Rights Expression Languages

Rights expression languages (RELs) form a central component of digital rights management (DRM) systems. The process of development of RELs transforms the rights requirements to a formal language ready to be used in DRM systems. Decisions regarding the design of the conceptual model, syntax, semantics, and other such properties of the language, affect not only each other, but also the integration of the language in DRM systems, and the design of DRM system as a whole. This chapter provides a detailed analysis of each step of this process and the tradeoffs involved that not only affect the properties of the REL, but also the DRM system using that REL.

Digital Rights Management Technologies and Standards

This chapter discusses technologies and standards related to digital rights management (DRM). Firstly, it presents DRM systems that are multimedia information management systems that take into account digital rights and protection. These systems enable the controlled distribution and use of multimedia content through the digital value chain. Then, this chapter presents current initiatives, standard and proprietary, that specify a DRM system. It focuses in the MPEG-21 standard initiative, mainly in the parts of this standard that normatively specify the different pieces and formats needed by a complete DRM system. Finally, this chapter presents one of the key components of DRM systems, rights expression languages (RELs) that have been defined to express content usage rules.