Patent ID: 7925592

Claim:
A method of distributing rights-managed forms of digital content among nodes comprising computing devices, comprising the following steps: receiving digital content comprising an original form for distribution to one or more downstream nodes and receiving distribution parameters associated with the digital content from an originating node, wherein the distribution parameters define access rights for a plurality of levels based on a number of nodes in a path of an invitation to view the digital content that is propagated from the originating node to the one or more downstream nodes, and wherein at least some of the one or more downstream nodes further propagate the invitation to other downstream nodes; receiving a request for the digital content from a respective downstream node of the one or more downstream nodes that received the invitation to view the digital content; in response to receiving the request, determining a one of the plurality of levels that corresponds to the respective downstream node based on a number of downstream nodes in the path of the invitation from the originating node to the respective downstream node; obtaining a rights-managed form of the digital content that is derived from the original form and that is different from the original form in accordance with access rights established by the originating node for the one of the plurality of levels that corresponds to the respective downstream node; and sending a copy of the rights-managed form of the digital content to the respective downstream node.