Patent ID: 7209559

Claim:
A method for securely distributing a digital copy of a motion picture film from a Film Source Entity (FSE) to a Digital Cinema Theater (DCT) through a distribution center, comprising: (a) generating a studio token at the distribution center, wherein the studio token comprises information utilized to generate a first key; (b) distributing the studio token from the distribution center to the FSE, wherein: (i) the studio token is unique for the FSE and cannot be used by another entity for decryption purposes; (ii) the first key is generated at the FSE using a random number generated by a first random number generator and the studio token; and (iii) the first key is used, by the FSE, to encrypt the digital copy of the motion picture film; (c) generating a theater token at the distribution center, wherein: (i) the theater token comprises information utilized by the DCT to generate a second key; and (ii) the second key is used by the DCT to decrypt the digital copy of the motion picture film encrypted using the first key; (d) distributing the theater token from the distribution center to the DCT; (e) accepting a data file at the distribution center from the FSE, wherein the data file comprises: (i) the digital copy of the motion picture film that has been encrypted according to the first key; (ii) an authorization header generated at the FSE, wherein the authorization header provides information utilized to generate the second key; (f) encrypting the data file at the distribution center according to a third key and adding a new header to the encrypted data file; and (g) distributing the further encrypted data file from the distribution center to the DCT, wherein the DCT generates the second key using the theater token and the random number generated by a second random number generator using information provided by the authorization header.