- Number
- 11409891
- Published
- 2022-08-09
- Filed
- 2020-01-03
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Schonfeld; Robert, Robert; Arnaud
- CPC
- H04N21/2541; G06F21/6209; H04L63/10; G06F21/10; H04N21/835
- Verdict
- Set aside media rental service, 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. Field of the Invention (1) 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. 2. Background Art (2) 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. (3) 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 anyone
Claims
1. A method for use by a media server for allocating access to a digital media file to a plurality of users, the method comprising: obtaining, using a hardware processor of the media server and from an originating license server, a first primary license authorizing the media server to grant a first number of first secondary licenses for the digital media file; receiving, using the hardware processor of the media server, a request for access to the digital media file from a first client system of a first user of the plurality of users over a communications network; determining, using the hardware processor of the media server and in response to the request, whether the first number of first secondary licenses of the first primary license 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 first number of first secondary licenses of the first primary license is reached, the second primary license authorizing the media server to grant a second number of second secondary licenses for the digital media file; 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 each of the first primary license and the second primary license authorizes granting concurrent access to the digital media file by the media server to two or more of the plurality of users, thereby eliminating a need for storing another copy of the digital media file in the media server; and copying or streaming, using the hardware processor of the media server, the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network based on one of the second secondary licenses, in response to the request from the first client system of the first user, concurrently with copying or streaming, at least in part, the digital media file to a second client system of a second user of the plurality of users over the communications network based on another one of the second secondary licenses. ||
8. A media server for allocating access to a digital media file to a plurality of users, the media server comprising: a hardware processor configured to: obtain from an originating license server a first primary license authorizing the media server to grant a first number of first secondary licenses for the digital media file; receive a request for access to the digital media file from a first client system of a first user of the plurality of users over a communications network; determine, in response to the request, whether the first number of first secondary licenses of the first primary license is reached; request a second primary license for the media file from the originating license server, in response to determining that the first number of first secondary licenses of the first primary license is reached, the second primary license authorizing the media server to grant a second number of second secondary licenses for the digital media file; obtain the second primary license from the originating license server, in response to requesting the second primary license from the originating license server, wherein each of the first primary license and the second primary license authorizes granting concurrent access to the digital media file by the media server to two or more of the plurality of users, thereby eliminating a need for storing another copy of the digital media file in the media server; and copy or stream the digital media file to the first client system over the communications network based on one of the second secondary licenses, in response to the request from the first client system of the first user, concurrently with copying or streaming, at least in part, the digital media file to a second client system of a second user of the plurality of users over the communications network based on another one of the second secondary licenses.