Multimedia Content Distribution Governed by Ontology-Represented Contracts

Multimedia content can be digitally distributed in a B2B and in a B2C context. While B2C distribution has been successfully governed by means of digital licenses, B2B transfers have received less attention. These digital licenses have been expressed in standard RELs (Rights Expression Language) and they can be seen as the electronic replacement of distribution contracts and end user licenses. However RELs fail to replace the rest of the contracts agreed along the complete Intellectual Property (IP) Value Chain. To represent their corresponding electronic counterpart licenses, an IP value chain ontology able to represent contract terms is presented here. It has been conceived to deal with a broader set of parties, to handle typical clauses found in the audiovisual market contracts, and to govern every transaction performed on IP Objects. Contract clauses are modelled as deontic logic propositions, and an event-based system is described to allow a DRM system the execution of the contract.