Method and Apparatus for Managing Digital Content Rights and Interaction

In a content management device, a method of managing interaction with a digital content element, comprising:

• receiving, by the content management device, public information associated with the digital content element and private information associated with the digital content element to register the digital content element with the content management device;
• generating, by the content management device, a dual-layer token having a first layer based upon the public information associated with the digital content element and a second layer based upon the private information associated with the digital content element;
• registering, by the content management device, the dual-layer token on a distributed ledger;
• receiving, by the content management device, consumption event notifications associated with digital content elements registered with the content management device;
• registering, by the content management device, the consumption event notifications as a notification batch on the distributed ledger, the notification batch providing immutable proof of a consumption event for a digital content element registered with the content management device;
• and
• generating, by the content management device, a compensation report related to consumption of the digital content element, the compensation report identifying the dual-layer token and the notification batch registered on the distributed ledger.