Systems and methods for distributing content using a common set of encryption keys

A content distribution system, comprising:

• at least one content distribution server;
• and
• a source encoder comprising a set of one or more processors and a memory containing an encoding application, wherein the encoding application configures the set of processors to encode source content as a plurality of alternative streams each having a different bitrate by performing the steps of:
• identifying a plurality of sections for the source content;
• identifying a common set of keys for encrypting corresponding portions of the source content across a plurality of different encodings;
• encoding a first section and a second section of the plurality of sections to produce a plurality of encodings of the first section and a plurality of encodings of the second section for each of the plurality of alternative streams, wherein the plurality of encodings of the first section and the plurality of encodings of the second section each comprises encodings at a plurality of different bitrates;
• partially encrypting at least one encoded frame from each encoding of the plurality of encodings of the first section using a first key of the common set of keys so that each partially encrypted frame contains encrypted portions and unencrypted portions of data;
• partially encrypting at least one encoded frame from each encoding of the plurality of encodings of the second section using a second key of the common set of keys so that each partially encrypted frame contains encrypted portions and unencrypted portions;
• storing the encrypted plurality of encodings of the first section and the encrypted plurality of encodings of the second section on a set of servers that form part of a content distribution system;
• and
• storing a reference to the common set of keys on the at least one content distribution server.