This scenario describes a series of examples based on music distribution. Each example builds on the previous one, gradually increasing the number of variables used to specify rights. In the following figure:
The Popular Music Label offers its distributors several options as to the terms and conditions under which music may be distributed.
The distributor chooses one of these offers.
The Popular Music Label issues a license to the distributor encapsulating the terms of the distribution agreement.
The distributor offers consumers several options as to the terms and conditions under which the music may be previewed, purchased, and shared.
The consumer chooses one of these offers.
The distributor issues a license to the consumer encapsulating the terms of the agreement.
The consumer may forward the music to a friend to preview. In this case, the consumer issues a license to the friend.
The friend decides to purchase the music.
The distributor issues a license to the consumer’s friend.
In this set of examples, the Popular Music Label sells albums through distributors to consumers. The distribution value chain consists of the following parties:
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Music Label |
Holds rights to the albums. |
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Distributor |
The distributor of the albums. |
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Consumer |
The individual listening to albums purchased from the distributor. |
The Popular Music Label defines strict rules governing album distribution. For example, the Popular Music Label may want to grant distribution rights based on:
Album genre: For example, the Popular Music Label may distribute its classical albums through one distributor and its blues albums through another.
Device: For example, the Popular Music Label may wish to allow its albums to be played on devices it trusts to enforce its copyright, or it may wish to specify the number of devices that a consumer may use to play albums.
Time: For example, the Popular Music Label may wish to allow consumers to preview the album for some period of time before purchasing.
Album track: For example, the Popular Music Label may wish to allow consumers to purchase or preview a few songs on an album.
Superdistribution: For example, the Popular Music Label may wish to allow consumers to forward albums or songs from albums to their friends for preview or purchase.
Based on the various combinations of these criteria, the Popular Music Label can specify different distribution rights and fee structures, both for its distributors and for the end consumers.
The following example examples address some of these types of distribution schemes. These examples use the following terms to describe the music to which the distribution rules apply:
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Album |
An entire record album. |
| Track |
One song on an album |
| Genre |
Type of music on the album, such as classical, jazz, and blues. |
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album.
This example uses the elements defined in the example music distribution extension, identified with the ce1: prefix.
digitalItem: This element extends the resource element defined in the XrML core to identify an album based on a universal resource identifier (URI). This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
The following figure illustrates the structure of the license that represents the music label/distributor relationship by granting distributors the right to issue licenses to consumers:
The following license represents the music label/distributor relationship. The grant that represents this relationship contains the following elements:
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The distributor to whom this license is issued. In this example, the distributor is identified as the possessor of a specific key. |
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The right to issue grants to others. | |
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A resource that specifies the grant that the distributor may issue. This contained grant specifies that the distributor can grant any consumer the right to play the album identified by the digitalItem element. |
This license also demonstrates using a variable defined with the forAll element to identify the consumer to whom the distributor may issue licenses. In this case, the forAll element does not contain a pattern, which means that it is unqualified and matches anything used as a principal. Since the contained grant references this variable as the principal to whom the distributor may issue licenses, the distributor may issue licenses to any consumer.
In this example and all following examples, the prefix ce1: refers to the example music distribution extension, sx: refers to the XrML standard extension, mx: refers to the XrML MPEG content extension, and dsig: refers to the namespace that defines XML signatures. All other elements are defined in the XrML Core.
The following figure illustrates the structure of the license that the distributor may issue to a consumer.
The following license represents the distributor/consumer relationship defined in the license above. The grant that represents this relationship contains the following elements:
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The |
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The right to play the album. |
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A resource that identifies the album that the consumer may play. |
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre.
This example uses two additional element defined in the example music distribution extension and identified with the ce1: prefix.
subItemOf: This element extends the resourcePatternAbstract element defined in the XrML Core to specify a pattern used to identify resources. This extension element defines a resource pattern based on either a digitalItem or digitalContainer (see below). This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
digitalContainer: This element extends the licensePart element defined in the XrML core to represent any part of a license (principal, right, resource, or condition). This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
The following figure illustrates the structure of the license that represents the music label/distributor relationship by granting distributors the right to issue licenses to consumers for jazz albums. To the license described in “Granting Distribution Rights to Distributors” above, this license adds another variable (defined with the forAll element) that contains a pattern (specified sung the subItemOf and digitalContainer elements) that identifies albums by genre. The consumer grant references this variable as the resource to which the distributor may issue licenses, as shown in the figure below. In this way, the Popular Music Label specifies that the albums for which the distributor may issues licenses must be jazz albums.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
As shown below, the distributor can issue a license to a consumer for any jazz album.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on a device that the Popular Music Label trusts.
This example uses an additional element defined in the example music distribution extension and identified with the ce1: prefix.
trustedDevice: This element extends the resource element defined in the XrML Core. It represents the characteristic of being a device that the Popular Music Label trusts. This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
The following figure illustrates the structure of the license that represents the music label/distributor relationship by granting distributors the right to issue licenses to consumers for jazz albums on trusted devices. To the license described in “Granting Rights by Genre” above, this license adds another variable (defined with the forAll element) that identifies trusted devices. The consumer grant references this variable in a renderer condition, as shown in the figure below. The renderer condition stipulates that the right (play in this case) must be exercised using the specified renderer.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
As shown below, the license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also contain the render condition stipulating a trusted device.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In addition to the license above, the consumer must have a license specifying that a particular device is trusted. The following figure illustrates the structure of this license:
In this license, the device (identified as a keyHolder) is granted the possessProperty right. The possessProperty right enables the device to claim ownership of the characteristics listed as resources in the grant. The resource for the grant is the property of being a device trusted by the Popular Music Label.
In this example, the Popular Music Label defines grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts.
The following figure illustrates the structure of this license that represents the music label/distributor relationship by granting distributors the right to issue licenses to consumers to play jazz albums on up to two trusted devices. This license is similar to the license described in “Granting Rights for Trusted Devices” above, with the following differences to address two trusted devices:
This license has two variables (defined with the forAll element) that identify trusted devices.
The consumer grant has been replaced by a grantGroup containing two grants. Each of these grants references one of the trusted device variables in a renderer condition. Any licenses that the distributor issues to consumers must contain this entire grantGroup.
The following figure illustrates these differences:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML:
As shown below, the license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also contain grantGroup specifying grants for each of the trusted devices.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML:
As in the example described in “Granting Rights for Trusted Devices” above, the consumer must also have licenses specifying that particular devices are trusted. In this example, the consumer would have two such licenses, one for each trusted device.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts and to forward the album to friends, who can listen to it for one week.
This example uses an additional element defined in the example music distribution extension and identified with the ce1: prefix.
validityIntervalDurationPattern: This element extends the conditionPatternAbstract element defined in the XrML Core to specify a pattern used to identify conditions. This extension element defines a condition pattern based on a duration and a starting time. This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
The following figure illustrates a license that represents the music label/distributor relationship. This license is similar to the license described in “Granting Rights for Two Trusted Devices” above, with the following differences to address superdistribution:
The consumer grantGroup contains an additional grant. The new grant gives consumers to issue grants that allow their friends to play the album for one week.
The new grant defines a variable to identify the friends to whom a consumer may forward the album. In this case, this variable does not contain a pattern, which means that it is unqualified and matches anything used as a principal. The new grant references this variable as the principal to whom the consumer may issue a license.
The new grant defines another variable that uses the validityIntervalDurationPattern to stipulate a validity interval that is one week long. The new grant references this variable as the condition in the license that a consumer may issue.
The following figure illustrates these differences:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
As shown below, the license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also contain the new grant in the grantGroup.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
Finally, the consumer may issue the following license to a friend, allowing that friend to play the album for one week.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts and to forward the album to up to two friends, who can listen to it for one week.
The figure below illustrates the structure of a license that represents the music label/distributor relationship. This license is the same as the license described in “Granting Superdistribution Rights” above, except that the grant allowing consumers to issue licenses to their friends contains an exerciseLimit condition. The exerciseLimit condition contains a service reference to check the number of times that the consumer has exercised the issue right.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
Similarly, the license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also contain the new exerciseLimit condition for the issue right.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
When the consumer issues a license to a friend, the service reference specified by the exerciseLimit is checked. The consumer may only issue the license if service reference indicates that this consumer has not already issued two licenses.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts and to forward the album to up to two friends, who can listen to it for one week. If a friend purchases the album, the consumer receives 10% of the purchase price.
This example uses the following additional elements defined in the example music distribution extension and identified with the ce1: prefix.
obtainFrom: This element extends the condition element defined in the XrML Core. This extension element defines a condition that specifies the distributor from whom the consumer’s friend may obtain rights to the album. This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
feeWeighting: This element defines how a fee should be distributed among several parties. This element and its associated type are defined as follows.
The following figure illustrates the structure of a license that represents the music label/distributor relationship. This license is similar to the license described in “Specifying the Scope of Superdistribution Rights” above, except that the grant that the consumer may issue now contains a grantGroup, which specifies two grants.
The first grant allows the consumer’s friend to play the album for one week.
The second grant allows the consumer’s friend to obtain a grant to play the album subject to two conditions: the friend must obtain this grant from the specified distributor, and the friend must pay a fee that includes 10% paid to the consumer.
The exerciseLimit condition now applies to this grantGroup. This means that the consumer may issue the grantGroup up to the total number of times specified by the exerciseLimit.
Since the consumer now issues a grantGroup, the license that the consumer’s friend receives contains the entire grantGroup, with rights to preview the album and rights to obtain a new license to the album from the distributor.
In addition, the distributor’s license grants the distributor the right to issue a license to the consumer’s friend.
Note: Payment of 10% of the fee to the consumer is associated with the friend’s exercise of the obtain right to obtain a license from the distributor. It is not associated with the license that the friend receives from the distributor.
The following figure illustrates these differences:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
The license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also include these changes, as illustrated below.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
The consumer may issue the following license to a friend. This license allows that friend to play the album for one week and to obtain a license from the distributor subject to payment of the fee, 10% of which is paid to the consumer.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
If the consumer’s friend exercises the right to obtain a license from the distributor, the distributor may issue the following license to the consumer’s friend.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts and to forward the album to up to two friends, who can listen to it for one week. If a friend purchases the album within one week of its release date, the consumer receives 10% of the purchase price.
The following figure illustrates the structure of a license that represents the music label/distributor relationship. This license is the same as the license described in “Adding Incentives to Superdistribution Rights” above, except that a seekApproval condition has been added to the following two grants.
The grant that allows the consumer’s friend to obtain a grant to play the album subject from the specified distributor.
The grant that allows the distributor to issue a license to the consumer’s friend.
This seekApproval condition checks the specified service reference to determine whether more than one week has elapsed since the album’s release date.
The following figure illustrates these differences:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
The license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also specify the seekApproval condition in the grant that the consumer may issue to a friend, as illustrated below.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In addition, the license that consumer issues to a friend must specify the seekApproval condition in the grant for the obtain right, as illustrated below:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
When the consumer’s friend exercises the obtain right, the service reference specified by the seekApproval condition is checked. The consumer’s friend may only exercise the obtain right if the date is within one week of the album’s release.
In addition, when the distributor exercises the issue right to issue a license to the consumer’s friend, the seekApproval condition is checked. The distributor may only exercise the issue right if the date is within one week of the album’s release.
In this example, the Popular Music Label grants a distributor the right to grant any specific consumer rights to play an album within a particular album genre on up to two devices that the Popular Music Label trusts and to forward one or two album tracks to up to two friends, who can listen to them for one week. If a friend purchases the album within one week of its release date, the consumer receives 10% of the purchase price.
The following figure illustrates the structure of a license that represents the music label/distributor relationship. This license is the same as the license described in “Adding a Time Limit to Superdistribution Incentives” above, except for the following changes in the grant that allows the consumer to issue a license to a friend:
This grant defines two variables, one for each album track.
The grantGroup that the consumer can issue to a friend grants rights to play individual album tracks (rather than the entire album) in addition to the grant to obtain a license to the entire album from the distributor.
The following figure illustrates these differences:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
The license that the distributor can issue to a consumer must also grant rights to preview the tracks individually, as illustrated below.
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
In addition, the license that consumer issues to a friend must specify rights to preview the two tracks individually, as illustrated below:
The following example license illustrates how this information is represented in XrML.
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