Patent ID: 7581255

Claim:
In a computer system coupled to a data source, a method comprising: accessing an encoded media file from the data source, the encoded media file comprising multiple data streams, each data stream representing a respective source of digital content that is different from source(s) associated with other respective ones of the data streams; creating a plurality of groups comprising at least a first group and a second group, wherein: each one of the plurality of groups comprises one or more individual ones of the multiple data streams in the encoded media file, and each of the plurality of groups is independent of one another in that a combination of data streams in any one of the plurality of groups is not equivalent to a combination of data streams in any other one of the plurality of groups; identifying a plurality of business rules comprising at least a first business rule and a second business rule, the first business rule being different than the second business rule, the plurality of business rules each providing a license strategy that indicates one or more of end-user licensing terms and options for accessing one group of the data streams; generating a Digital Rights Management (DRM) header, the DRM header having information mapping the plurality of business rules to the plurality of groups of data streams, the mapping comprising: associating the first group of data streams with the first business rule; and associating the second group of data streams with the second business rule, creating a data file comprising the DRM header and an encrypted version of the plurality of groups of data streams, the creating comprising: encrypting the plurality of groups of data streams including the first and the second group of data streams; and combining the DRM header with the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams to form the data file; and providing an end-user, based on a plurality of different licenses comprising a first license and a second license, individual access to each of the plurality of encrypted groups of data streams comprising the encrypted first group of data streams and the encrypted second group of data streams in the data file via the DRM header in the data file, wherein: access of the encrypted first group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the first license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the first business rule, and access of the encrypted second group of data streams is obtained through the end-user acquiring the second license that specifies a license strategy corresponding to the second business rule.