Patent ID: 7113912

Claim:
A method for creating a composite digital work having usage rights, said method comprising: a) electronically creating a digital content portion of a composite digital work including a plurality of content parts; and b) electronically creating a description structure for said composite digital work , said description structure comprising a plurality of description blocks including usage rights associate with at least a corresponding at least one of said content parts, said usage right specifying a manner of use for the corresponding one of said content parts, said manner of use indicting one or more stated purposes for which the corresponding digital content portion can be at least one of used and distributed by an authorized user; c) interpreting said usage rights with a device including a repository to determine if access to the digital content can be granted; and d) storing said composite digital work in a repository, wherein said step (a) comprises the steps of: a1) electronically creating a first content part of said composite digital work; a2) electronically creating a second content part of said composite digital work; and a3) combining said first content part and said second content part to form said content portion, said step (b) comprises; b1) electronically creating a first description block including a first set of usage rights associated with said first content part; b2) electronically creating a second description block including a second se of usage rights associated with said second content part; and b3) electronically creating a third description block including a third set of usage rights associated with the combination of said first content part and said second content part, said step (b) comprises linking said first description block, said second description block and said third description block in a manner corresponding to the organization of said composite digital work, said step (d) comprises the steps of storing said description structure in a first storage device and storing said digital content portion in a second storage device, said step of creating the third description block comprise specifying the third set of usage rights and storing the third set of usage rights in a control information part of said third description block, and said third set of usage rights include a usage right indicating that no subsequent description blocks for specifying usage rights may be added to the description structure.