Method and apparatus for establishing usage rights for digital content to be created in the future

• US 6,876,984 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2001
• Issued: 04/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. (Pendrell Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. (Pendrell Corporation)
• Inventors: Wang, Xin, Tadayon, Bijan, Raley, Michael C., Ta, Thanh T., Nahidipour, Aram, Lao, Guillermo
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEUNG, MARY DA ZHI WANG
• Application Number:
  US09/867,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20020184158A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,405 Days
• Field of Search: 705/18, 705 20- 23, 705 26- 27, 705 50- 59, 380200-203, 713182-186, 707 9- 10, 707100-104
• US Class Current: 705/51
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0021 involving encryption or decryption of contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0071 involving a purchase action
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/102 applying security measure for e-commerce data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

Usage rights for a digital work are established prior to creation of the corresponding content. The rights can be associated with the content after the content is created. A content creation, such as a video recorder or a still camera, device can store labels of the rights and can associate usage rights with content in real time as the content is created.

Claims

1. A method for creating a digital work having content and usage rights related to the content, the digital work being adapted to be used within a system having repositories for controlling use of content, the method comprising:

generating a label having usage rights associated with content of a digital work before the content is created, the usage rights specifying a type of use of the content that is enforceable by a repository;

electronically generating a license based on the label before the content is created;

issuing the license to a consumer before the content is created, the license entitling the consumer to access the content after the content is created;

associating the label with the content after the content is created; and

securing the content and the label to thereby create a digital work having content that can be used only in accordance with the usage rights.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said securing step comprises encrypting and storing the content and the label.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising granting access to the content in accordance with the usage rights.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating step comprises generating usage rights specifying a user'"'"'s right to at least one of alter, edit, copy, print, or view the content.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of creating at least one of a written, aural, graphical, audio, pictorial or video based element as the content after said generating step and before said associating step.

6. A method of claim 5, wherein said creating step comprises recording content with a recording device and wherein said associating step and said securing step are accomplished by the recording device.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein said generating step comprises creating the label in an external computing device and downloading the label into the recording device prior to said associating step.

8. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein said generating step comprises creating the label in the recording device prior to said associating step.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating step further comprises:

assigning a predetermined secure key to be associated with the content and wherein said securing step comprises encrypting the content and the label with the secure key.

10. A system for creating a digital work having content and usage rights, the system comprising:

a content creation device for creating a digital content; and

a rights assignment engine associated with the content creation device, the rights assignment engine automatically attaching predetermined usage rights to the content and securing the content with the usage rights, and receiving a label including the usage rights before the content is created, the usage rights specifying a type of use of the content that is enforceable by the content creation device;

wherein a license based on the label is generated before the content is created and is issued to a consumer before the content is created, the license entitling the consumer to access the content after the content is created, and

the rights assignment engine associates the label with the content after the content is created, and secures the content and the label to thereby create a digital work having content that can be used only in accordance with the usage rights.

11. A system as recited in claim 10, further comprising:

identification device for identifying user of the content creation device; and

means for determining the usage rights based on the user.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification device comprises, a biometrics sensor.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a secure storage medium for the storage of fee and payment information associated with the usage rights.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said content creation device comprises a video recorder.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein said content creation device comprises a still picture camera.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein said content creation device comprises one of a still-image camera, an audio recorder, or a video recorder.

17. A method for creating a digital work having content and usage rights related to the content, the digital work being adapted to be used within a system having repositories for controlling use of content, the method comprising:

generating a label having usage rights associated with content of a digital work before the content is created, the usage rights specifying a type of use of the content that is enforceable by a repository;

storing the label in a content creation device;

electronically generating a license based on the label before the content is created;

issuing the license to a consumer before the content is created, the license entitling the consumer to access the content after the content is created;

creating the content with the content creation device;

associating the label with the content after the content is created; and

securing the content and the label to thereby create a digital work having content that can be used only in accordance with the usage rights.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said securing step comprises encrypting and storing the content and the label.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising granting access to the content in accordance with the usage rights.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein said generating step comprises generating usage rights specifying a user'"'"'s right to at least one of alter, edit, copy, print, or view the content.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said creating step comprises creating at least one of a written, aural, graphical, audio, pictorial or video based element as the content.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein said generating step further comprises:

assigning a predetermined secure key to be associated with the content and wherein said securing step comprises encrypting the content and the label with the secure key.

23. A method of claim 22 wherein said creating step comprises making a recording with a recording device and wherein said associating step and said securing step are accomplished by the recording device.

24. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein said generating step comprises creating the label in a computing device and downloading the label into the recording device prior to said associating step.

25. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein said generating step comprises creating the label in the recording device prior to said associating step.