Patent ID: 7706663

Claim:
A method of processing a given work of multimedia content, the method comprising the steps of: receiving the given work of multimedia content, the given work of multimedia content having derived content information embedded therein, the derived content information includes information for modifying a performance duration of the given work of multimedia content; receiving a desired performance parameter; and using the derived content information and the desired performance parameter to play the given work of multimedia content in approximate accordance with the desired performance parameter, wherein the desired performance parameter includes at least one of a desired performance duration or a desired average playback rate, and wherein when the work of multimedia content is played, the actual performance duration of the work of multimedia content is approximately equal to the desired performance duration, or the actual average playback rate of the work of multimedia content is approximately equal to the desired average playback rate wherein the step of using the derived content information further includes the step of temporally compressing the performance duration of the work of multimedia content by playing segments of the work of multimedia content at variable playback rates.