Clearinghouse Mediator for Digital Rights Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in accessing digital works due to the need for multiple subscriptions with publishers, making it impractical, while digital work owners struggle to control and sell their content effectively.
Innovation Solution
A media access system comprising a user interface, a rendering device, a clearinghouse communicator, and an enable mechanism that allows users to choose digital works, obtain rights criteria, and render them based on received rights defining information, enabling secure and controlled access through a remote clearinghouse and payment processor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users obtain digital works through multiple publisher subscriptions, then access to digital works is enabled, but system complexity and cost increase making it impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a clearinghouse as an intermediary system that mediates between users and multiple publishers. The clearinghouse receives rights criteria from publishers, processes access requests, and returns rights defining information to enable rendering. This intermediary consolidates the complexity of managing multiple publisher relationships into a single system, allowing users to access digital works from multiple publishers through one interface without directly managing multiple subscriptions.
2Reliability
If digital work owners maintain direct control over distribution, then copyright protection is improved, but ease of operation and distribution efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The clearinghouse acts as a trusted intermediary that implements copyright protection mechanisms while simplifying distribution control for digital work owners. Owners publish their rights criteria to the clearinghouse, which then automatically processes access requests and enforces rights defining information. This allows owners to maintain copyright protection through automated rights management without needing to directly control or monitor each distribution transaction, significantly easing operational burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables digital work owners to set up their rights criteria and access control parameters in advance with the clearinghouse. Once configured, the clearinghouse automatically processes access requests, evaluates rights criteria, and enforces copyright protection without requiring ongoing direct intervention from owners. This self-service approach maintains reliable copyright protection while dramatically improving ease of operation for distribution.
3Ease of operation
If a centralized clearinghouse system is implemented, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clearinghouse system is segmented into distinct functional components: a receiver that collects access requests and rights criteria, a processor that evaluates rights criteria against requested digital works, and a renderer that produces rights defining information. This segmentation allows the complex clearinghouse functionality to be distributed and managed in modular units, reducing the perceived complexity for users while maintaining centralized control for ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with one embodiment, apparatus are provided that comprise a user interface, a rendering device, a clearinghouse communicator, and an enable mechanism. The user interface includes a digital work choosing mechanism to choose a digital work for rendering. At least one repository holds digital works and includes the chosen digital work. The rendering device obtains a representation of the chosen digital work from the repository and renders the chosen digital work. A clearinghouse communicator electronically sends rights criteria to a remote clearinghouse and receives rights defining information from the clearinghouse. The enable mechanism enables the rendering device to render the chosen digital work in accordance with the rights defining information.