METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING RIGHTS FOR DIGITAL MUSIC
First Claim
1. 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.
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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.
114 Citations
11 Claims
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1. 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 (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. 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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7. 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 (8, 9, 10, 11)
Specification