Method and system for providing digital media rental

Number: 10565388
Published: 2020-02-18
Filed: 2009-06-26
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Schonfeld; Robert, Robert; Arnaud
CPC: H04N21/835; H04L63/10; G06F21/6209; H04N21/2541; G06F21/10
Verdict: Set aside digital media rental, DRM/business
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

Abstract

There is provided a method and system for allocating access to digital media content. In one embodiment, the system may comprise a media server accessible over a communications network, a processor of the media server being configured to encrypt the digital media content to produce a secondary license for the digital media content, and to provide a temporary license key allowing a user to access at least a first portion of the digital media content during an activation usage interval of the secondary license for that portion of the digital media content assigned to the user. The media server further comprises an assignment database configured to store an assignment status of the license. Such a system is configured to permit the user to access the assigned portion of the digital media content during the usage interval.

Background

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION(1) 1. Field of the Invention(2) The present invention relates generally to the distribution of media content. More particularly, the present invention relates to the computer mediated distribution of digital media content.(3) 2. Background Art(4) Setting aside for a moment the legal and ethical implications of unrestricted content sharing, the nearly unprecedented popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications such as Napster, Grokster, and BitTorrent is testimony to the public's desire to engage in content sharing. A cynical interpretation of such a broad based enthusiasm may lead to the conclusion that the content sharing behavior has been so popular because it was titillatingly illicit, resulted in the acquisition of creative content for free, or for both of those reasons. In retrospect, however, it may be that rather than, or at least in addition to the less admirable motivations often attributed to it, the immediate popularity of file-sharing was a harbinger of the more recent popularity of the Internet based social networking applications that have revolutionalized the way that people, particularly young people, communicate and remain in contact with one another in this increasingly globalized and computer mediated age.(5) Almost anyone who uses personal email, for example, is probably by now familiar with the joys and aggravations flowing from the speed and ease with which large amounts of content can be distributed by almost any

Claims

1. A method for use by a media server for allocating access to a first digital media portion of a digital media file stored in the media server to a first user and a second digital media portion of the digital media file to a second user, where the first digital media portion includes a first number of frames from the digital media file, the second digital media portion includes a second number of frames from the digital media file, and the first number of frames of the first digital media portion and the second number of frames of the second digital media portion of the digital media file are mutually exclusive, the method comprising: obtaining, using a hardware processor of the media server, the digital media file and an associated primary license authorizing a number of secondary licenses from an originating license server; receiving, using the hardware processor of the media server, a first request for access to the digital media file from a first client system of the first user over a communications network; determining, using the hardware processor of the media server, a first secondary license based on the primary license and the first request for access to the digital media file from the first client system of the first user; providing, using the hardware processor of the media server, a first temporary license key to the first user for making use of the first secondary license, the first temporary license key providing access to the first digital media portion of the digital media file; copying or streaming, using the hardware processor of the media server, the first digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network, in response to the first request from the first client system of the first user and provision of the first temporary license key; receiving, using the hardware processor of the media server, a second request for access to the digital media file from a second client system of the second user over the communications network; determining, using the hardware processor of the media server and in response to the second request, whether the number of secondary licenses is reached; requesting, using the hardware processor of the media server, a second primary license for the media file from the originating license server, in response to determining that the number of secondary licenses is reached; obtaining, using the hardware processor of the media server, the second primary license from the originating license server, in response to requesting the second primary license from the originating license server, wherein the first primary license and the second primary license authorize concurrent use of the digital media file by the media server for responding to the first request and the second request for access to the digital media file, thereby eliminating a need for storing another copy of the digital media file in the media server; determining, using the hardware processor of the media server, a second secondary license based on the second primary license and the second request for access to the second digital media portion of the digital media file from the second client system of the second user; providing, using the hardware processor of the media server, a second temporary license key to the second user for making use of the second secondary license, the second temporary license key providing access to the second digital media portion of the digital media file concurrent with the first temporary license key providing access to the first digital media portion of the digital media file; and copying or streaming, using the hardware processor of the media server, the second digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the second client system over the communications network, in response to the second request from the second client system of the second user and provision of the second temporary license key, concurrently with copying or streaming, at least in part, the first digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network. 8. A system for allocating access to a first digital media portion of a digital media file to a first user and a second digital media portion of the digital media file to a second user, where the first digital media portion includes a first number of frames from the digital media file, the second digital media portion includes a second number of frames from the digital media file, and the first number of frames of the first digital media portion and the second number of frames of the second digital media portion of the digital media file are mutually exclusive, the system comprising: a media server storing the digital media file and accessible over a communications network; a hardware processor of the media server configured to: obtain the digital media file and an associated primary license authorizing a number of secondary licenses from an originating license server; receive a first request for access to the digital media file from a first client system of the first user over a communications network; determine a first secondary license based on the primary license and the first request for access to the digital media file from the first client system of the first user; provide a first temporary license key to the first user for making use of the first secondary license, the first temporary license key providing access to the first digital media portion of the digital media file; copy or stream the first digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network, in response to the first request from the first client system of the first user and provision of the first temporary license key; receive a second request for access to the digital media file from a second client system of the second user over the communications network; determine, in response to the second request, whether the number of secondary licenses is reached; request a second primary license for the media file from the originating license server, in response to determining that the number of secondary licenses is reached; obtain the second primary license from the originating license server, in response to requesting the second primary license from the originating license server, wherein the first primary license and the second primary license authorize concurrent use of the digital media file by the media server for responding to the first request and the second request for access to the digital media file, thereby eliminating a need for storing another copy of the digital media file in the media server; determine a second secondary license based on the second primary license and the second request for access to the second digital media portion of the digital media file from the second client system of the second user; provide a second temporary license key to the second user for making use of the second secondary license, the second temporary license key providing access to the second digital media portion of the digital media file concurrent with the first temporary license key providing access to the first digital media portion of the digital media file; and copy or stream the second digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the second client system over the communications network, in response to the second request from the second client system of the second user and provision of the second temporary license key, concurrently with copying or streaming, at least in part, the first digital media portion obtained from the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network. 13. A method for use by a media server having a hardware processor, the method comprising: obtaining from an originating license server, using the hardware processor, a digital media file and an associated first primary license authorizing a number of first secondary licenses; storing, using the hardware processor, the digital media file in the media server; receiving, using the hardware processor, a first request for access to the digital media file from a first client system of a first user over a communications network; determining, using the hardware processor and in response to the first request, whether the number of the first secondary licenses authorized to be granted is reached; requesting, using the hardware processor, a second primary license for the digital media file from the originating license server, in response to determining that the number of secondary licenses authorized to be granted is reached; obtaining, using the hardware processor, the second primary license from the originating license server, in response to requesting the second primary license from the originating license server; providing, using the hardware processor, a temporary license key to the user for making use of a second secondary license authorized based on the second primary license for the digital media file, the temporary license key providing access to a portion or an entirety of the digital media file; and copying or streaming, using the hardware processor, the portion or the entirety of the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network, in response to the first request and provision of the temporary license key, wherein the first primary license and the second primary license authorize the media server to concurrently, at least in part, copy or stream from the same digital media file, thereby eliminating a need for storing another copy of the digital media file in the media server.