Methods, systems and computer program products for determining usage rights for digital content based on characterizing information thereof and related devices

A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code executed by a processor, which causes the processor to perform:

• identifying digital content stored in an electronic end user device for validation, wherein rendering of the digital content by the electronic end user device is currently unrestricted and does not require a corresponding Digital Rights Management (DRM) mechanism;
• generating, at the electronic end user device, a digital signature that designates the identified digital content stored therein responsive to identification thereof;
• determining, at the electronic end user device, usage rights for the identified digital content based on the digital signature thereof, wherein the usage rights specify rights for use of the digital content by the electronic end user device in which the digital content is stored;
• when a comparison of the digital signature that designates the identified digital content to a plurality of digital signatures in a database does not indicate a match therebetween, allowing usage of the identified digital content for a predetermined period of time and/or number of uses;
• when the comparison of the digital signature that designates the identified digital content to a plurality of digital signatures in a database indicates a match therebetween, determining, based on the usage rights, that the identified digital content corresponds to an authorized protected media content having circumvented technical protection measures;
• locally modifying, at the electronic end user device, the identified digital content based on the usage rights to reapply the circumvented technical protection measures to restore the identified digital content to correspond to the authorized protected media content;
• and
• preventing rendering of the digital content in response to the locally modifying.

An electronic end user device comprising:

• a memory and a processor coupled to the memory, the memory including computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform:
• identifying digital content stored in an electronic end user device for validation, wherein rendering of the digital content by the electronic end user device is currently unrestricted and does not require a corresponding Digital Rights Management (DRM) mechanism;
• generating, at the electronic end user device, a digital signature that designates the identified digital content stored therein responsive to identification thereof;
• determining, at the electronic end user device, usage rights for the identified digital content based on the digital signature thereof, wherein the usage rights specify rights for use of the digital content by the electronic end user device in which the digital content is stored;
• when a comparison of the digital signature that designates the identified digital content to a plurality of digital signatures in a database does not indicate a match therebetween, allowing usage of the identified digital content for a predetermined period of time and/or number of uses;
• when the comparison of the digital signature that designates the identified digital content to a plurality of digital signatures in a database indicates a match therebetween, determining, based on the usage rights, that the identified digital content corresponds to an authorized protected media content having circumvented technical protection measures;
• locally modifying, at the electronic end user device, the identified digital content based on the usage rights to reapply the circumvented technical protection measures to restore the identified digital content to correspond to the authorized protected media content;
• and
• preventing rendering of the digital content in response to the locally modifying.