text: the assignment of hierarchical rights allows , for example , even greater control by an author over one or more documents . this hierarchical rights assignment further allows for greater control throughout the document distribution chain extending to , for example , distributors , secondary distributors , users , or the like . therefore , a graphical representation of the rights associated with the document could appear as a series of interconnected nodes each having an associated portion of rights . an exemplary embodiment of the systems and methods of this invention can also include a rights - on - rights scheme in which , for example , a counter or other system manages the various layers , nodes and branches to regulate , for example , the rights to change , edit , assign , revoke , transfer other rights , or the like , to one or more additional layers . since rights can be treated as an object class , for example using xml , rights can include themselves and thus refer to itself as , for example , an iteration . for example , a user can transfer the rights - on - rights for a maximum of two layers of the right assignment tree which could , for example , further limit and control the overall distribution of both the rights and the document . therefore , the rights of the user may be different from the rights a user can assign or transfer in the hierarchical structure . additionally , for example , the rights to change , edit , copy , sign , or the like , can be passed on from the owner to the user . associated with one or more of these rights can be document tracking actions . for example , using a digital signature , a document can manage and record its path of distribution , recording each user &# 39 ; s interactivity with the document , including , for example , any assignment and / or distribution action , or any other information that may be relevant . therefore , it is possible that a document will have associated therewith multiple signatures that represent , for example , a “ snapshot ” of the document as it was available to that particular user . for example , a second user can add , subtract , modify , edit , or the like , the content of a document which has already been signed by a first user . these modifications by the second user are then “ signed ,” recording that user &# 39 ; s interactions with the document . both versions of the document then can be stored , for example , in a database , for reference , accounting , profiling , or the like . additionally , the right to use a document can be content - based or role - based , as is described in copending application ser . no . 09 / 867 , 749 entitled “ method and apparatus for assigning conditional or consequential rights to documents and documents having such rights ,” filed herewith and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . for example , the president of a company may want to be the only one authorized to use a particular document . if the present of the company changes , the new president can automatically become the right holder , assuming the president can verify , for example , their position using , for example , biometrics , a smart card , an identification card , or comparable identification device or scheme . this allows the assignment of rights to be separate from the assignment of the position . similarly , the systems and methods of this invention can be used in conjunction with rights editing tools and templates such as those discussed in u . s . provisional patent application ser . no . 60 / 261 , 753 , entitled “ method and apparatus for editing and specifying the rights and conditions associated with documents or digital contents ,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . for example , rights can be assigned through the use of templates that can aid in the assignment of rights to one or more classes of users based on , for example , a job position , a geographic location , a profile , an identifier , or the like . furthermore , this concept extends itself into the medical field . for example , where medical records are used by a doctor , the medical records can contain usage rights for a certain class or field of individuals . this can , for example , satisfy both the concerns regarding the patient &# 39 ; s safety and the patient &# 39 ; s privacy by limiting access to one or more documents . additionally , for example , the role - based or content - based rights can be used for access to movies with , for example , adult content to restrict a particular class of individuals from viewing the content . an attempt to access the restricted content can be recorded and , for example , reported to the proper party . furthermore , the parent can be viewed as a node in the hierarchical right assignment structure such that the parent can obtain a template or toolkit for right assignment , right modification and right customization , and then transfer the rights to one or more children . the parent could then update and modify , for example using an age - based right assignment scheme with or without corresponding templates , the child &# 39 ; s rights as , for example , the child grows . fig1 illustrates an exemplary document 100 . the exemplary document 100 comprises a right management module 110 , a right assignment module 120 , a tracking module 130 , a right usage determination module 140 , an interface module 150 , an accounting module 160 , and a document updating module 170 interconnected by links 5 . the document 100 can also be connected to a distributed network ( not shown ) which may or may not also be connected to one or more other documents , account processing systems , rights management systems , or other distributed networks , as well as one or more input devices and display devices ( not shown ). while the exemplary embodiment illustrated in fig1 shows the document 100 and associated components collocated , it is to be appreciated that the various components of the document 100 can be located at distant portions of a distributed network , such as a local area network , a wide area network , an intranet and / or the internet , or within a dedicated document or document system . thus , it should be appreciated that the components of the document 100 can be combined into one device or collocated on a particular node of distributed network . furthermore , it should be appreciated that for ease of illustration , the various functional components of the document 100 have been divided as illustrated in fig1 . however , any of the functional components illustrated in fig1 can be combined or further partitioned without affecting the operation of the system . as will be appreciated from the following description , and for reasons of computation efficiency , the components of the document can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without effecting the operation of the system . furthermore , it is to be appreciated that the term module as used herein includes any hardware and / or software that provide the functionality as discussed herein . likewise , the document 100 can be self contained , such as an e - book , and comprise any necessary controllers , memory , and / or i / o interfaces that may be necessary given the particular embodiment and / or implementation of the document 100 . additionally , the document 100 can be any information to which hierarchical rights are associated . furthermore , the links 5 can be a wired or wireless link or any other known or later developed element ( s ) that is capable of supplying and communicating data to and from the connected elements . additionally , the input devices can include , for example , a keyboard , a mouse , a speech to text converter , a stylus , a mouse , or the like . in general , the input device can be any device capable of communicating information to the document 100 . furthermore , the display device can be a computer monitor , a display on a pda , an e - book , or any other device capable of displaying information to one or more users . in operation , a user , such as a document creator , associates rights with the document 100 . in particular , via the interface module 150 and one or more of an input device and display device , a user inputs rights to associate with the document 100 . in cooperation with the right management module 110 and the right assignment module 120 , the rights are associated with the document 100 . in this exemplary embodiment , it is assumed that the content owner , or author , is not responsible for any type of accounting procedure , e . g ., crediting or debiting , associated with assigning rights to the document 100 . however , it is to be appreciated that for a particular embodiment , it may be desirable to credit or debit a user based on the user associating rights with a document 100 . however , as previously discussed , the association and assignment of rights can be performed by , for example , one or more external rights assignment system that associates one or more hierarchical rights with the document 100 . for example , an employee of a newspaper may be hired to write an article on a particular topic . on completion of the article , the journalist could assigned view , edit and distribution rights to the publisher . then , for example , upon assignment of these rights and distribution of the document to the publisher , the author could be credited for their work . alternatively , a user may receive a document 100 and wish to modify the rights associated with that document . thus , the right management module 110 determines the available assignable rights associated with the document 100 . then , via the interface module 150 , and one or more of the input and display devices , the rights that are to be assigned by the user are received . next , a determination is made by the right management module 110 as to whether the assignment is allowable . for example , the rights associated with the document 100 can restrict based on , for example , the user , the distribution history , another users &# 39 ; interaction with the document , or the like , whether the current user &# 39 ; s request to modify the associated rights is allowable . if the right assignment module 120 determines that the user &# 39 ; s request is not allowed , a message can be forwarded to the user indicating the like . however , if the assignment is determined allowable by the right assignment module 120 , an optional determination can be made by the accounting module 160 as to whether any accounting functions need be performed . if accounting functions need be performed , the accounting module 160 can perform any necessary crediting and / or debiting as appropriate . for example , the accounting module 160 can contact an accounting system ( not shown ) which could authorize the user &# 39 ; s transaction . alternatively , for example , the accounting module 160 can interface with a user , for example , via a smart card , a credit card interface , or the like , and correctly debit and / or credit a user &# 39 ; s account . however , it is to be appreciated that the accounting module 160 need not perform any function whatsoever if the rights associated with the document so specify , for example , in a document that is available for inspection and comment . furthermore , it is appreciated that the accounting module 160 need not perform the accounting functions in real time , but can perform them on an as needed basis , in a batch , or the like . for example , if the document 100 is an e - book , the accounting module 160 could debit every user that views the contents of the e - book as it is passed around . then , upon return of the e - book to , for example , a library , the accounting module 160 can synchronize with , for example , an accounting system that performs any necessary accounting functions . in general , if the accounting is required and is successful , the rights chosen by the user are associated with the document . however , if , for example , the accounting function is not allowed , a message can be forwarded to a user indicating that there is a problem . after the association of the updated rights with the document by the document updating module 170 , the tracking module 130 can optionally maintain a history , for example , with the use of a digital signature , of the rights updates , or any other updates , such as edits , or the like , made by this particular user . this information can then be associated with the document with the cooperation of the tracking module 130 . in use , a user receives one or more documents 100 for viewing , editing , modifying , updating , distributing , or the like . upon receipt of the document 100 , the right management module 110 determines the rights available to that user . if the user &# 39 ; s usage request corresponds to the rights available to that user , the right usage determination module 140 , in cooperation with the right management module 110 , allows the user &# 39 ; s request . furthermore , based on the user &# 39 ; s usage request , the document updating module 170 can allow the user to , for example , edit , update , or otherwise modify the document 110 . however , if the user &# 39 ; s usage request does not correspond to the usage rights available to that user , a message can be forwarded to the user requesting , for example , an alternative usage request be entered , or denying access to the document . optionally , the tracking module 130 can also maintain a log of user access attempts and rights requests for the document . fig2 illustrates an exemplary tree of documents having associated hierarchical rights at each node of the tree . in particular , a user , such as a content owner 200 , distributes one or more documents to users 210 , 220 and 230 . the documents 240 , 250 and 260 , respectively , comprise usage rights and delegation rights . the usage rights govern the extent to which the user can access the particular document . the delegation rights govern the ability for the user to assign rights , govern further distribution the document , and regulate the number of users to which the document can be distributed . in this exemplary embodiment , the content owner 200 distributes a first document to the user 210 who then distributes the document 240 to user 220 . additionally , the content owner distributes documents 250 and 260 to the user 230 . in this exemplary embodiment , the user 210 , based on the delegation rights 244 , has the ability to further distribute the rights to one or more additional users . in this example , the user 210 distributes the document 240 to user 220 . therefore , the user 220 will have a version of the document 240 that has associated usage rights 242 and delegation rights 244 . these usage rights 242 and delegation rights 244 may be a subset of , or may comprise additional rights not present in the usage rights and / or delegation rights granted to the user 210 . user 230 possesses two documents 250 and 260 . the document 250 comprises associated usage rights 252 and delegation rights 254 . likewise , the document 260 comprises usage rights 262 and delegation rights 264 . the user 230 then has the ability , based on the available rights , to modify one or more of the usage rights and / or delegation rights and forward them to one or more additional parties . in this manner , a hierarchical structure of usage rights and delegation rights extends from the content owner in a tree - like structure through one or more users . fig3 illustrates various exemplary embodiments of usage rights and delegation rights associated with an exemplary document . in particular , content owner 300 distributes six documents 310 – 360 . document 310 allows user a to have view rights and the right to delegate view rights to two additional layers . user b has view rights and the right to delegate view rights to two users on one additional layer . users c and d both have view rights granted by user b , but no delegation rights . document 320 allows user k to have view rights and the right to delegate view rights to one additional layer . upon granting of these view rights , user w has view rights to the document . for document 330 , the content owner 300 granted user v a print usage right , and no delegation rights . thus , the document 330 cannot be further delegated and may , for example , become inaccessible after v has exercised the print right . document 340 provides user e print rights , and the right to delegate view rights to two additional layers . upon delegation of these rights , user f has view rights and the right to delegate view rights to two additional users on one further layer . upon delegation of these rights , users g and h would both be able to view the document 340 . for document 350 , the content owner 300 has provided user z with full rights . thus , user z has the ability to assign any delegation and / or usage rights to the document 350 . thus , the document 350 can be further distributed and / or used based on the updated rights based on the rights user z associates with the document . document 360 allows user q to have distribution rights to unlimited users , and the ability to delegate view rights to each of these users . thus , user q can delegate view rights to one or more users x who can view the document , for example , on a pay - per - view basis . while the exemplary embodiment illustrated in fig3 shows specific usage rights and delegation rights , it is to be appreciated that any usage rights , such as editing , modifying , updating , copying , viewing , or the like , can be associated with one or more documents . furthermore , it is to be appreciated that the rights associated with a document can include accounting rights , conditional or consequential rights , return rights , tracking rights , signature requirement rights , or the like . in general , the rights associated with a document can be any right granting or restricting access to one or more users , and can encompass at least all the rights specified in the xrml ™ rights language and the associated usage rights and grammar . fig4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method for associating rights with a document . in particular , control begins in step s 100 and continues to step s 110 . in step s 110 , a determination is made whether rights are already associated with the document . if rights are associated with the document , control continues to step s 120 where the usage and delegation rights available to the particular user are determined . control then continues to step s 130 . in step s 130 , the rights one or more users desire to have associated with the document are received . next , in step s 140 , it is determined whether the assignment of these rights is allowable . if the assignment is allowable , control continues to step s 160 . otherwise , control jumps to step s 150 . in step s 150 , a message can be forwarded to the user indicating the assignment is not available . control then optionally continues back to step s 130 . in step s 160 , an optional accounting function can be performed . if accounting is necessary , control continues to step s 170 . otherwise , control jumps to step s 200 . in step s 170 , any necessary accounting functions are attempted . then , in step s 180 , a determination is made whether the accounting , e . g ., any crediting and / or debiting , is allowed . if the accounting functions are successful , control jumps to step s 200 . otherwise , control continues to step s 190 where a message can be forwarded to the user and control returns back to step s 130 . in step s 200 , the right as chosen by the one or more users are associated with the document . then , in step s 210 , the document can be updated reflecting , for example , which usage rights were used , the effect of any of these usage rights , a signature of the user and , for example , any modifications to or assignment of delegation rights . control then continues to step s 200 where the control sequence ends . fig5 illustrates an exemplary method of using one or more of usage rights and delegation rights . in particular , control begins in step s 300 and continues to step s 310 . in step s 310 , the usage request is received . this usage request can be one or more of a usage right requests or a delegation right request . then , in step s 320 , the rights available to the particular user are determined . for example , as previously discussed , the rights can be based on the identity of the user , the position of the user , a status of the user , or the like . control then continues to step s 330 . in step s 330 , a determination is made whether the user &# 39 ; s right request is allowable . if the usage request is not allowable , control continues to step s 340 . otherwise , control jumps to step s 350 . in step s 340 , a message can be forwarded to the user indicating the requested usage , i . e ., the usage or the delegation request , is not allowable . control then optionally jumps back to step s 320 . in step s 350 , a determination is made whether an accounting function is to be performed based on , for example , the usage request or the delegation request . if accounting functions are to be performed , control continues to step s 360 . otherwise , control jumps to step s 390 . in step s 360 , the accounting functions are attempted . then , in step s 370 , a determination is made whether the accounting functions are allowed . if the accounting functions are allowed , control continues to step s 380 . otherwise , control jumps to step s 390 . in step s 380 , a message can be forwarded to the user indicating , for example , that the crediting and / or debiting authorization failed . control then can , for example , jump back to step s 320 or , optionally , the user can be prompted for additional accounting information . in step s 390 , one or more of the usage rights or delegation rights is allowed . control then continues to step s 400 , where the control sequence ends . as illustrated in fig1 , the document can be implemented either on a single programmed general purpose computer or a separate programmed general purpose computer . however , the document can also be implemented on a special purpose computer , a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element , an asic or other integrated circuit , a digital signal processor , a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit , a programmable logic device such as a pld , pla , fpga , pal , or the like . in general , any device capable of implementing a finite state machine that is in turn capable of implementing the flowcharts in fig4 – 5 can be used to implement the document and hierarchical rights management system according to this invention . furthermore , the disclosed method may be readily implemented in software using object or object - oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation hardware platforms . alternatively , the disclosed document and right management system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or vlsi design . whether hardware or software is used to implement the systems and methods in accordance with this invention is dependent on the speed and / or efficiency requirements of the system , the particular function , and a particular software and / or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized . the document and rights management systems illustrated herein , however , can be readily implemented in hardware and / or software using any known or later - developed systems or structures , devices and / or software by those of ordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional description provided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer arts . moreover , the disclosed methods may be readily implemented as software executed on a programmed general purpose computer , a special purpose computer , a microprocessor or the like . in these instances , the methods and systems of this invention can be implemented as a program embedded in a personal computer , an e - book , a secure container , or the like , such as a java ® or cgi script , as an xml document , as a resource residing on a server or graphics workstation , as a routine embedded in a dedicated electronic document , an electronic document viewer , or the like . the document and rights management system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the systems and methods into a hardware and / or software system , such as the hardware and software systems of a computer or dedicated electronic document . it is , therefore , apparent that there has been provided , in accordance with the present invention , systems and methods for managing electronic documents . while this invention has been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable art . accordingly , applicants intend to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations that are within the spirit and scope of this invention .