(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
`
`CORRECTED VERSION
`
`(19) World Intellectual Property Organization
`International Bureau
`
`(43) International Publication Date
`20 July 2000 (20.07.2000)
`
` |l|l||||||||||||||||ll|||Il||l||||||||||||||||||l||l||||l||||||||||l|||ll||i||||
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`(10) International Publication Number
`WO 00/42555 A1
`
`(51) International Patent ClassifIcation7:
`
`G06F 17/60
`
`(21) International Application Number:
`
`PCT/US00/00835
`
`(74) Agents: LIPSITZ, Randy et al.; Kramer, Levin, Naftalis
`& Frankel LLP, 919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
`(US).
`
`(22) International Filing Date: 12 January 2000 (12.01.2000)
`_
`_
`_
`(25) F""‘g L”“g““g°-
`Enghsh
`.
`.
`.
`P
`L
`E 1 h
`"“g“”ge
`'°a"°"
`Hg 15
`“
`(26)
`(30) Priority Data,
`60/115,606
`
`12 January 1999 (12.01.1999)
`
`US
`
`:
`
`(81) Designated States (national): AE, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ,
`BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, Cz, DE, DK,
`DM, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL,
`INISJPKEKGKPKRKZLCLKLRLSLTLU
`5
`9
`5
`3
`7
`$
`5
`5
`7
`9
`9
`7
`7
`9
`LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, Nz, PL, P1",
`RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, rr, TZ, UA,
`UG, U1 VN» YU’ ZAY ZW-
`
`(84) Designated States (regional): ARIP0 patent (GH, GM.
`KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), Eurasian patent
`(AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), European patent
`(AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU,
`MC, NL, PT, SE), OAPI patent (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM,
`GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG).
`
`[Continued on next page]
`
`INC.
`THE HARRY FOX AGENCY,
`(71) Applicant:
`[US/US]; 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (US).
`
`(72) Inventors: MURPHY, Edward, P.; 6 Locust Lane, Up-
`per Brookville, NY 11545 (US). BURNS, Christopher; 83
`West Tisbury Road, Edgartown, MA 02535 (US).
`
`(54) Title: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REGISTERING AND LICENSING WORKS OVER A NETWORK
`
`(57) Abstract: The system and method of the invention generally
`provides for registering works of authorship in an online database
`(100) and providing licensing information about authorship with
`several rights agencies, royalty collecting societies and copyright
`offices, and the online database (100) in a single process. The
`invention allows individuals
`to identify a particular work of
`authorship form among many close variants; analyzing the license
`rights (143-148) necessary for a particular use of the work by an
`individual in a particular territory, determining the source of the
`licensing rights (151) in that territory and forwarding a request for
`a license to that source (152). Finally, in a preferred embodiment,
`the invention may issue a license (154) to an individual for the use
`of a work contemplated.
`
`
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`Published:
`— with international search report
`
`(48) Date of publication of this corrected version:
`23 August 2001
`
`(15) Information about Correction:
`see PCT Gazette No. 34/2001 of 23 August 2001, Section
`II
`
`For two-letter codes and other abbreviations, refer to the ”Guid-
`ance Notes on Codes and Abbreviations ” appearing at the begin-
`ning ofeach regular issue of the PCT Gazette.
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`METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REGISTERING AND
`
`LICENSING WORKS OVER A NETWORK
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional
`
`Application Serial No. 60/115,606, filed January 12, 1999.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to a method and system for registering works
`
`of authorship in an online database and providing licensing information about registered
`
`works to individuals who access the online database; and more particularly to a method and
`
`system for registering works of authorship with several rights agencies, royalty collecting
`
`societies and copyright offices, and simultaneously entering the work into the online
`
`database. The online database contains information about the licensing rights sources for
`
`various license rights in each territory of the world.
`
`Individuals can use the online database
`
`to identify a particular work of authorship from among many close variants, analyze the
`
`licensing rights necessary for a particular use of the work in a given territory, determine the
`
`source of the licensing right needed for their use and forward a request for a license to that
`
`source.
`
`In a preferred embodiment, the method and system can issue a license to the
`
`individual for the particular use of a work in the particular territory desired.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`With the growth and ready accessibility of the Internet, it has now become
`
`possible and easy to locate and copy works of authorship placed on the Internet.
`
`In fact,
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`
`many individuals who locate and copy a work that they are interested in can also easily
`
`distribute that work to others.
`
`In general, copying and distributing works of authorship in
`
`this way may constitute a violation of the rights of authorship in the work, and in particular
`
`may be a copyright violation. Yet, if an individual wishes to lawfully copy and distribute
`
`the work, such person may not have an easy time locating the appropriate entities which
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`may grant a license for the distribution.
`
`In fact, it may be extremely difficult for the
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`individual to even determine what rights are needed with regard to any given work in a
`
`given territory.
`
`For an individual who wishes to distribute many different works, such as on
`
`an Internet site or on a CD compilation, the task of obtaining and clearing all of the
`
`appropriate license rights may be daunting.
`
`It is therefore desired to have a method and
`
`system for allowing individuals to easily determine the license rights needed and locate the
`
`source of such license rights in a given territory for works of authorship.
`
`It is also desired
`
`to provide a means for generating and transmitting a request for a license to the appropriate
`
`licensing rights sources.
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`10
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`While the invention is directed to works of authorship in general, in order to
`
`illustrate the problems presented, and the solution of the invention herein, the following
`
`discussion focuses on musical works, and in particular, songs. Thus, in this example, to
`
`make a recording, use a musical work in a movie or a commercial, perform the work in
`
`public or distribute the lyrics on an Internet site, an individual needs to request the
`
`appropriate licenses from the song writer, the publisher or the royalty collection society
`
`that administers the rights needed in a given territory.
`
`A major licensing agency, which may represent up to 17,000 publishers in
`
`the United States, could handle on average more than a thousand requests a day from
`
`individuals (or companies) requesting mechanical rights licenses to make mechanical
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`reproductions of song recordings. Furthermore, with the growth of the Internet and online
`
`distribution of songs, that volume is expected to increase to 10,000 a day or more over the
`
`next few years. Unfortunately, individuals requesting mechanical rights may not know
`
`which agency represents a given publisher and may assume that it is a given major licensing
`
`agency even when it is not.
`
`In this case, that agency must expend resources dealing with
`
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`requests for licenses of works it does not represent.
`
`The Internet represents a new international distribution channel where as
`
`many as 100,000 sites are expected to use and distribute music. At the same time the use
`
`of music in other multimedia products and services is increasing. If obtaining the
`
`appropriate rights to use the music is not made significantly easier than it currently is, the
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`volume of unlicensed distribution will likely increase, and the ability to protect the
`
`intellectual property rights of the authors will be in danger. Thus, it is desired to provide a
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`system and method for easily determining which rights are necessary for a given use of a
`
`work. which agencies or companies administer and grant those rights and that can format a
`
`request for that license right to the appropriate licensing rights sources easily. Such a
`
`system would be accessible by publishers and rights sources for entering the appropriate
`
`information about a given work, and would be accessible by rights requestors who wished
`
`to license the works. Therefore, it is desired to provide an online, Internet based licensing
`
`system for accomplishing these goals.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Generally speaking, in accordance with the present invention, a method and
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`10
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`system for assisting individuals, recording companies, publishers, multimedia producers,
`
`Internet distributors and others in obtaining the appropriate rights to license a work of
`
`authorship easily, using an online system and database, and more particularly, a single
`
`World Wide Web site, is provided. The Web site is accessible by works publishers who
`
`wish to register their works in the system of the invention, and works users who wish to
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`identify and license a work.
`
`More specifically, the method and system of the invention provides an
`
`online, multimedia license, registration and tracking system for storing, retrieving and
`
`tracking licensing rights sources information, and for registering copyrights and the like for
`
`works of authorship in general; and for identifying and licensing multimedia works through
`
`the system. The system may be used by multimedia publishers and licensor's to register,
`
`store and track multimedia works, and by perspective licensee's (such is CD manufactures,
`
`compilation producers and Internet download services) to retrieve information about
`
`licensing a multimedia work.
`
`With reference to musical works, for example, the system may be used by
`
`music publishers as a one step clearinghouse to enter data about a published musical work
`
`and forward in the relevant information to various licensing databases, such as the
`
`International Common Works Database (CIS) and registration databases, such as the U.S.
`
`Copyright Office at the Library of Congress.
`
`Information about the musical work will also
`
`be stored in the centralized database of the invention in a digital representation of the work
`
`may be archived in the digital sound archive of the invention. Advantageously, the system
`
`can send structured email messages containing information about the new work to other
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`agencies, registration services or royalty rights collection societies. A publisher may access
`
`to system to update all these databases from a single update screen.
`
`A central component of the system of the invention is an Internet based
`
`works database which stores information about the work of authorship and includes
`
`information about which entities can grant particular licenses for any particular use of the
`
`work. The information will generally include a worldwide licensor for each of mechanical
`
`rights, synchronization rights, Internet download rights, performance rights and master
`
`recording rights, and then list territorial exceptions, such as mechanical rights in Japan or
`
`the UK.
`
`Initially, the information will be provided by the publisher of the work, but each
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`licensing agency can update database records as well. The system allows for online
`
`registration of single songs, multiple songs which are part of a single product (such as a
`
`cassette, a CD or a movie), and batch file registration allowing a large number of works to
`
`be imported using a single file transfer. Typically, the system will provide links to
`
`additional information about the work provided by the registrant and an example of the
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`work itself.
`
`A person or company, such as a CD manufacturer, Internet service provider
`
`or multimedia producer, that wants to use or license a work can search the database over
`
`the Internet for the correct data record for that work of authorship, and that record will
`
`include information as to which licensing agency has the right to grant a license for the
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`particular use.
`
`In use, a user searches for a work by selecting a field of search, such as the
`
`title of the work, the author of the work, the physical production of the work such as from
`
`a movie, or a book, and enters keywords in the search box. Results of the search are
`
`presented in a list, and when the user clicks on the desired title, information about that
`
`work is presented which will include which agencies license that work for any particular
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`use in the given territory.
`
`Once licensing source resources have been identified, a new screen is
`
`presented allowing the user to prepare a structure email message requesting the appropriate
`
`licenses. The user may then send a license request email to some or all of the rights
`
`sources identified for that work.
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`The invention includes several major components, each generally linked to a
`
`central database of works of authorship, called herein the "WorksDB. " Publishers and
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`authors may enter new works in the WorksDB using a simplified works entry screen on
`
`their Internet browser. At the same time, the invention allows the registrant to register the
`
`work with the U.S. Copyright Office, with the International Common Works Database, and
`
`with other agencies and royalty collecting societies around the world.
`
`The invention allows interested users to identify a particular work of
`
`authorship by using a simplified look up screen on their Internet browser. For example, in
`
`the music industry, many songs have similar titles, and some songs have multiple
`
`copyrighted arrangements.
`
`In accordance with the invention, the WorksDB provides a
`
`searchable database of all copyrighted songs in the American or other repertoire so that the
`
`user can determine which work, which version and which arrangement he or she wishes to
`
`license.
`
`The system of the invention can determine the rights required for a particular
`
`use of a particular work by analyzing responses from the requestor to questions presented
`
`on a simplified intended use screen shown to the requestor on their Internet browser. The
`
`WorksDB service includes an expert system which identifies the usage being proposed and
`
`determines which rights are required in a given territory.
`
`In the example of music, there
`
`are mechanical rights needed to make copies, performance rights needed to perform the
`
`work in public, synchronization rights to use the work in a movie or commercial, print
`
`rights to distribute the lyrics or the score, digital rights to distribute the work on the
`
`Internet, grand rights to stage a dramatic performance and master rights to reproduce an
`
`existing recording among others. For other works, different rights apply. Outside the
`
`U.S., "moral rights" may also exist, permitting the author of a work to grant or withhold
`
`permission to use the work in any specific context. Sometimes several of the possible
`
`rights are required for a particular use. By comparing the user's information and responses
`
`to the intended use questions with a database of rules based on expert knowledge of world
`
`wide licensing laws and practices, the WorksDB service can identify which rights the user
`
`will require for the intended use.
`
`The WorksDB also includes information about the identity of any particular
`
`licensing rights source. For example, different rights are administered by different
`
`publishers, agencies and collecting societies in different territories around the world, and
`
`individual works may have additional specific and unusual requirements. Based on the
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`territory in which the work is to be produced and distributed, among other information
`
`stored in the WorksDB, the WorksDB service uses a data structure to determine which
`
`sources need to be contacted by the user to get all the rights that are required for the
`
`intended use.
`
`The system of the invention can preferably forward the request for a license
`
`to the appropriate rights source. Thus, the WorksDB service offers the user the ability to
`
`send all the necessary rights requests immediately to the correct licensing rights sources at
`
`once. The system prompts the user for the necessary information, formats the request,
`
`determines the current address and preferred request format for each of the rights sources
`
`involved, and sends the request message to the correct agency.
`
`In most cases the message
`
`goes out by electronic mail with a copy to the user, but in other cases the request may go
`
`by fax or ordinary mail. The system of the invention preferably logs the requests each user
`
`has made, and, with the participation of the rights sources, may track whether the request is
`
`answered or the license is issued.
`
`In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the system may issue a pro
`
`forma license, where appropriate. For agencies and publishers who request it, the
`
`WorksDB service will evaluate the rights application, assemble the appropriate clauses and
`
`conditions required in the license and determine what rate the user will be charged. This
`
`pro forma license is forwarded to the requestor, with a copy to the publisher. To complete
`
`the license, the requestor may respond to the agency, publisher or other rights source
`
`directly with their acceptance, or may contact the rights source through the WorksDB
`
`service in order to accept the terms of the pro forma license.
`
`The WorksDB service is preferentially accessed over the Internet, and a
`
`preferred embodiment of the invention incorporates a central Web site providing links to
`
`the various functions, which is available free to all users around the world. As an example,
`
`in the field of musical works licensing, the WorksDB service is implemented as an Internet-
`
`based Licensing Service described in the attached Appendix 1.
`
`The method and system of the invention benefits the licensing rights sources
`
`in at least two ways.
`
`It is estimated that more than a third of the license requests now
`
`received by the largest agencies and publishers cannot be processed either because the
`
`information is not complete or correct, or because that agency or publisher is not the
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`appropriate rights source for the work being requested. The WorksDB service eliminates
`
`the work associated with unprocessable requests by helping the user create a complete
`
`request in the first place, and by sending license requests to the correct licensing source in
`
`the second place.
`
`The service also benefits the individuals and companies that wish to license a
`
`work of authorship. The user of the WorksDB service can create and send a license rights
`
`request within minutes, and participating rights sources which incorporate automated
`
`licensing systems may respond in as short a time as three minutes. Or, where the
`
`WorksDB service provides a pro forma license, such a license can be prepared nearly
`
`instantly. This is especially important for Internet distributors who can now add a new
`
`work to their online catalog in minutes. This makes it easier for Internet sites to comply
`
`with the copyright law, and lessens the likelihood of non—compliance, and provides
`
`licensing revenues to the appropriate rights sources.
`
`Updating the information necessary to ensure the complete and up to date
`
`accuracy of the system, namely the information about a given work and the licensing rights
`
`sources associated with given territories for that work, will be done largely by the
`
`publishers who have the greatest incentive in having rights requests processed efficiently.
`
`The Internet, and particularly the World Wide Web, makes it feasible for thousands of
`
`individual publishers and song writers to maintain their works information in a central
`
`directory, such as the WorksDB. The WorksDB service takes advantage of this new
`
`capability by building and maintaining a system, a protocol, and an administration staff that
`
`keeps the database current and accurate.
`
`The system and the method of the invention includes a works database
`
`containing information about works, including a unique work identifier and licensing
`
`sources for individual license rights in individual territories.
`
`It also includes means for
`
`determining a unique work identifier for a work to be licensed by a user and the appropriate
`
`license rights necessary for a particular use of the work in a particular territory. The
`
`system and method then matches the unique work identifier and the appropriate license
`
`rights for the territory in the database to determine the appropriate licensing sources and
`
`generates and transmits a license request to the licensing sources.
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`Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide an online
`
`works database accessible by authors or publishers for entering information about their
`
`works, including information about licensing rights sources in particular territories for
`
`those works, which works database is also accessible by users who wish to request license
`
`rights to a work.
`
`Another object of the invention is to provide a means for determining the
`
`license rights necessary for a particular use of a work in a territory and generating and
`
`transmitting a license request to the appropriate licensing rights source; and preferably
`
`additionally provide means for generating a pro forma license for that use.
`
`Yet another object of the invention is to provide means for registering a
`
`work with several international works databases or copyright offices at once by entering
`
`registration information about the work in the online works database.
`
`Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and
`
`will in part be apparent from the following detailed specification.
`
`The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one
`
`or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the system embodying features
`
`of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to
`
`effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`For a more complete understanding of the present invention and its
`
`associated advantages, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in
`
`conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
`
`Fig. 1 shows an interconnection block diagram depicting an overview of the
`
`WorksDB system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
`
`Fig. 2 shows a simplified account entry screen for the WorksDB system, in
`
`accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
`
`Fig. 3 shows a simplified work update or entry screen for the WorksDB
`
`system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
`
`Fig. 4 shows a current rights sources screen for the WorksDB system, in
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`accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
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`Fig. 5 shows a rights sources modification screen for the WorksDB system,
`
`in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
`
`Fig. 6 shows a search results table for the WorksDB system, in accordance
`
`with an embodiment of the invention;
`
`Fig. 7 shows a simplified rights request information screen for the WorksDB
`
`system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and
`
`Fig. 8 shows a detailed right request information screen for the WorksDB
`
`system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`
`10
`
`An embodiment of the present invention and its advantages are best
`
`understood by referring to Figs.
`
`1 - 8 of the drawings, like numerals being used for like
`
`and corresponding parts within the various drawings. While it is to be understood that the
`
`system and method of the invention applies to any works of authorship, for ease of
`
`explanation an embodiment of the invention pertaining specifically to the licensing of
`
`15
`
`musical works or songs is described.
`
`Referring first to Fig. 1, there is illustrated an interconnection block diagram
`
`depicting an overview of the WorksDB system in an embodiment of the invention. The
`
`WorksDB system generally indicated at 100 includes several functional elements which may
`
`be accessed from a main page 105. As is typical with Internet pages, main page 105 may
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`
`typically include a splash 110 or other graphic identifier, news 111 providing information
`
`about the status of WorksDB system 100, and optionally, advertisements 112 or other links.
`
`Main page 105 includes links allowing a user to find a work of authorship, create a request
`
`to license a work of authorship and send it to a rights source, or register a new work.
`
`When the user clicks the link to register a new work, the user is brought to a
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`25
`
`register page 115. As will be further described below with reference to Fig. 2, the user is
`
`prompted to provide an account ID 116 or, if unavailable, create a new account 117. A
`
`new account ID is sent to the user by email, which serves to confirm and verify the email
`
`address of the user. Once an account ID is established, the user may register a new work
`
`118 or update the information of an existing work 119. The WorksDB system 100 can
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`forward information about the new work or the updated work to the WorksDB 120, other
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`databases 121, a national copyright office 122 and a digital archive 123. Digital archive
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`123 contains a digital representation of the work provided by the user upon registration of
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`that work and may also function as a deposit for copyright purposes.
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`A user who is interested in finding out information about a particular work,
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`or licensing use of the work, can use WorksDB system 100 by clicking the link to find the
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`work. The user is then brought to a search page 125 where the user can enter whenever
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`information about the work that the user knows, in order to search for the work.
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`Information about works of authorship in the WorksDB will generally include a unique
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`identifier, identifier 126, the title of the work 127, any alternative titles 128, usage notes
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`129, authors 130, a show, movie or other place in which the work was featured 131, the
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`publisher and catalog 132, and any international standard registry numbers 133 which may
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`be appropriate.
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`As will be further described in detail below, a user searching for a particular
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`work will typically enter some or only incomplete information in any given field, and will
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`typically only provide a title 127, alternative title 128 or the show or movie in which the
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`work was featured 131. The WorksDB system 100 will return a work search result table,
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`for example the work search result table of Fig. 6 displaying the results of a search for
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`songs containing the word "Godfather" in its title. As shown in Fig. 6, additional
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`information about the search result works is provided in the table to help the user find the
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`exact song and version being looked for.
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`The work search result table also optionally includes links provided by the
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`publisher or other entity that entered the work into the WorksDB system 100, to additional
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`information, such as, in the example of musical works and songs, a sample of the work
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`134, information about the work from the publishers web site 135, a discography 136, the
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`lyrics 137, and the score 138. As shown in Fig. 6, not all entries in the work search result
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`table will include links to each of these sources of further information.
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`In the case of
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`different kinds of works, i.e., other than musical works, different links to additional
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`information will be appropriate. For example, in the case of a photographic work or
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`photograph, a link providing information as to the exposure and camera equipment used, or
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`to a thumbnail graphical image of the photograph, may be provided.
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`While many search techniques are well-known in the art and may be used in
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`the system of the invention, it has been found that the searching design described in
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`Appendix 2 is well—suited to meet the objectives.
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`Once the user has identified the specific work of interest, the user may
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`request a license for the work by clicking on the appropriate link and going to the request
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`page 140.
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`If available, the user can provide their user ID 141, or request a new user ID
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`142. The new user ID is forwarded to the user by email in order to verify and confirm the
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`email address of the user. Once a user ID is provided, the user it brought to a rights
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`analysis page, as shown in Fig. 7 and described in further detail below.
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`The rights analysis page as shown in Fig. 7 will allow the user to select from
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`a comprehensive list of rights appropriate to that work, the license rights to be requested
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`143 and provide other basic information about the use of the work. Depending on the
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`rights requested, additional questions will be presented to the user seeking the information
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`pertinent to the particular rights to be requested. For example in the case of musical works
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`or songs, additional questions pertaining to recording rights 144, broadcast rights 145,
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`electronic rights 146, performance rights 147, or print rights 148 will be presented to the
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`user. Once all the questions pertinent to the license request are answered by the user, the
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`user will typically be given the chance to review their answers 149 and make corrections.
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`WorksDB system 100 also includes a license request assembly function
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`which first identifies the appropriate rights required for the use intended by the user 150,
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`and then identifies the appropriate sources for those rights 151. WorksDB system 100 can
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`transmit the license request to the licensing rights source 152 and store a record of the
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`request 153 for confirmation and archival purposes.
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`In a preferred embodiment of the invention, WorksDB system 100 can use
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`information generated by the request assembly function to create a pro forma license 154,
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`determine the rate for that license 155 by reference to information in the WorksDB, send
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`the pro forma license to the user 156 and a copy of the license request to the licensing
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`rights source, and record the transaction 157 in the WorksDB.
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`In this way, WorksDB
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`system 100 can provide the appropriate licenses to users who wish to use a work in a
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`simple and efficient manner, in a minimal amount of time. Even where a pro forma license
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`is not created by WorksDB system 100, the license request can be sent to the licensing
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`rights source and processed efficiently and without delay because WorksDB system 100
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`provides all of the information required by the licensing rights source in the request.
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`While many techniques for accomplishing the above objectives will be
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`apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, one embodiment that is well-suited to provide
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`this functionality is described with reference to Appendix 3.
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`Various functions of WorksDB system 100 will now be described in further
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`detail. While it is to be understood that these functions can apply to any type of works of
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`authorship, for ease of explanation, the embodiment described will make reference to
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`musical works and songs. With reference to Fig. 2, the simplified works registration is
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`described. Any publisher or other works source with an account ID may register a work.
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`The process requires the publisher to enter information about both the registering
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`organization and the work. Once the work is registered in the WorksDB system, the
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`publisher may choose to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office as well as other
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`agencies and rights collection societies at the same time. With reference to Fig. 3, the
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`WorksDB system prompts the user to enter a common set of information required by the
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`WorksDB and the CIS Common Works Database. If