Content rights management for document contents and systems, structures, and methods therefor

• US 8,458,273 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Graham, Chris, Cahill, Jason, Brown, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Osman, Ramy M
• Application Number:
  US12/967,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20110083196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/226, 709/229, 709/203, 709/217, 713/153, 713/170, 713/172
• US Class Current: 709/206
• 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: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0825 using asymmetric-key encryption or public key infrastructure [PKI], e.g. key signature or public key certificates

Abstract

A document comprises a body having at least one defined portion therein, each defined portion being represented in the body of the document as a body object, each of the document and each body object therein being rights-managed as protected content based on license terms specified in a digital license. A recipient of the document can render the protected content of each of the document and each body object therein by acquiring the digital license and satisfying the license terms set forth in the digital license.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising a memory storing computer-executable instructions and a processor programmed by said computer-executable instructions so as to form a document comprising a body having at least one defined portion therein, each defined portion being separately represented in the body of the document as a body object, each of the document and each body object therein being rights-managed as protected content based on license terms specified in a digital license, whereby a recipient of the document can separately render the protected content of each of the document and each body object therein by acquiring separately the digital license for the document and each of the body objects and satisfying the license terms set forth in the digital license for the document and each of the body objects.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each defined portion was itself rights-managed as protected content according to predefined rights data, and wherein the corresponding body object in the body of the document is also rights-managed as protected content according to the same predefined rights data.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the body has a plurality of defined portions therein, the plurality of defined portions being represented in the body of the document as a plurality of serially arranged body objects.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the body has a plurality of defined portions therein, the plurality of defined portions being represented in the body of the document as a plurality of nested body objects.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one defined portion is split into multiple parts, each part being represented in the body of the document as a body object, each of the document and each body object therein being rights-managed as protected content.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the at least one defined portion was itself rights-managed as protected content according to predefined rights data, and wherein the corresponding body object of each part in the body of the document is also rights-managed as protected content according to the same predefined rights data.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein a portion of the body is interposed between a pair of the multiple parts of the defined portion, the body portion comprising a comment on such defined portion.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the body portion is a body object.