Method and System for a Hosted Digital Music Library Sharing Service

Abstract

A hosted web service is provided to enable the legitimate sharing and reselling digital music among subscribers to the web service by leveraging the teachings of the first sale doctrine of copyright law. By maintaining a single copy of properly purchased song within the system that can be only accessed by one subscriber at a time, the web service preserves the rights of the copyright holder of the digital music while encouraging a community sharing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method performed by a server hosting a web service for sharing digital media, the method comprising:
 storing a digital copy of media in a media storage database;   determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made;   categorizing the digital copy of media as shareable if the verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made;   categorizing the digital copy of media as not shareable if the verification that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media exist can not be made;   receiving a request at the web service to borrow, from an owner, the digital copy of media from a borrower;   accepting the request of the borrower to borrow the digital copy of media if the digital copy of media is categorized as shareable; and   denying the request of the borrower to borrow the digital copy of media if the digital copy of media is categorized as not shareable.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media purchased the digital copy of media through an ecommerce store component of the web service and determining whether the digital copy of media was downloaded through the web service by the owner.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media is an online music service offered through the web service.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 copying the digital copy of media from an account of the owner into an account of the borrower, thereby enabling access to the digital copy of media by the borrower through the web service; and   removing the digital copy from the account of the owner, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy by the owner.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining whether a return event for the digital copy of media has occurred;   copying the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower into the account of the owner, thereby enabling access to the digital copy by the owner through the web service; and   removing the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy of media by the borrower.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein the return event for the digital copy of media comprises one of a recall request of the digital copy of media by the owner or an expiration of a borrowing period associated with the digital copy of media. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 4 , further comprising:
 if access to the digital copy of media has been enabled for the borrower, establishing a network connection with a mobile device of the borrower; and   downloading the digital copy of media into the mobile device.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method as set forth in  claim 5 , further comprising:
 establishing a network connection with a mobile device of the borrower; and   removing the digital copy of media from the mobile device.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 categorizing the digital copy of media as not shareable upon downloading the digital copy of the media to the owner.   
     
     
         10 . A hosted web service for sharing digital media content among subscribers to the web service, the service comprising:
 a server comprising (i) a web server component for serving user interfaces to manage digital media content and receiving a borrowing request to borrow a digital copy of media from a subscriber, (ii) a subscriber sharing component for determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made, for categorizing the digital copy of media as shareable if the verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made and for categorizing the digital copy of media as not shareable if the verification that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media exist can not be made; and   a database coupled to the server, for storing a digital copy of media, the database comprising subscriber accounts, wherein each of the subscriber accounts contains subscriber registration information, attributes information relating to whether the digital media content is shareable, and digital content accessible to the subscriber account.   
     
     
         11 . The hosted web service as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein the subscriber sharing component for determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made further comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media purchased the digital copy of media through an ecommerce store component of the web service and determining whether the digital copy of media was downloaded through the web service by the owner. 
     
     
         12 . The hosted web service as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein the subscriber sharing component for determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media is an online music service offered through the web service. 
     
     
         13 . The hosted web service as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein the subscriber sharing component further for:
 copying the digital copy of media from an account of the owner into an account of the borrower, thereby enabling access to the digital copy of media by the borrower through the web service; and   removing the digital copy from the account of the owner, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy by the owner.   
     
     
         14 . The hosted web service as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein the subscriber sharing component further for:
 determining whether a return event for the digital copy of media has occurred;   copying the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower into the account of the owner, thereby enabling access to the digital copy by the owner through the web service; and   removing the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy of media by the borrower.   
     
     
         15 . The hosted web service as set forth in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 categorizing the digital copy of media as not shareable upon downloading the digital copy of the media to the owner.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computer system, causes the processor to facilitate the sharing of digital media content among subscribers of a web service running on the computer system, by performing the steps of:
 storing a digital copy of media in a media storage database;   determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made;   categorizing the digital copy of media as shareable if the verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made;   categorizing the digital copy of media as not shareable if the verification that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media exist can not be made;   receiving a request at the web service to borrow, from an owner, the digital copy of media from a borrower;   accepting the request of the borrower to borrow the digital copy of media if the digital copy of media is categorized as shareable; and   denying the request of the borrower to borrow the digital copy of media if the digital copy of media is categorized as not shareable.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein:
 determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media purchased the digital copy of media through an ecommerce store component of the web service and determining whether the digital copy of media was downloaded through the web service by the owner.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein:
 determining whether verification may be made that no illegitimate copies of the digital copy of media have been made comprises determining whether the owner of the digital copy of media is an online music service offered through the web service.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as set forth in  claim 16 , further comprising:
 copying the digital copy of media from an account of the owner into an account of the borrower, thereby enabling access to the digital copy of media by the borrower through the web service; and   removing the digital copy from the account of the owner, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy by the owner.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as set forth in  claim 19 , further comprising:
 determining whether a return event for the digital copy of media has occurred;   copying the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower into the account of the owner, thereby enabling access to the digital copy by the owner through the web service; and   removing the digital copy of media from the account of the borrower, thereby prohibiting access to the digital copy of media by the borrower.