Patent ID: 7624046

Claim:
A method for distributing content over a computer network, comprising the steps of: providing a predetermined electronic contract for distributing the content between a retailer and a distributor, wherein terms of the contract are independent of the content and the retailer distributes the content to a consumer and the distributor has rights in the content; presenting a candidate retail offer for the distribution of the content to the consumer on a consumer computer; receiving a request from the consumer, from the consumer computer over the computer network, to exercise the candidate retail offer; validating, at a reference service, the candidate retail offer for the distribution of the content by accessing the electronic contract and determining if the candidate retail offer is consistent with the electronic contract; upon successful validation, providing the content to the consumer; receiving compensation information from the consumer indicating at least the amount of compensation for the content provided; allocating, at a financial clearinghouse, the compensation according to the electronic contract; dynamically updating the electronic contract; and applying the electronic contract to the distribution of the content only after receiving the request from the consumer.