Patent ID: 7904568

Claim:
A method of distributing a first original electronic work from a sender's site to a receiver's site, the first original electronic work having a securely and persistently associated first electronic attribute indicating that it is an original, the method comprising: establishing communication, by the sender's site, between the sender's site and the receiver's site; sending, from the sender's site to the receiver's site, first authentication information certifying at least one aspect of the sender's site; receiving, at the senders' site from the receiver's site, second authentication information certifying at least one aspect of the receiver's site; creating, by the sender's site, a first copy of the first original electronic work and securely and persistently associating with the first copy a second electronic attribute indicating that it is a copy; transmitting, from the sender's site, the first copy to the receiver's site; receiving, at the sender's site from the receiver's site, a first acknowledgement indicating receipt of the first copy by the receiver's site, and, responsive thereto, changing the first electronic attribute to indicate that it is a copy, thereby creating a second copy of the first original electronic work; and sending, from the sender's site to the receiver's site, an authorization authorizing the receiver's site to change the second electronic attribute to indicate that it is an original, thereby creating a second original electronic work, wherein the first and second copies are prevented from being successfully passed off as original electronic works and the second electronic attribute associated with the first copy of the electronic work is configured to be authenticated independently by the receiver's site after receipt of the first copy by the receiver's site.