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Access Control & Licensing Overview
Welcome to ikigize's comprehensive access control and licensing system - the foundation for secure content management and monetized knowledge sharing across your educational ecosystem. Our system combines flexible ownership models, role-based permissions with multiple roles per user, and sophisticated licensing to enable creators to share and monetize their knowledge while maintaining security and control.
What is Access Control & Licensing?
ikigize's access control and licensing system is a four-layer approach to content management and access control:
Determines who owns and has ultimate authority over the entity
Examples:
Controls discoverability and enrollment/copying processes
Examples:
Defines specific capabilities and actions users can perform
Examples:
Enables monetization and revenue sharing (future feature)
Examples:
Four layers working together: Each layer serves a distinct purpose in the access control system. Ownership determines control, Visibility & Access controls discovery and enrollment, Roles & Permissions define capabilities, and Licensing enables monetization.
Integrated Multi-Layer System
These four layers work together seamlessly: ownership determines control, roles & permissions define user capabilities with entities, visibility controls discoverability and access, and licensing enables monetization with fair revenue distribution.
Why This System Matters
For Content Creators
- Ownership Control: Clear ownership rights across all content types
- Flexible Roles: Multiple roles enable diverse contributions to learning experiences
- Monetization Options: Multiple licensing models to fit different content strategies
- Revenue Sharing: Fair compensation for collaborative content creation
For Organizations
- Granular Control: Role-based permissions with fine-grained capabilities
- Multiple Roles: Users can have different responsibilities through multiple role assignments
- Flexible Visibility: Control where content appears and who can discover it
- Content Licensing: Ability to license content to other organizations or the public
- Revenue Generation: New revenue streams through content licensing and partnerships
For the Platform
- Knowledge Economy: Enables a sustainable ecosystem for knowledge sharing
- Quality Content: Incentivizes high-quality content creation through monetization
- Collaborative Learning: Supports complex collaborative content creation with fair compensation
- Scalable Access Control: Efficient permission management across any organization size
System Architecture
The access control and licensing system operates across multiple entity levels, with each of the four layers applying at every level:
Entity Hierarchy
The platform supports access control at six hierarchical levels:
- Organization Level: Top-level organizational structure and settings
- Campus Level: Educational institutions and their content collections
- Course Level: Individual courses and learning programs
- Module Level: Course components and learning units
- Session Level: Live sessions, meetings, and events
- Task Level: Assignments, assessments, and learning tasks
How the Four Layers Apply
Each entity level uses all four control layers to create sophisticated access management:
Example: A Course Entity
- Ownership → Owned by University X (determines control)
- Visibility & Access → Visible to Campus members, Free to Join (determines discovery and enrollment)
- Roles & Permissions → Students can view content, Instructors can grade (determines capabilities)
- Licensing → Free for enrolled students, fee for external access (determines monetization)
This multi-layered approach at every entity level creates a comprehensive ecosystem that adapts to various educational and business models, from open education to enterprise training.
Getting Started
Ready to explore how these systems work together? Start with the layer that interests you most:
Explore the Four Layers
- Ownership System - Learn how ownership works across content types and entities
- Roles & Permissions - Understand available roles, their permissions, and how multiple roles combine
- Visibility & Access - Learn how to control entity visibility and join conditions
- Licensing System - Discover monetization options and revenue sharing models
Implementation Roadmap
The role-based access control system with multiple roles per user is the foundation for all access management. The licensing system is under active development. The vision includes:
- Multiple Roles Per User: Users can hold different roles simultaneously for flexible collaboration
- Granular Permissions: Fine-grained control over specific capabilities at each entity level
- Flexible Visibility: Control entity discoverability across public, organisation, and campus catalogues
- Dynamic Join Conditions: Configure how users can access entities (free, request, invite-only)
- Multiple License Types: Open source, one-time fees, subscription models, and per-use pricing (coming soon)
- Revenue Sharing: Automatic distribution of earnings among content contributors (coming soon)
- Complex Collaborations: Support for multi-party content creation with fair compensation
- Marketplace Integration: Platform for discovering and licensing educational content (coming soon)
Future-Ready Design
The current ownership, roles, permissions, and visibility systems are designed to seamlessly integrate with the upcoming licensing features, ensuring your content and access controls are ready for monetization when the licensing system launches.
Your Next Steps
Whether you're a content creator looking to understand ownership rights, an administrator setting up role-based access controls, or an organization planning for content monetization, ikigize provides the foundation for secure, flexible, and profitable knowledge sharing.
Start by exploring the layer that's most relevant to your current needs:
- New to ikigize? Start with Ownership System to understand content control
- Setting up access? Explore Roles & Permissions to understand role-based access control
- Managing discoverability? Check out Visibility & Access
- Planning monetization? Review Licensing System
Remember that these four layers are designed to work together to create a comprehensive solution for educational content management, access control, and monetization.