derived right.
FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary system including a common state-of-rights server, according to the present invention.
In FIG. 12, the exemplary system can include a common
state-of-rights server of the system 1201, including a stateof-rights manager 1209, and one or more state-of-rights
repositories 1214, and one or more license servers 1200,
including a meta-rights manager 1210, a usage rights manager 1212, an authorization component 1208, a condition
validator 1206, a state-of-rights manager 1204, one or more
state-of-rights repositories 1216, a license manager 1203, a
license interpreter 1202, and one or more license repositories
1218.
The common state-of-rights server 1201 can be configured
as a remote server connected with one or more of the license
servers 1200. The common state-of-rights server 1201 provides comparable services as the state-of-rights manager
1204 in the license servers 1200 via the state-of-rights manager 1209. The services provided by the state-of-rights server
1201 are accessible and states that the server 1201 manages
can be shared by one or more rights suppliers and rights
consumers (not shown).
The state-of-rights server 1201 can be configured as a
remote server connected with one or more of the license
servers 1200 via one or more commnnication links 1220, and
the like. The services provided by the state-of-rights server
1201 also can be integrated within one or more of the license
server 1200 and such services can be accessible by other
rights suppliers, rights consumers, and the like.
The license manager 1203 derives new rights based on an
offer, which can include any suitable machine-readable
expression, and optionally including meta-rights. While
deriving rights, the license manager 1203 can create new state
variables to be associated with derived rights. The creation of
state variables and their scopes can be prescribed in the offer
or by some other function in the system. The state variables
can be created in one or more instances, for example, prior to
rights derivation, during rights derivation, upon fulfillment of
conditions, during a first exercise of rights associated with the
state variables, and the like. The state variables can be designated exclusively for a specific rights consumer, can be shared
among rights consumers, and can be shared among rights
consumers and other entities, such as rights suppliers, and the
like. The license manager 1203 can interact with the state-ofrights manager 1204 to associate new state variables with
physical addresses in one or more of the state-of-rights
repositories 1216. The state-of-rights manager 1204 can
access the one or more state-of-rights repositories 1216 and
can interact with the state-of-rights server 1201 to access
shared state variables from one or more of the state-of-rights
repositories 1214.
Designated state variables can be used to support a license
that grants a recipient of the license a right to print content 5
times, shared state variables can be used to support a site
license that grants a group of authorized users a right to print
content an aggregated total of 100 times, and the like. A
designated state variable can be updated when the corresponding right is exercised, whereas a shared state variable
can be updated when an authorized user exercises the corresponding right. In other words, a shared state variable can

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include a data variable that is updated in response to actions
by a plurality of users and which is globally applied to each of
the users.
There are multiple ways to specify the scope of state variabies, each of which can affect whether the derivative state
variables can be shared, how the derivative state variables can
be shared, and the like. For example, a state variable can be
local, and solely confined to a recipient or can be global, and
shared by a predetermined group of recipients. A global state
variable can be shared by a group of recipients not determined
when derived rights are issued, but to be specified later, perhaps based on certain rules defined in the license or based on
other means. A global state variable can be shared between
one or more rights suppliers, predetermined recipients, unspecified recipients, and the like. Advantageously, depending
on the sharing employed with a given a business model and
the rights granted in the meta-rights, state variables can be
created at different stages of the value chain.
A set of non-exhaustive exemplary usages of state variables will now be described. For example, a state variable can
be unspecified in meta-rights, which means the identifier and
value of the state variable are yet to be determined by the
meta-rights manager module 1210 and included in the
derived right. If a distinct state variable is assigned to each
derived right, the scope of the state variable in the derived
right is typically exclusive to the recipient.
FIG. 13 is used to illustrate employing of a state variable in
deriving exclusive usage rights, according to the present
invention. In FIG. 13, rights 1302 and 1303 derived from an
offer 1301 are exclusive to each respective consumer. The
offer 1301 is a type of meta-right of which the recipients have
the rights to obtain specific derivative rights when the conditions for obtaining such rights are satisfied. Accordingly, the
exemplary offer 1301 has an unspecified state variable 1304.
However, specific state variable 1305 and 1306, each with
uniquely assigned identifications (IDs) are included in the
derived rights 1302 and 1303. The derived state variables
1305 and 1306 are bound to their associated derived rights,
e.g., "AliceP!ayEbook" (i.e., Alice has the right to play
Ebook) is bound to derived right 1302, and "BobP!ayEbook"
(i.e., Bob has the right to play Ebook) is bound to derived right
1303. The "AliceP!ayEbook" variable can be updated when
Alice exercises her play right, whereas the "BobP!ayEbook"
variable can be updated when Bob exercises his play right.
Other than deriving rights from an offer, a right can transfer
from an entity to a recipient. When a right is transferred, the
governing of the associated state variable is also transferred to
the recipient. After a right is transferred, the source principal
typically can no longer exercise the right, whereas the recipient can exercise the right. The license server governing the
exercising of a right of a recipient assumes the responsibility
for state management. If, however, the state variables are
managed by the common state of right server 1201, the state
of right server 1201 needs to be informed of the transfer of
right. Specifically, the state variable can be managed in the
context of the recipient after the transfer of right.
When a right is to be shared between the source principal
and the recipient, the associated state variable is referenced in
the derived right. If the same right is shared with multiple
recipients, then typically all of the recipients share the same
state variables with the source principal. In this case, a shared
state can be managed by an entity that is accessible by all
sharing principals.
FIG. 14 is used to illustrate employing of a state variable in
deriving inherited usage rights, according to the present
invention. In FIG. 14, a derived right can inherit a state variable from meta-rights. For example, a personal computer

(PC) of a user, Alice, can be configured to play an e-book
according to a license 1403. A personal data assistant (PDA)
ofAlice also can obtain a right to play thee-book according to
offer 1401, if the PC and PDA share the same state variables
1404 and 1405, e.g., "AliceP!ayEbook." A derived right 1402
allows Alice also to play the e-bookonher PDA as long as the
PDA and the PC share a same count limit 1406 of 5 times.
When a usage right is to be shared among a predetermined
set of recipients, a state variable for tracking a corresponding
usage right can be specified in a meta-right using a same state
variable identification for all recipients. During a process of
exercising the meta-right, the same state variable identification is included in every derived right.
FIG. 15 illustrates the use of state variable in deriving
rights that are shared among a known set of rights recipients,
according to the present invention. In FIG. 15, a site license
1501 is issued to FooU university. For example, via the site
license 1501, a librarian is granted a right to issue rights that
allow FooU students to play, view, and the like, corresponding
content, such as e-books and the like, as long as such usage is
tracked by a state variable 1504, e.g., "www.foou.edu."
Accordingly, rights 1502 and 1503 derived from the site
license 1501 include state variables 1505 and 1506, "www.foou.edu," which can be updated when corresponding students, Alice and Bob, play thee-book.
When a usage right is to be shared among a dynamic set of
recipients, the state variable can stay unspecified in the usage
right. When exercising a meta-right and a set of recipients is
known, a state variable can be specified using some identification unique to the known recipients and can be included
within a derived right.
FIG.16 is used to illustrate employing of a state variable in
deriving rights that are shared among a dynamic set of rights
recipients, according to the present invention. In FIG. 16, an
offer 1601 specifies that a distributor can issue site licenses to
affiliated clubs, allowing 5 members of each club to concurrently view, play, and the like, content, such as an e-book. A
corresponding state variable 1607 associated with such a right
can be unspecified in the offer 1601. When corresponding
rights 1602 and 1603 are issued to affiliated clubs, the corresponding club identities are used to specifY state variables
1608 and 1609 in the issued rights. The offers 1602 and 1603
are meta-rights derived from the offer 1601, with offer being
assigned the distinct state variables 1608 and 1609. Further
rights 1604-1606 can be derived from the offers 1602 and
1603 to be shared among members of each respective club.
The licenses 1604 and 1605 are examples of rights derived
from the offer 1602, and which inherit the state variable 1608,
e.g., "urn:acme:club," whereas the license 1606 inherits the
state variable 1609, e.g., "urn:foo:club."
Not only can state variables be shared among principals,
such as rights suppliers, consumers, and the like, a state
variable can be shared among multiple exercisable rights.
FIG. 17 is used to illustrate employing of a state variable for
maintaining a state shared by multiple rights, according to the
present invention. In FIG. 17, a same state variable 1703 is
associated to both a right to print 1702 and the right to play
1701, so that the total number of playing, printing, and the
like, can be tracked together.
The state of rights can depend on more than one state
variable. FIG. 18 is used to illustrate employing of multiple
state variables to represent one state of rights, according to the
present invention. The example described with respect to
FIG. 18 builds upon the example described with respect to
FIG. 16. In FIG. 18, a usage right can be tracked by employing
multiple state variables 1807 and 1808 in an offer 1801. The
state variable 1808, for example, representing a priority level,

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can stay unspecified in the corresponding offers 1802 and
1803 (e.g., site licenses). The corresponding state variables
1809-1811, for example, used for setting a priority, can be
assigned to each member in the corresponding licenses 1804,
1805 and 1806. The corresponding right to view, play, and the
like, can now be dependent on two state variables, effectively
restricting 5 simultaneous views, plays, and the like, per
priority level.
One state variable can represent a collection of states. For
example, a unique identification can be used to represent a
state variable, and an appropriate mechanism can be
employed to map such unique id to a database of multiple
variables, where each variable represents a distinct state.
The scope of state variables can be used to determine
entities by which the state variables can be managed. For
example, for a local state variable, usage tracking of associated rights thereof can be managed solely by a trusted agent
embedded within a rights consumption environment, such as
a media player, and the like. In addition, such usage tracking
can be conducted by a trusted remote service, such as the
common state-of-rights server 1201. Further, shared global
state variables can be made accessible by multiple trusted
agents. To avoid privacy issues, security issues, trust issues,
rights issues, and the like, associated with accessing content,
such as data, and the like, included within a peer rights consumption environment, managing of such shared global state
variables can be performed by a remote service, such as the
state-of-rights server 1201.
A counter is a common form of state variable usage. For
example, such state sharing can include counter sharing
where a state represents a number of times a right has been
exercised, an event has occurred, and the like. Such counter
sharing can be manifested in various forms and occur in many
contexts, such as: tracking a number of simultaneous uses,
tracking a number of sequential uses, sequencing (e.g., a
commercial must be viewed before free content can be
accessed), a one-time use constraint, a transaction count, a
delegation control level, a super-distribution level, dependency on at least one or more services or devices, and the like.
In addition, state variables can be incarnated in a wide
variety of forms. For example, a state variable can be used to
track specific time slots within a period of time, such as used
by a movie studio to transfer syndication rights to a specific
TV station, to transfer syndication rights shared by a group of
stations, to transfer syndication rights assigned through a
bidding process, and the like.
State variables also can be employed, for example, with
regional selling or distribution rights, in a statement from a
financial clearing house to acknowledge that an appropriate
fee has been paid, as a status of whether a commercial has
been watched before free content can be accessed, and the
like.
Not all rights need be associated with states. FIG.19 is used
to illustrate a case where not all rights are associated with
states, according to the present invention. In FIG. 19, an offer
1901 allows a user, Alice, to grant an unlimited play right,
view right, and the like, to her PDA. Such a play right need not
be associated with any state. Accordingly, derived right 1902
also has an unlimited play right to the content, as well as the
right 1903 for her PC.
Not all rights which are associated with states are shared or
inherited. For example, some rights are meant for off-line
usage, can be transferred in whole to another device, and
hence are not shared with other devices. FIG. 20 is used to
illustrate a case where not all rights which are associated with
states are shared or inherited, according to the present invention. In FIG. 20, even though a play right2003 of a user, Alice,

a play right 2002 of a PDA of Alice, and a play right 2003 of
a PC of Alice specifY a same state variable identification
2004, a same state need not be shared since each device can
track a state thereof locally. Advantageously, such an implementation would allow the PC and the PDA to each play the
corresponding content up to 5 times.
FIG. 21 illustrates a form of an offer which does not explicitly include meta-rights. In FIG. 21, an offer 2101 is configured as a site license written in English. Licenses 2102 and
2103 are instances derived from the offer 2101. In an exemplary embodiment, variables 2104 and 2105 can be created
based on interpretation of the offer 2101, for example, by the
system of FIG. 12.
The preferred embodiment can utilize various devices,
such as a personal computers, servers, workstations, PDA's,
thin clients, and the like. For example, the client environment
can be a handheld device such as a mobile phone or a PDA.
Various charmels for communication can be used. Further, the
various functions can be integrated in one device. For
example, the license server function can be accomplished by
software within the client environment. Further, the function
of the license server or other modules for making offers,
selecting rights and granting licenses can be accomplished in
the same device. The disclosed functional modules are segregated by function for clarity. However, the various functions can be combined or segregated as hardware and/or software modules in any marmer. The various functions can be
useful separately or in combination.
The various elements and portions thereof can be stored on
the same device or on different devices. For example, a
license can be stored together with, or separate from, content.
Further, the various elements of a license can be stored on
separate devices. For example the values of state variables can
be stored in a state variable repository of a system that tracks
the current value of state variables. Various links, references,
specifications, and the like can be used to associate the elements.
The invention has been described through exemplary
embodiments and examples. However, various modifications
can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and legal equivalents.

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What is claimed is:
1. A method for sharing rights adapted to be associated
with an item, the method comprising:
specifying, in a first license, using a processor, at least one
usage right and at least one meta-right for the item,
wherein the usage right and the meta-right include at
least one right that is shared among one or more users or
devices;
defining, via the at least one usage right, using a processor,
a marmer of use selected from a plurality of permitted
manners of use for the item;
defining, via the at least one meta-right, using a processor,
a mauner of rights creation for the item, wherein said at
least one meta-right is enforceable by a repository and
allows said one or more users or devices to create new
rights;
associating, using a processor, at least one state variable
with the at least one right in the first license, wherein the
at least one state variable identifies a location where a
state of rights is tracked;
generating, in a second license, using a processor, one or
more rights based on the meta-right in the first license,
wherein the one or more rights in the second license
includes at least one right that is shared among one or
more users or devices; and

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associating at least one state variable with the at least one
right that is shared in the second license, wherein the at
least one state variable that is associated with the second
license is based on the at least one state variable that is
associated with the first license.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation from other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license shares a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation with other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a remaining state for content
usage or rights derivation from other generated usage rights
and meta-rights.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license is updated upon exercise of a right
associated with the state variable.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license represents a collection of states.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
generating in a third license, using a processor, one or more
rights from at least one of the usage right and the metaright in the second license,
wherein the one or more rights in the third license includes
at least one right that is shared among one or more users
or devices;
associating, using a processor, at least one state variable
with the at least one right that is shared in the third
license,
wherein the at least one state variable that is associated
with the third license is based on the at least one state
variable that is associated with the second license.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of
state variables that determine the state of the at least one right
that is shared in the first or the second license.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the state variable in the
second license is transferred from the at least one right in the
first license and is associated with the right that is shared in
the second license.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of permitted manners of use for the item include copy, transfer,
loan, play, print, delete, extract, embed, edit, authorize,
install, and nn-install the item.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
generating in a further license, using a processor, one or
more rights based on the meta-right in the second
license, wherein the one or more rights in the further
license includes at least one right that is shared among
one or more users or devices; and
associating, using a processor, at least one state variable
with the at least one right that is shared in the further
license, wherein the at least one state variable that is
associated with the further license is based on the at least
one state variable that is associated with the second
license.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one state
variable that is associated with the second license is the same
as the at least one state variable that is associated with the first
license, if the at least one state variable that is associated with
the first license does not identify an unspecified location.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one state
variable that is associated with the second license is assigned

a new location identification, if the at least one state variable
that is associated with the first license identifies an unspecified location.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein two or more of the
specifYing, defining, associating, and generating steps may
be carried out using a single processor.
15. A system for sharing rights adapted to be associated
with an item, the system comprising:
a processor for specifYing in a first license at least one
usage right and at least one meta-right for the item,
wherein the usage right and the meta-right include at
least one right that is shared among one or more users or
devices;
a processor for defining, via the at least one usage right, a
manner of use selected from a plurality of permitted
manners of use for the item;
a processor for defining, via the at least one meta-right, a
manner of rights creation for the item, wherein said at
least one meta-right is enforceable by a repository and
allows said one or more users or devices to create new
rights;
a processor for associating at least one state variable with
the at least one right in the first license, wherein the at
least one state variable identifies a location where a state
of rights is tracked;
a processor for generating in a second license one or more
rights based on the meta-right in the first license,
wherein the one or more rights in the second license
includes at least one right that is shared among one or
more users or devices; and
a processor for associating at least one state variable with
the at least one right that is shared in the second license,
wherein the at least one state variable that is associated
with the second license is based on the at least one state
variable that is associated with the first license.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation from other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license shares a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation with other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a remaining state for content
usage or rights derivation from other generated usage rights
and meta-rights.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license is updated upon exercise of a right
associated with the state variable.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license represents a collection of states.
21. The system of claim 15, further comprising:
a processor for generating in a third license one or more
rights from at least one of the usage right and the metaright in the second license,
wherein the one or more rights in the third license includes
at least one right that is shared among one or more users
or devices;
a processor for associating at least one state variable with
the at least one right that is shared in the third license,
wherein the at least one state variable that is associated
with the third license is based on the at least one state
variable that is associated with the second license.
22. The system of claim 15, including a plurality of state
variables that determine the state of the at least one right that
is shared in the first or the second license.

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23. The system of claim 15, wherein the state variable in the

28. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the

second license is transferred from the at least one right in the
first license and is associated with the right that is shared in
the second license.
24. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of permitted manners of use for the item include copy, transfer,
loan, play, print, delete, extract, embed, edit, authorize,
install, and nn-install the item.
25. The system of claim 15, wherein a single processor may
be used to carry out two or more of the specifYing, defining,
associating, and generating steps.
26. A device for sharing rights adapted to be associated
with an item, the device comprising:
a repository for receiving a first license specifYing at least
one usage right and at least one meta-right for the item,
wherein the usage right and the meta-right include at
least one right that is shared among one or more users or
devices, the least one usage right defines a marmer of use
selected from a plurality of permitted marmers of use for
the item, the at least one meta-right defines a marmer of
rights creation for the item, said at least one meta-right is
enforceable by a repository and allows said one or more
users or devices to create new rights, at least one state
variable is associated with the at least one right in the
first license and identifies a location where a state of
rights is tracked; and
a processor for generating in a second license one or more
rights based on the meta-right in the first license,
wherein the one or more rights in the second license
includes at least one right that is shared among one or
more users or devices, at least one state variable is as sociated with the at least one right that is shared in the
second license, and the at least one state variable that is
associated with the second license is based on the at least
one state variable that is associated with the first license.
27. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation from other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.

first or second license shares a state thereof for content usage
or rights derivation with other generated usage rights and
meta-rights.
29. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license inherits a remaining state for content
usage or rights derivation from other generated usage rights
and meta-rights.
30. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license is updated upon exercise of a right
associated with the state variable.
31. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the
first or second license represents a collection of states.
32. The device of claim 26, wherein a third license includes
one or more rights from at least one of the usage right and the
meta-right in the second license,
the one or more rights in the third license includes at least
one right that is shared among one or more users or
devices,
at least one state variable is associated with the at least one
right that is shared in the third license, and
the at least one state variable that is associated with the
third license is based on the at least one state variable
that is associated with the second license.
33. The device of claim 26, including a plurality of state
variables that determine the state of the at least one right that
is shared in the first or the second license.
34. The device of claim 26, wherein the state variable in the
second license is transferred from the at least one right in the
first license and is associated with the right that is shared in
the second license.
35. The device of claim 26, wherein the plurality of permitted marmers of use for the item include copy, transfer,
loan, play, print, delete, extract, embed, edit, authorize,
install, and nn-install the item.

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