Patent ID: 8495482

Claim:
A method for automatically and securely citing electronically formatted information, the method comprising: using at least one computer: receiving a selection of media content, the selection of media content including quoted material from one or more articles accessible via an electronic source comprising a web page, wherein the electronic source includes an extensible markup language (XML) document structure for storing and transporting citation information, wherein receiving the selection includes receiving input from the user for automatically and securely copying and citing the quoted material; in response to the input: making a secure copy of the quoted material; and automatically determining citation information for the quoted material by parsing a data structure provided by an author or publisher of the quoted material; receiving user input for pasting the quoted material into an electronic destination, and in response: automatically inserting the citation information into the electronic destination, wherein the citation information includes a footnote and a bibliography for the quoted material in a predefined format; using a secure browser helper object, automatically making the quoted material and the citation information uneditable in the electronic destination, wherein automatically making the quoted material and the citation information uneditable in the electronic destination includes locking the quoted material to make it uneditable in response to pasting of the quoted material in the electronic destination and automatically creating a locked footnote and a locked bibliography for all quoted material in the electronic destination that was quoted using the secure browser helper object without requiring further input from the user, and wherein the electronic destination includes an electronic document.