There is provided a method and system for allocating an entitlement to digital media content. In one implementation, the system includes a media server accessible over a communications network and configured to utilize a processor to issue the entitlement including a transferable authorization to access the digital media content to a first user, and to store an entitlement record identified with the first user and authorizing access to the digital media content by the first user in a memory of the media server. The media server is further configured to receive a communication including a data corresponding to the transferable authorization to access the digital media content from a second user and to update the entitlement record to authorize access to the digital media content by the second user.
BACKGROUND(1) One of the many pleasures associated with the discovery of creative content that stimulates or moves us, is the sharing of that content with friends, family, or peers. Consider music content, for example. Historically, music content was recorded or stored on a physical medium, which served as a tangible proxy for the music it carried. Over time, the physical manifestation of that tangible proxy evolved, for example, from vinyl records, to magnetic tape cartridges, to optical compact discs (CDs), but the relationship of the music content to the medium storing the music was essentially inseparable. In that environment, in order to share content with others, we either had to share the experience in common, i.e., listen to the music together, or we had to temporarily transfer possession of the medium storing the content, e.g., I lend a CD to my friend and concurrently relinquish possession of the CD for the period of the loan.(2) Today, however, much of the creative content we consume is likely to be in the form of digital media files, which are readily reproduced, in whole or in part, and redistributed using our personal computers (PCs) or other increasingly ubiquitous personal communication devices. Consequently, while advances in technology have made it easier than ever before to make content available for others to enjoy, those advances no longer require that we share the content in the traditional sense described above, because we are no longer required to reli
1. A method for allocating access to a digital movie of a plurality of digital movies, the method comprising: obtaining, by a media server, a primary license over a network from an originating license server for using the digital movie having a plurality of video frames; receiving, by the media server, a first request over the network from a first user requesting a first right to access the digital movie stored in a single media file; determining, by the media server, a first secondary license based on the primary license in response to the first request from the first user; providing, by the media server, a first license key to the first user for making use of not the entirety but a first predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames being streamed by the media server from the single media file, in response to the first request, to the first user, wherein the first predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames are made unavailable for licensing to other users while being streamed by the media server from the single media file, and wherein each of the first predetermined number of video frames is made available for licensing to the other users immediately upon completion of streaming each of the first predetermined number of video frames to the first user; and providing, by the media server, a second license key to a second user for making use of not the entirety but a second predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames, other than the first predetermined number of video frames, being streamed by the media server from the single media file, in response to a second request by the second user, to the second user while the first predetermined number of video frames are being streamed to the first user.
9. A media server for allocating access to a digital movie of a plurality of digital movies, the media server comprising: a processor configured to: obtain a primary license over a network from an originating license server for using the digital movie having a plurality of video frames; receive a first request over the network from a first user requesting a first right to access the digital movie stored in a single media file; determine a first secondary license based on the primary license in response to the first request from the first user; provide a first license key to the first user for making use of not the entirety but a first predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames being streamed by the media server from the single media file, in response to the first request, to the first user, wherein the first predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames are made unavailable for licensing to other users while being streamed by the media server from the single media file, and wherein each of the first predetermined number of video frames is made available for licensing to the other users immediately upon completion of streaming each of the first predetermined number of video frames to the first user; and provide a second license key to a second user for making use of not the entirety but a second predetermined number of video frames of the plurality of the video frames, other than the first predetermined number of video frames, being streamed by the media server from the single media file, in response to a second request by the second user, to the second user while the first predetermined number of video frames are being streamed to the first user.