Patent ID: 7801824

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for pricing electronic viewing of works, the method comprising: under control of instructions executed by at least one processor of a computer system: crediting an account associated with a consumer with viewer credits obtained by the consumer for participating in a promotional incentive program implemented by the computer system; receiving a consumer selection of a portion of viewable content in a work from a library comprising a plurality of works for purchase; determining a viewer credit value associated with the selected portion of viewable content, wherein the viewer credit value is determined based on an amount of content in the selected portion of viewable content and a type of the work from which the portion of viewable content was selected; determining whether the viewer credits in the account associated with the consumer have sufficient value that equals or exceeds the determined viewer credit value; when the value of the viewer credits in the account equals or exceeds the determined viewer credit value, delivering the selected portion of viewable content for presentation to the consumer prior to a purchase of the work, by the consumer, from which the portion was selected, wherein the selected portion is delivered in exchange for the determined viewer credit value charged to the account associated with the consumer; and notifying the consumer when the account associated with the consumer has viewer credits of a value that is less than the determined viewer credit value.