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

• US 7,549,062 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2003
• Issued: 06/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Walker, Mark, Antonoff, Lauren, Cahill, Jason, Kouznetsov, Pavel, Ornstein, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman; Brandon S
• Application Number:
  US10/607,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20040268137A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,181 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 system for an enabled recipient to handle a received rights-managed document having protected content from an author thereof, whereby the recipient can render the protected content with a corresponding license if the recipient satisfies terms set forth in the license, the system comprising:

a rights management server computer; and

the rights-managed 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 and 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,

wherein the rights data is forwarded to the rights management server computer, and the recipient if enabled by the rights data can render the protected content in the custom data portion and if not enabled by the rights data can only review the storage portion having the message,

wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is encrypted according to a cryptographic key, the rights data including a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted content, the decryption key being encrypted according to a public key of the rights management server computer to result in an encrypted decryption key, the rights management server computer accessing the decryption key from the encrypted decryption key with a corresponding private key if the recipient is enabled by the rights data.

2. 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.

3. The document of claim 1 wherein the protected content is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof.

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

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

6. 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.

7. A method for an enabled recipient to handle a received rights-managed document with protected content from an author, the method comprising:

receiving 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 and 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;

recognizing based on the storage portion that the document has the protected content in the custom data portion thereof, the protected content being encrypted and decryptable according to a decryption key, the decryption key being encrypted according to a public key of a rights management server to result in an encrypted decryption key that is stored in the custom data portion;

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

forwarding the retrieved rights data to the rights management server, such rights management 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 the decryption key from the rights data;

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

retrieving the decryption key from the license; and

rendering the decrypted content.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising storing the issued license in a section of the custom data portion of the document.

9. The method of claim 7 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.

10. The method of claim 7 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.

11. A tangible computer-readable storage 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 and 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,

wherein the rights data is forwarded to a rights management server, and the recipient if enabled by the rights data can render the protected content in the custom data portion and if not enabled by the rights data can only review the storage portion having the message,

wherein the protected content in the custom data portion is encrypted according to a cryptographic key, the rights data including a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted content, the decryption key being encrypted according to a public key of the rights management server to result in an encrypted decryption key, the rights management server accessing the decryption key from the encrypted decryption key with a corresponding private key if the recipient is enabled by the rights data.

12. The medium of claim 11 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.

13. The medium of claim 11 wherein the protected content is compressed to reduce an overall size thereof.

14. The medium of claim 11 wherein the document comprises a word processing document.

15. The medium of claim 11 wherein the custom data further has a section including an obtained license.

16. The medium of claim 11 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.

17. A tangible computer-readable storage 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 method comprising:

receiving 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 and 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;

recognizing based on the storage portion that the document has the protected content in the custom data portion thereof, the protected content being encrypted and decryptable according to a decryption key, the decryption key being encrypted according to a public key of a rights management server to result in an encrypted decryption key that is stored in the custom data portion;

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

forwarding the retrieved rights data to the rights management server, such rights management 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 the decryption key from the rights data;

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

retrieving the decryption key from the license; and

rendering the decrypted content.

18. The medium of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises storing the issued license in a section of the custom data portion of the document.

19. The medium of claim 17 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.

20. The medium of claim 17 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.