System for controlling access and distribution of digital property

A method of distributing data for subsequent controlled use of the data by a user, the method comprising:

• protecting portions of the data;
• protecting rules defining access rights to the data;
• and
• openly distributing the protected portions of the data and the protected rules, whereby
• controlled access to an unprotected form of the protected portions of the data is provided only in accordance with the rules as enforced by an access mechanism, so that unauthorized access to the protected portions of the data is not to the unprotected form of the protected portions of the data.

A method of distributing data for subsequent controlled use of the data by a user, some of the data having access rules already associated therewith, the access rules defining access rights to the data, the method comprising:

• protecting portions of the data;
• providing rules defining access rights to the data;
• combining the provided rules with rules previously associated with the data;
• protecting the combined rules;
• and
• openly distributing the protected portions of the data and the protected combined rules, whereby
• controlled access to the unprotected form of the protected portions of the data is provided only in accordance with the combined rules as enforced by an access mechanism, so that unauthorized access to the protected portions of the data is not to the unprotected form of the protected portions of the data.

A method of controlling secondary distribution of data, the method comprising:

• protecting portions of the data;
• protecting rules defining access rights to the data;
• openly providing the protected portions of the data and the protected rules to a device having an access mechanism;
• and
• limiting transmission of the protected portions of the data from the device (a) only as protected data or (b) in accordance with the rules as enforced by the access mechanism, so that unauthorized access to the protected portions of the data is not to an unprotected form of the protected portions of the data.

A device for displaying images represented by data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:

• means for storing the rules;
• an access mechanism for accessing the data only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data, the access being enforced by the access mechanism;
• and
• means for displaying the images represented by the accessed data.

A device for outputting images represented by data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:

• means for storing the rules;
• an access mechanism for accessing the data only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data, the access being enforced by the access mechanism;
• and
• means for outputting the images represented by the accessed data.

A device for outputting an audio signal represented by data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:

• means for storing the rules;
• an access mechanism for accessing the data only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data, the access being enforced by the access mechanism;
• and
• means for outputting the audio signal represented by the accessed data.

A device for outputting an output signal based on data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:

• means for storing the rules;
• an access mechanism for accessing the data only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data, the access being enforced by the access mechanism;
• and
• means for outputting the output signal represented by the accessed data.

A device for generating an output signal corresponding to data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the digital data, the device comprising:

• means for storing the rules;
• an access mechanism for accessing the digital data only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data;
• and
• means for generating the output signal from the accessed data.

A device for distributing data for subsequent controlled use of the data by a user, the device comprising:

• means for protecting portions of the data;
• means for protecting rules defining access rights to the data;
• and
• means providing the protected portions of the data and the protected rules;
• whereby a user is provided controlled access to the data only in accordance with the rules as enforced by an access mechanism, so that unauthorized access to the protected portions of the data is not to an unprotected form of the protected portions of the data.

A device for distributing data for subsequent controlled use of the data by a user, some of the data having access rules already associated therewith, the access rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:

• means for protecting portions of the data;
• means for providing rules concerning access rights to the data;
• means for combining the provided rules with rules previously associated with the data;
• means for protecting the combined rules;
• and
• means for providing the protected portions of the data and the protected combined rules;
• whereby the user is provided controlled access to an unprotected form of the protected portions of the data only in accordance with the combined rules as enforced by an access mechanism, so that unauthorized access to the protected portions of the data is not to the unprotected form of the protected portions of the data.

A general purpose computer system comprising

• a device for controlling access to data, the data comprising protected data portions and rules defining access rights to the data, the device comprising:
• storage means for storing the rules;
• and
• an access mechanism for accessing the unprotected form of the protected data portions only in accordance with the rules, whereby user access to an unprotected form of the protected data portions is permitted by the access mechanism only if the rules indicate that the user is allowed to access the protected portions of the data.