Identifying, managing, accessing, and tracking digital objects and associated rights and payments

A method of managing reference information about digital objects in a network, each of the digital objects comprising a set of sequences of digits and having an associated identifier which is unique across the network, the method comprising

• storing the digital objects,
• storing reference information for each of the digital objects, and
• storing validation information for each of the digital objects which is substantially smaller in size than the corresponding digital object and which enables a determination of whether a purported instance of a digital object is identical to the original instance.

A method for enabling users of a network to access digital objects stored in the network, each of the digital objects comprising a set of sequences of digits and having an associated identifier which is unique across the network, the method comprising

• providing multiple pointer servers each of which accepts identifiers of a subset of the digital objects and returns corresponding pointers to the locations of the digital objects in the network, and
• providing a directory server which accepts identifiers of any of the digital objects and returns the locations of the pointer servers which accept those identifiers.

A method for managing registration of claims to rights in digital objects and any works or other information or material that the object may be based on or incorporate, comprising

• storing, in a repository which is accessible on a wide area network, copies of the digital objects, in a manner that enables only authorized accesses to the digital objects and permits verification that the stored digital objects have not been subjected to unauthorized alteration,
• at an information and reference server which is accessible on the network at a different network address from the repository, providing registration services including receipt via the network of registration requests and delivery via the network of registration certifications, and
• accessing, from the repository via the network, the objects for use in providing the registration services.

A method for providing a repository for use in network based regulation of claims in rights in digital objects comprising

• storing copies of the digital objects in a repository accessible on the network, the copies being stored in a secure manner that precludes other than authorized access and that permits subsequent verification that there have been no unauthorized changes to the objects,
• providing handles for the digital objects, each handle being unique across the network and over time, each handle including information sufficient to locate a copy of the digital object on the network, and
• in connection with actions pertaining to regulation of claims in rights in the digital objects, using the handles to obtain authorized access to the digital objects.

A network-based method for managing compensation for licensing of rights and other operations in digital objects, comprising

• storing, in a recordation system available to authorized access on the network, information identifying the ownership of rights in digital objects,
• receiving, at a rights management system available on the network, requests for rights in digital objects were the terms and conditions have not been stipulated in the properties record, and
• in response to the requests for rights, issuing, from the rights management system to the recordation system via the network, requests to record information or transfers of rights in and other information pertaining to the digital objects and in works or other information or material on which the object may be based or incorporate.

A method for compensating owners of rights in digital objects stored in a network for access to the digital objects by users via the network, comprising

• storing on the network information associated with the digital objects and identifying the terms and conditions on which a user may have access to the digital objects via the network,
• in connection with a request by a user for access to a digital object, fetching and providing to the user the terms and conditions, and
• construing an action taken by the user in connection with requesting access to the digital object as agreement with the terms, and charging the user accordingly.

A method for managing handles for digital objects in a computer network comprising

• including in the handle an indication of a local naming authority having control over generation of a subset of all global generated handles, and
• including in the handle a string which is locally unique with respect to digital objects for which generation of handles are controlled by the local naming authority.

A method for managing generation of handles for digital objects in a computer network comprising

• maintaining local naming authorities that control generation of handles for digital objects, the handles being a subset of all of the handles generated globally, and
• maintaining a global naming mechanism that assures unique naming of the local naming authorities.

A method for managing handles for digital objects in a computer network comprising

• managing some- of the handles to be globally publicly accessible, and
• managing some of the handles to be only locally and privately accessible.

A method of managing access to digital objects in repositories comprising

• managing deposit of a digital object by accepting and storing the digital object and arranging for the generation and storage of an associated handle for the object, and
• managing access to the digital object by a accepting and receiving a service request which-includes a handle.

A system of managing digital objects in a network comprising

• a system of repositories which accept, store, and make disseminations of digital objects and portions of digital objects in response to requests received from any arbitrary location in the network,
• a system of handle servers which provide services in connection with handles for digital objects stored in the repositories, and
• a system of naming authorities which controls generation of handles on a global and local basis to assure locally unique and globally unique handles for digital objects.