Patent ID: 6928419

Claim:
A method for creating a new digital work from one or more existing digital works having parts, said method comprising the steps of: requesting use of a first part of a digital work, the first part having first usage rights associated therewith, the first usage rights specifying a particular manner of use for the first part; granting use of the first part if the particular manner of use requested is specified by the first usage rights; requesting use of a second part of a digital work, the second part having second usage rights associated therewith, the second usage rights specifying a particular manner of use for the second part; granting use of the second part if the particular manner of use requested is specified by the second usage rights; creating a new digital work by combining the first part and the second part as new content and associating a license having new usage rights with the new content, wherein the new usage rights specify a particular manner of use for the new digital work; granting use of the new digital work if the particular manner of use requested is specified by the new usage rights, wherein the first part, the second part, and the new digital work are each stored in a repository; enforcing security of communications between the repositories, wherein said enforcing step comprises passing identification certificates between the repositories, and said usage rights are created using a grammar to express information relating to at least one of conditions, rights, and parameters; and editing the parts prior to said creating step.