Patent Abstract:
A content distribution system for transporting audio or video licenses between content players that use digital rights management (DRM) is disclosed. The content distribution system includes at least a second license repository and an authentication engine. The second license repository receives second information describing a second plurality of content licenses. A first license repository stores a first plurality of content licenses. The first plurality of content licenses enable use of a plurality of content objects with a first content player within confines of DRM. The second license repository is geographically distant from the first license repository. The authentication engine authorizes the second plurality of content licenses of the second license repository. The second plurality of content licenses enable use of the plurality of content objects with the second content player within the confines of DRM.

Full Description:
This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/375,931, filed on Mar. 15, 2006, which is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/662,807 filed on Mar. 15, 2005, which are both hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This disclosure relates in general to audio and video licensing and, but not by way of limitation, to moving of licensed audio and video to new computing devices. 
     Today there are software players that play audio and video downloaded from the Internet or obtained through other sources. The availability of digital rights management (DRM) has made copyright holders more comfortable with this new paradigm of licensing their audio and video in downloadable form. Different software players use different and incompatible DRM that slows adoption by consumers. 
     A consumer who downloads a song from one download service has to play the song on the corresponding proprietary player. A DRM used by the corresponding proprietary player ties a consumer to that player. Another player is unlikely to play the song as the DRM prevents this use inadvertently because it is incompatible with the DRM used by the new player. For example, a consumer may download a song from the Apple™ music store for their iTunes™ player. Later, should the consumer decide to start using the Rhapsody™ Jukebox, the song would not play. The consumer may have to purchase the song again even though there are arguably rights to use the song with any player. 
     There are programs that disable or strip the DRM from a song such that it can be used with most player. Some take the position that this type of software is illegal and violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States or some other law. Additionally, there are programs that will transcode one codec into another. These programs take a song that might be in a proprietary format and convert it to a format that can be used in a new player. Between the DRM stripping software and the transcoding software, consumers can move their music collection to a new player. This process is complex and, some might say, illegal. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a content distribution system for transporting audio or video licenses between content players that use digital rights management (DRM). The content distribution system includes at least a second license repository and an authentication engine. The second license repository receives second information describing a second plurality of content licenses. A first license repository stores a first plurality of content licenses. The first plurality of content licenses enable use of a plurality of content objects with a first content player within confines of DRM. The second license repository is geographically distant from the first license repository. The authentication engine authorizes the second plurality of content licenses of the second license repository. The second plurality of content licenses enable use of the plurality of content objects with the second content player within the confines of DRM. 
     In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for transporting content licenses from a first content player to a second content player. In one step, a plurality of content licenses is read from a first repository of the first content player. The plurality of content licenses enable use of a plurality of content objects within confines of DRM. The plurality of content licenses are associated with a plurality of licensors. The plurality of content licenses is sent to a store, which is geographically remote to the first repository. Authentication information of a licensee of the plurality content licenses is sent. The plurality of content licenses is written to a second repository of the second content player. The second content player can use the plurality of content objects within the confines of DRM. 
     In yet another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for transporting audio or video licenses between content players. In one step, first information is received that describes a first plurality of content licenses at a point. A first repository stores the first plurality of content licenses. The first plurality of content licenses enable use of a plurality of content objects on a first content player as allowed by DRM. The point is geographically remote to the first repository. A licensee of the first plurality content licenses is authenticated. Second information is sent that enables a second plurality of content licenses corresponding to the first plurality of content licenses away from the point. The second plurality of content licenses is stored with a second repository of the second content player. The second plurality of content licenses allows use of the plurality of content objects on the second content player as allowed by DRM. 
     Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating various embodiments, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to necessarily limit the scope of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appended figures: 
         FIGS. 1A through 1G  depict block diagrams of embodiments of a content distribution system; and 
         FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  2 C illustrate flowcharts of embodiments of a process for migrating licensed content to a new content player. 
     
    
    
     In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The ensuing description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferred exemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope as set forth in the appended claims. 
     There are many content download services available. Users download content (e.g., songs, software, videos, sound, books) to a computing device (e.g., personal computer, mobile phone, music player, personal video recorder, set top box, portable video player) for their enjoyment. To control access to these files, various forms of digital rights management (DRM) are used. The player hardware, software-based players, storage devices, and delivery channels may all have DRM to control access and enforce copyright licenses. For example, Microsoft™ Windows has DRM that controls access to music and video files. 
     Different applications and hardware control DRM in different manners, but generally store a list of copyright licenses for a particular file or stream. An identifier code is either embedded in the content object or associated with the content object in some way. The DRM application program interface (API) is provided with the content object itself or the identifier code in determining if a copyright license is available. Generally, where there is no copyright license, the DRM prevents or restricts use of the content object. Even though the content file is available, the DRM prevents playback. 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1A , an embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 1  is shown. This embodiment shows two content providers  108  and two users  112 , but it is to be understood that there may be any number of content providers  108  and users  112  in various embodiments. The user  112  could be the same person working with two computing devices  124  in an upgrade process. For example, the user may have music or video on the first computing device  124 - 1  and wish to move the music or video to the second computing device  124 - 2  for use. A migration system  178  can have various configurations to aid the move to the second computing device  124 - 2 . 
     This embodiment shows two content originators  102 , but there could be any number content originators. Content originators  102  may be content subscription and/or download services that have content they own or have the right to license stored in a remote content store  156 . A content provider  108  gives access to the content objects through a content web site or application interface  116 . Licenses granted to the content objects are stored in the remote license database  140 . The remote license database  140  can be used to provide content licenses to the new computing device  124  in a migration situation. A migration system may pass the content licenses to the new content player  128 , but could verify their validity at the various remote license databases  140  for the content objects of the user  112 . 
     In this embodiment, the computing device  124  includes a content player  128 , a local content store  160 , a local license database  136 , and optionally, a content transcoder  164 . In various embodiments, the local content store  160  and local license database  136  could be coupled to the content player  128  using an integral and/or internal storage medium, an external storage medium and/or a networked storage medium. A user  112  interacts with the computing devices  124  to play or realize the content objects resident in a local content store  160  and/or streamed from a remote content object store  156 . 
     Users  112  often upgrade their software and/or hardware for various reasons. During this process, copyright licenses can be lost due to compatibility and integration problems in conventional systems.  FIG. 1A  is simplified in that it shows only one local license database  136  for each computing device  124 , but often each DRM technique and/or player maintains its own local license database  136  such that the computing device  124  may have many local license databases  136 . 
     Local license databases  160  in computing devices  124  are often not compatible with each other, even though the content object could be used with different content players. For example, Apple™ iTunes™ uses a DRM incompatible with that used by Microsoft™ Windows Media Player™ such that content licenses cannot be exchanged between the two even though the players could play each-others content with the proper codec support. 
     This embodiment uses a content transcoder  164  and at least one remotely-located license databases  152 ,  140  to migrate the content objects and content licenses to a new computing device  124 . A secured content object (i.e., a content file or stream protected by DRM) may be used on another computing device  124 , but the copyright license would not follow the user  112  to the other computing device  124  in conventional systems. For example, a first music player may recognize a content file and allow playing because the DRM recognizes a copyright license, but a second music player may recognize the content file without being able to recognize a copyright license such that access is prevented. 
     One embodiment of the invention allows transport of a local license database  136  between various computing devices  124  that a user  112  might use. A software application, software applet or the content player itself can pass all or some of the local license database  136  to a global license database  152  or a remote license database  140 . Passing of the local license database  136  is done opaquely in some embodiments using encryption to protect the information. The copyright licenses on the old computing device  124  are no longer usable once passed to the global license database  152  or a remote license database  140 . The user can authenticate their right to copyright licenses with the new computing device  124  and have the new local license database  136  populated by opaquely passing the copyright licenses to the local license database  136  of the new computing device  124 . 
     The migration system  178  may have to communicate with the various content originators  102  associated with each content object. Further, the content licenses may be translated to a format for the DRM of the new computing device  124 . In some cases, the contents of the local license database  136  are not transferred, but an abbreviated listing of the licenses could be transferred. The content originator  102  may track the content licenses of each user and the migration system  178  could update the content originators  102  as the migration takes place. 
     The content player  128  or another application passes the licenses in opaque form to the global license database  152 , which acts as an intermediary between the old local license database  136 - 1  and a new local license database  136 - 2 . The licenses may or may not be opaque to the global license database  152 . Where the license information is kept opaque, only the content player  128 - 2  of the new computing device  124 - 2  understands how to decode and reactivate the licenses. Public or private keying can be used in various embodiments encrypt the content licenses during transport. 
     Content transported to the new computing device  124 - 2  can then be played after any re-formatting by a content transcoder  164 . In this embodiment, the content transcoder is in the new computing device  124 - 2 , but in other embodiments could be in the old computing device  124 - 1 , the content originator  102 , the migration system  178 , or elsewhere. After sending the content licenses, content objects on the old computing device  124 - 1  cannot pass the DRM checks to allow playback on the old computing device  124 - 1 . The content objects on the old computing device  124 - 1  could be deleted to further prevent unauthorized use. Some embodiments may allow paying a fee to allow both the old and new computing devices  124  to retain licenses to play the content objects. Such an arrangement can be offered by the content originators  102 . 
     Where the global license database  152  is not opaque to the licenses, the global license database  152  can serve as a clearinghouse for the various computing devices  124 . An application on the computing device  124  could opaquely send the local license database to the global license database  152  where the licenses are converted to plaintext. A different content player  128  using a different license format could request the content licenses from the global license database  152  after proper authentication of the licensee. The content licenses would be converted to the native format of the different content player  128  and sent opaquely to the different content player  128 . In this way, content licenses could be exchanged between incompatible content players  128 . Some embodiments may confirm the licenses before movement by checking with the content originator  102  who originally granted the license to the user  112 . 
     In some cases, the new computing device  124  and/or content player  128  may not understand the old format of the content object. A conversion application or content transcoder  164  could transcode the content object to allow it to be compatible with the new computing device  124  and/or content player  128 . The conversion application could be located anywhere in the content distribution system  100 , for example, at the content provider  108 , the global license database  152  or the computing device  124  (as in this embodiment). 
     Some embodiments could download the content object from the content provider  108  in the new format after destruction of the old content object and verification that the license is valid. There may or may not be an additional charge for the download in the new format. A replacement content license could be included along with the content object in the new format. 
     In one embodiment, the computing device  124 - 1  does not actually transport the licenses to the new computing device  124 - 2 , but destroys the licenses in the local license database  136 - 1  and merely reports the destruction to the remote or global license database  140 ,  152 . Once destroyed, a new computing device  124 - 2  can receive the content licenses in any format compatible with the computing device  124 - 2  and/or content player  128 - 2 . The contents of the local content database  136 - 1  may already be known to the remote or global license database  140 ,  152  such that only destruction need be communicated and those content licenses become available for the new content player  128 - 2 . 
     One embodiment uses a removable storage media (e.g., magnetic disk, optical disk, flash media, hard drive, optically readable media) to transport the content licenses to the new local license database  136 . The removable storage media can be loaded with the content licenses in an opaque form. The new computing device  124  could load the content licenses and destroy the ability to load the content licenses on another computing device  124 . For example, the content licenses could be erased. Another embodiment could require authentication from a remote trusted party before reading the content licenses into the new local license database  136 - 2 . The remote trusted party would only allow reading the content licenses on one or a set number of computing devices  124  as allowed by the license. The content objects could also be transported with the removable storage media. 
     Authentication of the licensee before loading the content licenses on the new computing device  124  can be explicit or implicit. Where the license is to a person or group of persons, a password or biometric authentication technique can be used. For implicit authentication, the content licenses are not tied to a particular user but tied to possession of a code or the removable storage media. For example, whoever enters a pass code or possesses the removable storage media with the content licenses can load them onto the new computing device  124 . An authenticating party can enforce the number of simultaneous users of the content licenses, such that if another tries to use the content licenses beyond their terms, access could be denied. For example, if someone steals the removable storage media, that person could use the content licenses unless they have already been loaded on the specified number of computing devices  124  already. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1B , this embodiment of the content distribution system  100 - 2  does not use a global license database  152 . To enable the content objects on the new computing device  124 , the copyright licenses are opaquely sent back to the content originator&#39;s  102  remote license database(s)  140 . Alternatively, the licenses could be looked-up at the content originators  102  without actually sending the content licenses back. In some cases, the user  112  could have downloaded content objects from a number of content providers  108  such that a number of corresponding remote license databases  140  would be used in migrating to the new computing device  124 . 
     The copyright licenses can be opaquely downloaded to the new computing device  124  from the remote license database(s)  140  after proper authentication of the user  112 . Additionally, the content objects could reformatted for the new content player using a content transcoder  164 . Instead of transcoding, the content originator  102  may have the content objects previously encoded to the new format that are ready for loading on the new computing device  124 . The new computing device  124 - 2  also has a content transcoder  164 - 2  available for transcoding the content files for the new format. 
     This embodiment includes an authentication engine  172  at the old computing device  124 . The authentication engine  172  could be integral to the content player  128  or operating system. Once the user  112  authenticates their identity, the license transfer is authorized. The content objects could be transferred over the Internet  120  or some other connection. In this embodiment, the old computing device  124 - 1  is a personal computer and the new computing device  124 - 2  is a handheld phone. The user  112  may connect the handheld phone to the personal computer with Bluetooth™ or a USB cable to transfer content objects and content licenses. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 1C , a block diagram of another embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 3  is shown. This embodiment includes a migration system  178  that has a global license database  152 , a content transcoder  164 , an authentication engine  172 , and a global content store  168 . The global license database  152  can be used to hold the content licenses when transferring them. Similarly, the content objects can be stored in the global content store  168  before loading onto the new computing device  124 - 2 . Any reformatting of the content objects is performed on the content transcoder  164 . Authentication of the user and the content licenses can be performed by the authentication engine  172 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 1D , a block diagram of yet another embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 4  is shown. In this embodiment, the content licenses can be stored in the global license database  152  in a manner that is accessible to any computing device  124 . If the user  112  authenticates their identity to the satisfaction of the computing device  124  and/or global license database  152 , the content player  128  will allow playback of a content object on the computing device  124 . The content licenses are not stored local to the computing device  124 . The content licenses are verified as needed before playing the content object. 
     Another embodiment allows storage of licenses in the global license database  152  in a way that allows individual licenses or a group of licenses to be checked out to a computing device  124 . After authentication of the user  112 , the content licenses corresponding to the content requested for playback are checked out to allow use. The user  112  can manually check-in the licenses or the licenses could automatically be checked-in after a period of time unless checked out again. 
     In this embodiment, the content originators  102  do not track which licenses are issued to users  112 . The content originators  102  rely upon the global license database  152 . When content objects are licensed, the content licenses could be written to the global license database where they are accessible to the content providers  102  and computing devices  124  on demand. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 1E , a block diagram of still another embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 5  is shown. In this embodiment, the content objects are not stored at the computing devices  124 . Content objects are stored in a global content store  168 . Upon proper authentication  172 , a recipient  112  can realize content objects on any computing device  124  with any type of content player. The DRM is still provided by the computing device, but the licenses and content objects are stored at the migration system  178  and/or the content providers  102 . 
     The content player  128  can check out a content object and license as needed from either the migration system  178  or the content originator  102 . The licenses and content objects can be checked back in or just set to expire after a period of time. The recipient  112  may be charged for the ability to have transportability of content objects between a number of computing devices. The number of computing devices that can be used may be limited. Some embodiments may prevent simultaneous use of the same content object or may prevent use of the migration system by more than one computing device at one time. 
     The number of times a content object is played could be tracked and reported to gage popularity. Some embodiments could insert commercials into the sequence of content objects. Impressions for those commercials could also be reported. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1F , a block diagram of one embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 6  is shown. In this embodiment, the migration system  178  is used during the transition to the new computing device  124 . The content transcoding, storing of content licenses and authentication is performed by the migration system  178 . The user  112  may pay for this service. In one embodiment, the seller or manufacturer of the new computing device  124  subsidizes or pays for this cost. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 1G , a block diagram of another embodiment of a content distribution system  100 - 7  is shown. In this embodiment, the content originator  102  can be used to authenticate the content licenses or be used to migrate the content objects to the new computing device  124  without using the migration system  178 . For example, the content originator  102  could be used where available, but the migration system  178  where the content originator  102  cannot be found or has no history of the license. This might occur for content object delivered in tangible form (e.g., on a disk or tape) where there was no electronic delivery. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2A , a flowchart of an embodiment of a process  200 - 1  for migrating licensed content to a new content player  124 - 2  is shown. The process  200 - 1  can be largely automatic after the user initiates the process in block  204 . The user manually authenticates herself also in block  204 . Authentication may include entry of license codes and/or login information. The authentication information may be entered through either the old or new computing devices  124 . The new player is manually identified in step  208 . The content objects are transferred to the new computing device automatically in block  212 . Some embodiments move the content objects directly from one local content store  160  to another, but other embodiments use a remote or global content store  156 ,  168  as a waypoint between the old and new local content stores  160 . 
     In block  216 , any transcoding or exchange of the content objects is performed. Some embodiments transcoder the content objects, while others get another copy of the content object that is already coded properly. Transcoding can be performed at either computing device  124 , the migration system  178  or the content originators  102  in various embodiments. Also in block  216 , the content objects are loaded on the target computing device  124 - 2 . 
     This embodiment allows the user to upgrade his or her licenses to the content objects as determined in block  218 . Upgrading licenses could involve a number of content originators  102  and could be managed by the migration system  178 . There could be an option to upgrade to a two computing device  124  license allowing the content objects to simultaneously exist on the two computing devices  124 . Another option could allow more computing devices  124  or even an unlimited number of computing devices  124 . Where there is an upgraded license, processing skips over blocks  220  and  224  to step  228 . 
     Where there is no upgrade of licenses, processing goes from block  218  to block  220  where the content licenses are uploaded to the migration system  178  opaquely to avoid interception or decoding. Encryption can be used in this process. The migration system  178  may or may not be able to decode the content licenses before they are passed along. Somewhere, the content licenses are reformatted for the new content player  128 - 2  and DRM. In block  224 , the content licenses and content objects on the old computing device  124 - 1  are disabled or destroyed. 
     In block  228 , the content licenses are sent and loaded onto the new computing device. The transport can once again be opaque to avoid interception. At this point in the process  200 - 1 , the content files and licenses are recoded and on the new computing device  124 - 2  such that they are available for use with full DRM support of the new content player  128 - 2 . This process may be repeated for new content players as the need arises such that a user can avoid wholesale repurchase of licenses in this embodiment. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 2B , a flowchart of another embodiment of a process  200 - 2  for migrating licensed content to a new content player  124 - 2  is shown. This embodiment replaces blocks  218  and  220  with new block  222 . After the content objects are loaded, the content licenses or an indicator thereof is send to the migration system  178 . An indicator could simply be an account identifier for a content originator  102 . The migration system  178  could go to the content originator  102  to get all the content licenses associated with the account that is identified. This embodiment does not allow upgrading the content license and performs block  224  in every case before completing blocks  228  and  232  as in the embodiment of  FIG. 2A . 
     With reference to  FIG. 2C , a flowchart of yet another embodiment of a process  200 - 3  for migrating licensed content to a new content player  124 - 2  is shown. This embodiment differs from that of  FIG. 2B  in that blocks  212  and  216  are replaced by blocks  214  and  215 . In block  214 , the content objects are identified to the migration system  178 . New versions of these content objects are obtained in block  215  and loaded onto the new computing device  124  rather than performing any transcoding. 
     A number of variations and modifications of the disclosed embodiments can also be used. For example, the above embodiments discuss using the license exchange for audio and video, but other embodiments are not to be limited in that way. Any content object that has DRM could be exchanged to a new program that has different DRM. For example, software or data could benefit from embodiments. 
     Specific details are given in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it is understood that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments. 
     Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. 
     Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may represent one or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic disk storage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/or other machine readable mediums for storing information. The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels, and/or various other mediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. 
     Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, and/or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, scripting language, and/or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium such as a storage medium. A code segment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, and/or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, and/or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. 
     Implementation of the techniques described above may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation the processing units may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described above, and/or a combination thereof. 
     For a software implementation, the techniques, processes and functions described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case the memory unit can be communicatively coupled to the processor using various known techniques. 
     While the principles of the disclosure have been described above in connection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as limitation on the scope of the disclosure.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6