An interesting development I heard about last week is the Content Recognition Rules (CRR) specification, an XML schema that allows content owners to express, in a standard manner, how they would like their content to be treated. Some examples from the document:

1. On recognition of at least 60 seconds (for example) of this asset, please remove it from use.
2. This asset is playable only in the US.
3. This asset is not playable in the UK until July 4, 2008.
4. In a mashup of multiple assets from the same series, if the total time of all assets from the series totals 3 minutes, then remove it from use.
5. On appearance of this asset on a UGC site, send an email notification to the rights holder.
6. When delivering an uploaded copy of this asset to a consumer, some ads are associated with it and should be shown.
7. If an uploaded video contains over 60 seconds from this movie, and that represents over 50% of the video‘s total length, quarantine it, pending investigation.
8. If an uploaded video contains more than 33% of an original asset, take it down and notify the originator of the copy and the owner of the original.
9. If an uploaded video contains an AACS theatrical use only watermark, send a DMCA notice.
10. If the quality of an uploaded video is low enough, take no action.
11. If the last 3 minutes of this show are found in uploaded content, replace the UGC with a teaser clip.

I understand CRR is not intended to express copyrights or policy, but to permit a much wider range, and granularity, of possibilities than simply "infringing" (can't use) or "non-infringing" (can use). In fact, I see here a parallel with the enabling framework of the Creative Commons that also provides for a spectrum of granularity beyond "all rights reserved" and "no rights reserved" under copyright.