A data transfer system provided by the present invention is capable of executing proper management of content transfers with a high degree of efficiency. In a data transfer apparatus employing a primary recording medium, rights to transfer contents stored in a primary recording medium are managed, and transfer rights of contents already transferred to a secondary recording medium employed in a data-recording apparatus are managed by using a generated table for associating first content identifiers each generated by the data transfer apparatus for a content stored in the primary recording medium with a second content identifier received from the data-recording apparatus and generated by the data-recording apparatus for the content, which has already been transferred to the data-recording apparatus. Thus, even if the secondary recording medium cannot be used for recording a second content identifier (or a content ID), a content ID (a second content identifier) generated for a content can be used for identifying the content by associating the content ID (the second content identifier) with a content ID (a first content identifier) stored in the primary recording medium.