Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Multiple computer communication using cryptography – Protection at a particular protocol layer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-10
2003-09-09
Peeso, Thomas R. (Department: 2132)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Multiple computer communication using cryptography
Protection at a particular protocol layer
C713S168000, C713S193000, C713S152000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06618808
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic rights management and authorization system and, in particular, to a system for managing rights and authorizing uses of intellectual property rights, real property interests, contract interests, and similar items.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various organizations participate in the activity of rights management. Municipalities maintain title offices in which the ownership of real property is recorded. Federal and state governments maintain offices for the registration and recording of intellectual property rights, including rights in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and mask works. Collective rights organizations serve as clearinghouses for licensing various works. Two well-known collective rights organizations are the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). The assignee of the present invention, Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), is a third collective rights organization. Several other similar organizations exist, including stock photography agencies and multimedia licensing groups.
A variety of schemes for managing rights have been devised. An early technique, which continues to be used by many, is the use of index cards. Each card represents and identifies a unique item or work indexed by the system, such as a tract of land, a patent, or a publication. Information associated with each item or work may be added to the cards. Thus, for a tract of land, one may include the owner; for a patent, the assignee of the patent; and for a publication, its author. Other information is often associated with each card.
With the advent of computing, most index card systems have been translated to electronic form. Electronic systems capture the information previously collected on index cards and organize this information into flat-file or relational databases. Flat-file databases consist of one file, which contains one record for each unique item or work. For example, prior art systems organize real property interests in systems that include one record for each tract of land within a county's boundaries. Other prior art systems for land management include one record for each transaction that has occurred within a county's boundaries.
Relational databases contain at least two database files. For example, literary works are managed in prior art systems that include a first database file with an entry for each work, linked to a second database file with author information. To the extent that any author wrote multiple works, the use of the second database file saves storage space. However, these and other prior art electronic rights management systems do not offer functional advantages over the index card system other than in the time it takes to perform a search and in the physical storage constraints of the system.
In particular, prior art systems fail to address three concerns that have become increasingly apparent in the context of digital and multimedia works. First, rights are dynamic. For example, a periodical may be published by a first publisher and later acquired by a second publisher. The second publisher may, for example, permit duplication of materials from the last twelve months for a base fee plus $1.25 per page, while materials from a prior year are at a lower base fee plus 25¢ per page. The first publisher may retain rights to materials prior to a particular date. An effective rights authorization system should recognize the different publishers as well as the time-based rate changes inherent in the second publisher's pricing. It should also permit this information to be altered over time.
Second, rights are often not one dimensional. Several types of use may be permissible for different items or works. Some types of use may also foreclose others, such as a one-time grant of an exclusive right. For published works, rights include the traditional copyright rights, each of which is infinitely divisible. The reproduction right may be licensed at different rates for different customers (e.g., educational, not-for-profit, or commercial user rates), for different media of use (e.g., paper, CD-ROM, intranet, or Internet), for different volumes of use (e.g., one copy, several copies, or an unlimited number of copies), and for different times (e.g., a particular year). These types of use may further be subject to retained rights (attribution, reversion, “moral” and the like) of the author in certain jurisdictions. An effective rights authorization system should be capable of recognizing these types of use and/or restrictions.
Third, items or works are granular. A journal contains many articles, each of which may have different ownership, use, and pricing parameters. A particular article may have subcomponents with different characteristics, such as embedded photographs, illustrations, and charts. For example, a potential licensee interested only in a photograph that appears in an article may find that rights to the photograph are retained by the photographer and are not available, or that rights to the photograph are available independent of, and on different terms than, rights to the entire article. A granter of rights may also combine various items or works into different packages. A publisher may price rights to a collection of ten journals at a reduced rate. A potential licensee interested in the two most-popular journals may find this pricing option attractive, while a potential licensee interested in two lesser-known journals (already priced at low individual rates) may find this option unattractive. In either case, an effective rights authorization system should be flexible and allow granularities.
These concerns are not limited to new media works. Similar problems arise, for example, in the context of managing real property. The problem of time variability is reflected in the illustrative situation where the owner of a parcel of land offers the parcel for lease, with the subsequent lessee then offering the land for sublet at a first rate for commercial use and at a second rate for non-profit use, both rates escalating over time. Type of use and granularity may also be involved. The owner of adjoining beach-front properties may offer an easement to the set. This involves a type of use other than ownership, with a granularity of more than one parcel of land. An effective rights management and authorization system should recognize these complex arrangements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an electronic system for managing and authorizing rights. With the present invention, clearinghouse functions may be provided, while accounting for the problems of time variability, type of use, and granularity. The present invention provides for fully automated rights management and authorization.
The data structure of the present invention divides works and rights. A first data file contains works. Each record in the works table includes information sufficient to identify one or more works managed by the system. A second data file contains rights. Each record in the rights table is associated with one or more works and may include up to three date fields, including a validity date field, an effective date field, and a permission date field. The function of these date fields is explained in the detailed description of the invention. In general, at least one date field is needed to account for the dynamic nature of rights.
To account for different types of use, the rights table may include a type of use field. This field identifies a particular right for which authorization is given (or withheld). For example, in a system for copyright clearance, the type of use may be the right to reproduce in the context of a university coursepack. A right to reproduce for commercial purposes may be withheld. This field may further include price information for the type of use, have a separate field for such information, or be linked to a separate table that provides such information.
To account for granularity, a work relation tabl
Atkins Christine J.
Johnson Woodrow W.
Parece Thomas M.
Yoh Jon A.
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Kudirka & Jobse LLP
Peeso Thomas R.
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