Systems and methods for licensing one or more data streams from an encoded digital media file

• US 7,581,255 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2003
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: West, Cory R., Alkove, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moise; Emmanuel L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Teslovich; Tamara
• Application Number:
  US10/349,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20040143760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,408 Days
• Field of Search: 726/21, 726/26, 380/201
• US Class Current: 726/26
• 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

Systems and methods to license combinations of one or more data streams from an encoded file including multiple data streams are described. In one aspect, the encoded file is accessed from a data source. A header is generated to specify a first group of one or more data streams for licensing independent of a second group of one or more data streams. The data stream content in the first group is not equivalent to the data stream content of the second group. A number of business rules are identified to indicate respective licensing strategies for the data streams in the first and second groups. A data file is generated to encapsulate the header and an encrypted version of the encoded media. An end-user is provided access to the data streams in the first and/or second groups via the data file and the header according to the respective licensing strategies.

Claims

1. In a computer system coupled to a data source, a method comprising:

accessing an encoded media file from the data source, the encoded media file comprising multiple data streams, each data stream representing a respective source of digital content that is different from source(s) associated with other respective ones of the data streams;

creating a plurality of groups comprising at least a first group and a second group, wherein;

each one of the plurality of groups comprises one or more individual ones of the multiple data streams in the encoded media file, and

each of the plurality of groups is independent of one another in that a combination of data streams in any one of the plurality of groups is not equivalent to a combination of data streams in any other one of the plurality of groups;

identifying a plurality of business rules comprising at least a first business rule and a second business rule, the first business rule being different than the second business rule, the plurality of business rules each providing a license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing one group of the data streams;

generating a Digital Rights Management (DRM) header, the DRM header having information mapping the plurality of business rules to the plurality of groups of data streams, the mapping comprising;

associating the first group of data streams with the first business rule; and

associating the second group of data streams with the second business rule,

creating a data file comprising the DRM header and an encrypted version of the plurality of groups of data streams, the creating comprising;

encrypting the plurality of groups of data streams including the first and the second group of data streams; and

combining the DRM header with the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams to form the data file; and

providing an end-user, based on a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license, individual access to each of the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams comprising the encrypted first group of data streams and the encrypted second group of data streams in the data file via the DRM header in the data file, wherein;

access of the encrypted first group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule, and

access of the encrypted second group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple data streams comprise any combination of one or more video, audio, and/or metadata data stream.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group includes a metadata data stream, wherein the second group includes a different data stream of the data streams, the different data stream not being the metadata data stream, and wherein the metadata data stream is a value added aspect of the different data stream.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

communicating the first and second business rules to a license server; and

sending the data file to a content distributor;

wherein the license server and the content distributor are part of a Digital Rights Management computing system.

5. A tangible computer-readable data storage medium comprising computer-program instructions executable by a processor in a computer system, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for performing a method comprising:

accessing an encoded media file from a data source, the encoded media file comprising multiple data streams, each data stream representing a respective source of digital content that is different from source(s) associated with other respective ones of the data streams;

creating a plurality of groups comprising at least a first group and a second group, wherein;

each one of the plurality of groups comprises one or more individual ones of the multiple data streams in the encoded media file, and

each of the plurality of groups is independent of one another in that a combination of data streams in any one of the plurality of groups is not equivalent to a combination of data streams in any other one of the plurality of groups;

identifying a plurality of business rules comprising at least a first business rule and a second business rule, the first business rule being different than the second business rule, the plurality of business rules each providing a license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing one group of the data streams;

generating a Digital Rights Management (DRM) header, the DRM header having information mapping the plurality of business rules to the plurality of groups of data streams, the mapping comprising;

associating the first group of data streams with the first business rule; and

associating the second group of data streams with the second business rule;

wherein the DRM header is presented in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) data format;

creating a data file comprising the DRM header and an encrypted version of the plurality of groups of data streams, the creating comprising;

encrypting the plurality of groups of data streams including the first and the second group of data streams; and

combining the DRM header with the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams to form the data file; and

providing an end-user, based on a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license, individual access to each of the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams comprising the encrypted first group of data streams and the encrypted second group of data streams in the data file via the DRM header in the data file, wherein;

access of the encrypted first group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule, and

access of the encrypted second group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the multiple data streams comprise any combination of one or more video, audio, and/or metadata data streams.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the first group includes a metadata data stream, wherein the second group includes a different data stream of the data streams, the different data stream not being the metadata data stream, and wherein the metadata data stream is a value added aspect of the different data stream.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein providing an end user access comprises:

communicating the first and second business rules to a license server; and

sending the data file to a content distributor;

wherein the license server and the content distributor are part of a Digital Rights Management computing system.

9. A computing device for licensing one or more data streams from an encoded digital media file, the computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to implement a method, the method comprising;

accessing an encoded media file from a data source, the encoded media file comprising multiple data streams, each data stream representing a respective source of digital content that is different from source(s) associated with other respective ones of the data streams;

creating a plurality of groups comprising at least a first group and a second group, wherein;

each one of the plurality of groups comprises one or more individual ones of the multiple data streams in the encoded media file, and

each of the plurality of groups is independent of one another in that a combination of data streams in any one of the plurality of groups is not equivalent to a combination of data streams in any other one of the plurality of groups;

identifying a plurality of business rules comprising at least a first business rule and a second business rule, the first business rule being different than the second business rule, the plurality of business rules each providing a license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing one group of the data streams;

generating a Digital Rights Management (DRM) header, the DRM header having information mapping the plurality of business rules to the plurality of groups of data streams, the mapping comprising;

associating the first group of data streams with the first business rule; and

associating the second group of data streams with the second business rule;

wherein the DRM header is presented in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) data format;

creating a data file comprising the DRM header and an encrypted version of the plurality of groups of data streams, the creating comprising;

encrypting the plurality of groups of data streams including the first and the second group of data streams; and

combining the DRM header with the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams to form the data file; and

providing an end-user, based on a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license, individual access to each of the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams comprising the encrypted first group of data streams and the encrypted second group of data streams in the data file via the DRM header in the data file, wherein;

access of the encrypted first group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule, and

access of the encrypted second group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the multiple data streams comprise any combination of one or more video, audio, and/or metadata data streams.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the first group includes a metadata data stream, wherein the second group includes a different data stream of the data streams, the different data stream not being the metadata data stream, and wherein the metadata data stream is a value added aspect of the different data stream.

12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein providing an end-user access comprises:

communicating the first and second business rules to a license server; and

sending the data file to a content distributor;

wherein the license server and the content distributor are part of a Digital Rights Management computing system.

13. A computing device for licensing one or more data streams from an encoded digital media file, the computing device comprising:

a processor;

memory coupled to the processor, the memory having computer-program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to implement;

means for accessing an encoded media file from a data source, the encoded media file comprising multiple data streams, each data stream representing a respective source of digital content that is different from source(s) associated with other respective ones of the data streams;

means for creating a plurality of groups comprising at least a first group and a second group, wherein;

each one of the plurality of groups comprises one or more individual ones of the multiple data streams in the encoded media file, and

each of the plurality of groups is independent of one another in that a combination of data streams in any one of the plurality of groups is not equivalent to a combination of data streams in any other one of the plurality of groups;

means for identifying a plurality of business rules comprising at least a first business rule and a second business rule, the first business rule being different than the second business rule, the plurality of business rules each providing a license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing one group of the data streams;

means for generating a Digital Rights Management (DRM) header, the DRM header having information mapping the plurality of business rules to the plurality of groups of data streams, the mapping comprising;

associating the first group of data streams with the first business rule; and

associating the second group of data streams with the second business rule;

means for creating a data file comprising the DRM header and an encrypted version of the plurality of groups of data streams, the creating comprising;

encrypting the plurality of groups of data streams including the first and the second group of data streams; and

combining the DRM header with the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams to form the data file; and

means for providing an end-user, based on a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license, individual access to each of the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams comprising the encrypted first group of data streams and the encrypted second group of data streams in the data file via the DRM header in the data file, wherein;

access of the encrypted first group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule, and

access of the encrypted second group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the multiple data streams comprise any combination of one or more video, audio, and/or metadata data streams.

15. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the first group includes a metadata data stream, wherein the second group includes a different data stream of the data streams, the different data stream not being the metadata data stream, and wherein the metadata data stream is a value added aspect of the different data stream.

16. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the means for providing comprise:

means for communicating the first and second business rules to a license server; and

means for sending the data file to a content distributor;

wherein the license server and the content distributor are part of a Digital Rights Management computing system.

17. A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure and computer-program instructions executable by a processor, the computer-program instructions when executed by the processor for performing operations using the data structure to license different combinations of one or more encrypted data streams from an encoded digital media file comprising multiple data streams, the data structure comprising:

a header data field having information for mapping a plurality of business rules to the different combination of the one or more encrypted data streams, the plurality of business rules comprising a first business rule and a second business rule, the different combination of the one or more encrypted data streams comprising a first group and a second group of the one or more encrypted data streams, the mapping comprising;

associating the first group of the one or more encrypted data streams with the first business rule; and

associating the second group of the one or more encrypted data streams with the second business rule,

wherein;

the header data field is presented in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) data format;

the first group of the one or more encrypted data streams is not equivalent to the second group of the one or more encrypted data streams, and

the first business rule and second business rule each provides a different license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing the first group and the second group of the one or more encrypted data streams mapped in the header; and

an encrypted data object data field for storing the one or more encrypted data streams, the encrypted data object comprising the first group and the second group of the one or more encrypted data streams;

wherein the header data field and the encrypted data field allow a content provider to make the one or more encrypted data streams in the first group and the second group individually accessible to an end-user through a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license; and

wherein the first group of encrypted data streams is accessible to the end-user upon the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule and the second group of encrypted data stream is accessible to the end-user upon the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the multiple data streams comprise any combination of one or more video, audio, and/or metadata data streams.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first group includes a metadata data stream of the multiple data streams, wherein the second group includes a different data stream of the of the multiple data streams, the different data stream not being the metadata data stream, and wherein the metadata data stream is a value added aspect of the different data stream.

20. A computing device comprising the processor and the tangible computer-readable medium of claim 17, the tangible computer-readable medium being coupled to the processor, and wherein the operations further comprising operations for licensing, using the data structure, different combinations of one or more data streams from the encoded digital media file.