Centralized Rights Management System for Digital Media

Abstract

A centralized rights management system and methodologies for digital media (e.g., books) is shown and described. In one embodiment, for example, a computer-implemented method is described for automated assertion of a claim of rights in books, the method comprises steps of: maintaining a publicly-searchable registry of books subject to claims by rightsholders; receiving user input allowing a user to select a book from the registry that the user wishes to assert a claim of rights in; displaying a list representing rights that can be claimed by rightsholders for the selected book; receiving input from the user asserting a claim of rights for the selected book; and electronically storing information about the asserted claim of rights, for facilitating automated payments to the user in connection with royalties earned for the selected book.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.