Method and system for managing rights for digital music
First Claim
7. A method for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
- maintaining, by a digital archive of songs, for a song stored in the digital archive, a maximum number of permitted copies of the song;
tracking, within the digital archive, for the song, a count of music players that copied the song from the digital archive;
permitting a music player to copy the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song; and
restricting a music player from copying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method is described for managing rights for digital music, including registering music players, from among a plurality of music players, with digital archives that store songs, from among a plurality of digital archives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to music players, and from music players to digital archives, permitting a music player to copy a song from a digital archive for which it is registered, permitting a digital archive to copy a song from a music player that is registered with the digital archive, restricting a music player from copying a song from a digital archive for which it is not registered, and restricting a digital archive from copying a song from a music player that is not registered with the digital archive. A system and a computer-readable storage medium are also described.
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Citations
37 Claims
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7. A method for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
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maintaining, by a digital archive of songs, for a song stored in the digital archive, a maximum number of permitted copies of the song;
tracking, within the digital archive, for the song, a count of music players that copied the song from the digital archive;
permitting a music player to copy the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song; and
restricting a music player from copying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
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registering groups of digital audio devices from among a plurality of digital audio devices with one another, the digital audio devices being able to store digital songs and to copy digital songs from one to another;
labeling digital songs stored within digital audio devices according to copyright privileges;
determining whether or not a song may be copied from a source digital audio device to a target digital audio device; and
prescribing the label of a song within the target digital audio device when the song is copied from the source digital audio device to the target digital audio device, wherein said determining and said prescribing are based on the source digital audio device, the target digital audio device and the label of the song within the source digital audio device, and also based on whether or not the source and target digital audio devices are registered with one another. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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14-1. The method of claim 12 wherein labels of songs include an owned version label.
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15-2. The method of claim 12 wherein labels of songs include a purchased version label.
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17. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a device to perform a method comprising:
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registering music players, from among a plurality of music players, with digital archives that store songs, from among a plurality of digital archives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to music players, and from music players to digital archives;
permitting a music player to copy a song from a digital archive for which it is registered;
permitting a digital archive to copy a song from a music player that is registered with the digital archive;
restricting a music player from copying a song from a digital archive for which it is not registered; and
restricting a digital archive from copying a song from a music player that is not registered with the digital archive.
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18. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a device to perform a method comprising:
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maintaining, by a digital archive of songs, for a song stored in the digital archive, a maximum number of permitted copies of the song;
tracking, within the digital archive, for the song, a count of music players that copied the song from the digital archive;
permitting a music player to copy the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song; and
preventing a music player from copying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song.
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19. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a device to perform a method comprising:
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registering groups of digital audio devices from among a plurality of digital audio devices with one another, the digital audio devices being able to store digital songs and to copy digital songs from one to another;
labeling digital songs stored within digital audio devices according to copyright privileges;
determining whether or not a song may be copied from a source digital audio device to a target digital audio device; and
prescribing the label of a song within the target digital audio device when the song is copied from the source digital audio device to the target digital audio device, wherein said determining and said prescribing are based on the source digital audio device, the target digital audio device and the label of the song within the source digital audio device, and also based on whether or not the source and target digital audio devices are registered with one another.
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20. A system for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
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a plurality of digital archives that store songs;
a plurality of music players at least some of which are registered with digital archives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to music players, and from music players to digital archives; and
a rights manager housed within a digital archive permitting a music player to copy a song from the digital archive if the music player is registered with the digital archive, permitting the digital archive to copy a song from a music player if the music player is registered with the digital archive, restricting a music player from copying a song from the digital archive if the music player is not registered with the digital archive, and restricting the digital archive from copying a song from a music player if the music player is not registered with the digital archive. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
a digital archive of songs comprising;
a database manager for maintaining a maximum number of permitted copies of a song, for a song stored within the digital archive, and for tracking a count of music players that copied the song from the digital archive; and
a rights manager for permitting a music player to copy the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song, and for restricting a music player from copying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for managing rights for digital music, comprising:
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a plurality of audio devices, each being able to store digital songs and to copy digital songs from one to another, wherein groups of the digital audio devices are registered with one another; and
a database manager for labeling digital songs stored within digital audio devices according to copyright privileges, for determining whether or not a song may be copied from a source digital audio device to a target digital audio device, and for prescribing the label of a song within the target digital audio device when the song is copied from the source digital audio device to the target digital audio device, wherein said determining and said prescribing are based on the source digital audio device, the target digital audio device and the label of the song within the source digital device, and also based on whether or not the source and target digital audio devices are registered with one another. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification