Apple Patent Applications Address User-to-User Resale and Lending of iTunes Store Content

A set of patent applications discovered by AppleInsider today suggests that Apple may be considering allowing customers to resell or lend iTunes Store content to other users in the same way they might sell a physical book, music CD or movie DVD.

itunes-resale
Apple's system is similar to one outlined in a separate patent already granted to Amazon, although Amazon's approach requires transactions to be made via a central marketplace while Apple's proposed approach would also allow direct user-to-user transfers.

Techniques are provided for managing access to a digital content item (such as an ebook, music, movie, software application) to be transferred from one user to another. The transferor is prevented from accessing the digital content item after the transfer occurs. The entity that sold the digital content item to the transferor enforces the access rights to the digital content item by storing data that establishes which user currently has access to the digital content item. After the change in access rights, only the transferee is allowed access to the digital content item. As part of the change in access rights, the transferee may pay to obtain access to the digital content item. A portion of the proceeds of the "resale" may be paid to the creator or publisher of the digital content item and/or the entity that originally sold the digital content item to the original owner.

Restrictions are outlined to prevent abuse of the facility, such as allowing publishers to limit transfers to certain timescales (for example, requiring the user to have owned the product for a certain length of time before selling it), frequency (limiting how often someone could sell their content), price (enforcing a minimum price) and buyer (perhaps limiting sales to within the country of origin).

The patent covers gifting and loan as well as resale, and outlines an option for the content publisher to receive a cut in return for granting rights to transfer the content.

It should of course be noted that Apple files a huge number of patent applications, only a tiny minority of which ever see the light of day in an Apple product or service, but it is interesting to see Apple at least exploring the idea.

Tag: Patent

Popular Stories

election results 2024 live activities

Track 2024 U.S. Election Results Live on Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday November 5, 2024 5:02 am PST by
Apple News is providing Live Activities support for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing iPhone and iPad users to track electoral results in real time directly from their Lock Screen. The feature is rolling out for U.S. users over the course of Election Day, November 5, providing continuous updates of the electoral count. So if you're interested, you don't need to repeatedly check...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
iCloud General Feature

Here's What's New in Apple's Updated iCloud Terms and Conditions Taking Effect Next Week

Friday September 13, 2024 7:39 am PDT by
Apple has started notifying users about an upcoming revision to its iCloud Terms and Conditions, which takes effect on Monday, September 16. We compared the text of the upcoming iCloud Terms and Conditions with the current U.S. version from September 18, 2023 and identified four key changes: "Apple ID" references have been changed to "Apple Account" throughout. iCloud users must agree to ...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
ipads early bf deals

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Tuesday November 5, 2024 7:02 am PST by
Black Friday is still a few weeks away, but you can already find great prices on numerous iPads, including the 9th generation iPad, 10th generation iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Of course, there is a chance that ...
M4 M4 Pro vs M4 Max Feature

When to Expect New M4 MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro Models

Monday November 4, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Apple's fall 2024 Mac announcements have included new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models, all of which debuted with variants of Apple's M4 chip. Apple intends to update the rest of its Mac lineup with M4 series processors over the next 12 months, which will make it the first time that Apple has used the same chip generation across all of its Macs. This means we can expect new M4...

Top Rated Comments

iGrip Avatar
152 months ago
Yet more DRM. Thanks but no thanks, Apple. I will continue to buy nothing from the iStore.

Techniques are provided for managing access to a digital content item (such as an ebook, music, movie, software application) to be transferred from one user to another. The transferor is prevented from accessing the digital content item after the transfer occurs.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FuNGi Avatar
152 months ago
Bruce Willis will be very happy.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGrip Avatar
152 months ago
So Apple (and others) create a problem (which everyone loves and doesn't think it's a problem) - now they will "fix" the problem and possibly charge for it - and people will rejoice?

:rolleyes:

Judging solely from this thread, it would seem that you are 100% correct in your analysis.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
152 months ago
I'd love to see this happen. I'd even give Apple 30% because if they facilitate this and make it easy to do then it's worth it. Everyone benefits. Right now there's no way to resell anything I buy digitally (content) like there is with DVD/BluRay/CD. Bargain hunters can find what they are looking for cheaper and some people can raise some extra cash if they need it. Probably would spur people into trying things they wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I saw the article about Amazon's approach earlier. I'm just glad that we're reaching a point where a digital second-hand marketplace might become a reality.

So Apple (and others) create a problem (which everyone loves and doesn't think it's a problem) - now they will "fix" the problem and possibly charge for it - and people will rejoice?

:rolleyes:
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
152 months ago
Way to go! Finding something negative!

Negative perhaps - but realistic.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGrip Avatar
152 months ago
Reselling of books could be a brilliant idea.

Split the profit on the resell between you and Apple/publisher and there would be an army of used book salesman out there pushing their old books onto friends. Could be win win all around.

Why should I split any revenue with Apple or the publisher when I sell my old books?

Do you have to give Chevrolet a cut when you sell your old car? If suddenly you had to sell your used car through Chevrolet's used car lot, and you had to split your money with them, would you be happy?

If not, then why does such an scheme with digital content make you happy?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)