Patent ID: 7769787

Claim:
A method for maintaining originality-related information about elements in an editable object, said method comprising: a processor of a computer system determining that an element has been edited in the editable object; said processor identifying the originality-related information about the element, wherein the originality-related information comprises a creator of the element who originally wrote the element; and said processor recording the originality-related information, said recording selected from the group consisting of embedding the originality-related information in the editable object, storing the originality-related information in an attached file, and storing the originality-related information in association with the element in a repository configured to be shared by different editable objects and further configured to be queried for elements of the different editable objects in association with originality-related information pertaining to the elements of the different editable objects, wherein the originality-related information further comprises: an owner of the element who differs from the creator of the element; an importer of the element who differs from the creator of the element and who added the element into the editable object during an editing process; an origin of the element, said origin of the element being a source document or portion thereof from which the element originated; an editing method by which the element has been edited in the editable object; legal limitations for accessing the element; a certificate of originality of the element; and date and time information relating to when the element was created.