Content value chains modelling using a copyright ontology

Existing Digital Rights Management systems, initiatives like Creative Commons or research works as some digital rights ontologies provide limited support for content value chains modelling and management. This is becoming a critical issue as content markets start to profit from the possibilities of digital networks and the World Wide Web. The objective is to support the whole copyrighted content value chain across enterprise or business niches boundaries. Our proposal provides a framework that accommodates copyright law and a rich creation model in order to cope with all the creation life cycle stages. The dynamic aspects of value chains are modelled using a hybrid approach that combines ontology-based and rule-based mechanisms. The ontology implementation is based on the Web Ontology Language (OWL-DL) and Description Logic reasoners are directly used for license checking. On the other hand, for more complex aspects of the dynamics of content value chains, rule languages are the choice.