Methods and systems for controlling the distribution of digital content are provided. A license holder acquires protected content and an original digital license to the protected content from a content provider system. The license holder in turn delegates all or part of the grants in that original license to other qualified devices or clients. The content remains in its original, protected or encrypted form while it is delivered from the license holder to the client along with a digital sublicense that the client receives from the original license holder, whereupon the content can then be rendered. The original digital license defines or governs the conditions under which such delegation occurs, and includes terms under which such delegation is permitted to continue in order to enforce the intent of the content provider.