1. A method for publishing content comprising: generating, by a publishing system, a rights specification for a content with a metadata, the rights specification including at least one of an access right, a usage right, and an accompanying condition; generating, by the publishing system, metadata describing the content; publishing the content in accordance with a selected publishing profile; and providing, by the publishing system, a rights specification content identifier and the metadata to at least one distributor system in accordance with the publishing profile, thereby notifying the distributor system of the availability of the content and the rights specification, wherein the rights specification content identifier includes information identifying the rights specification, and wherein the rights specification content identifier can be used by the distributor to cause the content to be distributed for use in accordance with the rights specification or for use in accordance with a modified version of the rights specification.