Patent ID: 7788182

Claim:
A method for permitting use of digital works, the digital works having one or more rights associated therewith, within a system having repositories configured to enable use of the digital works in accordance with the one or more rights, the method comprising: electronically associating a transfer right with a digital work, the transfer right specifying that the digital work is permitted to be transferred from a first repository to a second repository, wherein the transfer right is created from a grammar including one or more symbols selected from a set of predetermined symbols to define a valid sequence of symbols to indicate how the digital work is transferred, wherein at least one of the symbols included in the grammar represents a constraint on how the digital work may be transferred; electronically transferring the digital work from the first repository to the second repository in accordance with the transfer right; in response to the transferring step, electronically updating transfer right information in respect of the digital work; and electronically associating a usage right with the digital work transferred from the first repository to the second repository, the usage right specifying that the digital work is permitted to be used in a specific manner, wherein the first repository includes at least a server mode of operation, the server mode of operation being configured for processing a transfer request message received from the second repository, and the second repository includes both a requester mode of operation and a server mode of operation, the requester mode of operation being configured for sending to the first repository a transfer request message specifying a digital work and the server mode of operation being configured for processing a use request message for using the digital work transferred from the first repository in accordance with the usage right associated with the transferred digital work.