Organization-based content rights management and systems, structures, and methods therefor

• US 20040268137A1
• Filed: 06/27/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Antonoff, Lauren, Cahill, Jason, Walker, Mark, Kouznetsov, Pavel, Ornstein, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,549,062 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/193
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]

Abstract

A rights-managed document has protected content from an author thereof, whereby a recipient of the document can render the protected content with a corresponding license if the recipient satisfies terms set forth in the license. In the document, a storage portion has a message that the document is rights management protected, and a custom data portion has a section including the protected content. The recipient if enabled can render the protected content in the custom data portion and if not enabled can only review the storage portion having the message. An enabled recipient handles the received rights-managed document by recognizing that the document has the protected content in the custom data portion thereof, and discounting the storage portion of the document. Thus, the recipient examines the custom data portion of the document and proceeds based thereon to render the protected content in the custom data portion.

Claims

1. A rights-managed document having protected content from an author thereof, whereby a recipient of the document can render the protected content with a corresponding license if the recipient satisfies terms set forth in the license, the document comprising:

a storage portion having a message that the document is rights management protected; and

a custom data portion having a section including the protected content,

wherein the recipient if enabled can render the protected content in the custom data portion and if not enabled can only review the storage portion having the message.

2. The document of claim 1 wherein the custom data portion further has a section including rights data relating to the protected content, the rights data setting forth each entity that has rights with respect to the protected content, and for each such entity a description of such rights.

3. The document of claim 2 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is encrypted according to a cryptographic key, and the rights data includes a decryption key (KD) for decrypting the encrypted content.

4. The document of claim 3 wherein the decryption key (KD) is encrypted according to a public key of a rights management (RM) server (PU-RM) operated by or on behalf of an organization of the author to result in (PU-RM(KD)), where only the RM server can access (KD) from (PU-RM(KD)) with a corresponding private key (PR-RM).

5. The document of claim 1 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion comprises multiple alternative forms of a body of the document, whereby the recipient can select from among the alternative forms when rendering the protected content.

6. The document of claim 1 wherein the protected content in the attachment portion is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof.

7. The document of claim 1 comprising a word processing document.

8. The document of claim 1 wherein the custom data further has a section including an obtained license.

9. The document of claim 1 wherein the custom data further has a section including a transform specifying each section of custom data that is encrypted and each section of custom data with a license by which a decryption key (KD) may be obtained.

10. The document of claim 1 wherein the custom data further has a section including a transform specifying each section of custom data that is compressed and how the section is compressed.

11. A method for an enabled recipient to handle a received rights-managed document with protected content from an author, the document comprising a storage portion having a message that the document is rights management protected and a custom data portion having a section including the protected content, the method comprising:

receiving the document;

recognizing that the document has the protected content in the custom data portion thereof;

discounting the storage portion of the document; and

examining the custom data portion of the document and proceeding based thereon to render the protected content in the custom data portion.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the protected content is encrypted and is decryptable according to a decryption key (KD), wherein the custom data portion further has a section including rights data relating to the protected content, the rights data including (KD) and setting forth each entity that has rights with respect to the protected content and for each such entity a description of such rights, and wherein rendering the protected content in the custom data portion comprises:

retrieving the rights data in the custom data portion of the document;

forwarding the retrieved rights data to a rights management (RM) server, such RM server for determining that the recipient is an entity listed in the rights data and issuing to the recipient a license corresponding to the protected content to the recipient based on the rights data, such license specifying rights the recipient has with respect to the protected content as determined from the rights data and also including (KD) from the rights data encrypted in a manner decryptable by the recipient;

reviewing the issued license to determine that the recipient has a right to render the protected content of the custom data portion of the document;

retrieving (KD) from the license;

decrypting the protected content with (KD); and

rendering the decrypted content.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising storing the issued license in a section of the custom data portion of the document.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion comprises multiple alternative forms of a body of the document, the method further comprising selecting from among the alternative forms when rendering the protected content.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof, the method further comprising decompressing the protected content.

16. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure comprising a rights-managed document having protected content from an author thereof, whereby a recipient of the document can render the protected content with a corresponding license if the recipient satisfies terms set forth in the license, the document comprising:

a storage portion having a message that the document is rights management protected; and

a custom data portion having a section including the protected content,

wherein the recipient if enabled can render the protected content in the custom data portion and if not enabled can only review the storage portion having the message.

17. The medium of claim 16 wherein the custom data portion further has a section including rights data relating to the protected content, the rights data setting forth each entity that has rights with respect to the protected content, and for each such entity a description of such rights.

18. The medium of claim 17 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is encrypted according to a cryptographic key, and the rights data includes a decryption key (KD) for decrypting the encrypted content.

19. The medium of claim 18 wherein the decryption key (KD) is encrypted according to a public key of a rights management (RM) server (PU-RM) operated by or on behalf of an organization of the author to result in (PU-RM(KD)), where only the RM server can access (KD) from (PU-RM(KD)) with a corresponding private key (PR-RM).

20. The medium of claim 16 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion comprises multiple alternative forms of a body of the document, whereby the recipient can select from among the alternative forms when rendering the protected content.

21. The medium of claim 16 wherein the protected content in the attachment portion is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof.

22. The medium of claim 16 wherein the document comprises a word processing document.

23. The medium of claim 16 wherein the custom data further has a section including an obtained license.

24. The medium of claim 16 wherein the custom data further has a section including a transform specifying each section of custom data that is encrypted and each section of custom data with a license by which a decryption key (KD) may be obtained.

25. The medium of claim 16 wherein the custom data further has a section including a transform specifying each section of custom data that is compressed and how the section is compressed.

26. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method for an enabled recipient to handle a received rights-managed document with protected content from an author, the document comprising a storage portion having a message that the document is rights management protected and a custom data portion having a section including the protected content, the method comprising:

receiving the document;

recognizing that the document has the protected content in the custom data portion thereof;

discounting the storage portion of the document; and

examining the custom data portion of the document and proceeding based thereon to render the protected content in the custom data portion.

27. The medium of claim 26 wherein the protected content is encrypted and is decryptable according to a decryption key (KD), wherein the custom data portion further has a section including rights data relating to the protected content, the rights data including (KD) and setting forth each entity that has rights with respect to the protected content and for each such entity a description of such rights, and wherein rendering the protected content in the custom data portion comprises:

retrieving the rights data in the custom data portion of the document;

forwarding the retrieved rights data to a rights management (RM) server, such RM server for determining that the recipient is an entity listed in the rights data and issuing to the recipient a license corresponding to the protected content to the recipient based on the rights data, such license specifying rights the recipient has with respect to the protected content as determined from the rights data and also including (KD) from the rights data encrypted in a manner decryptable by the recipient;

reviewing the issued license to determine that the recipient has a right to render the protected content of the custom data portion of the document;

retrieving (KD) from the license;

decrypting the protected content with (KD); and

rendering the decrypted content.

28. The medium of claim 27 wherein the method further comprises storing the issued license in a section of the custom data portion of the document.

29. The medium of claim 26 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion comprises multiple alternative forms of a body of the document, the method further comprising selecting from among the alternative forms when rendering the protected content.

30. The medium of claim 26 wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof, the method further comprising decompressing the protected content.