· Browsing or searching for media items in a media repository on a first remote server computer using a client application running on a first client computer;

° Receiving information from the media repository regarding a plurality of media items; displaying the information regarding the plurality of media items;

° Sending a media information share request to a second remote server computer;

° Receiving a media message form from the second remote server computer; displaying the media message form, the media message form including media item information pertaining to the one or more of the plurality of media items associated with the media information share request, and the media message form including a plurality of text fields to be completed;

° Receiving user-provided information for at least one of the text fields in the media message form to complete the media message form;

° Detecting a request to send the completed media message form to one or more recipients; and submitting the completed media message form to the second remote server computer for transmission to the one or more recipients.

Here's Apple's abstract regarding the patent: "A method for sharing information between users of a media management application is disclosed. In one embodiment, a server computer receives a media information share request, retrieves artist or album information according to the media information share request, constructs a media message form containing artist or album information according to the media information share request and blanks boxes for the user to enter a plurality of recipient e-mail addresses, the user's name and e-mail address, and a message to the recipients, and sends the completed media message form to the client computer. The server computer then receives a completed media message form from a client computer, constructs a media message containing artist or album information according to the media message form, extracts a list of e-mail addresses from the media message form, selects an e-mail address from the list of e-mail addresses and sends a media message to each e-mail address in the list of e-mail addresses."

And here's the background of the invention, per Apple:

"It is becoming increasingly more common for consumers looking to purchase media items such as music, videos, or books, to shop for media online. During the course of shopping, a user of an online media store might come across a media item and wish to share information regarding that media item with another person. One method of sharing information about media items uses a web-browser to send a message via e-mail. The e-mail message contains information about a media item and a link to a web site where the recipient of the e-mail message may purchase the media item.

"There are many disadvantages to current methods of sharing information about media items. Mostly, these disadvantages involve the difficulty in getting a host of programs to work with each other. For instance, the most common way of obtaining media items is to download the media items via a web browser application. However, web browsers are general-purpose applications unsuitable for use as media players, so the user will likely also employ a media player such as MusicMatch Jukebox, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player. Thus, a user will commonly buy a media item at a web site, download the media item to a personal computer, and manage the media using a media player. This problem remains when sending a media information message to another user. Namely, the message containing media item information will require an e-mail application to view the message, a web browser to buy and download the media item, and a media player to play the media item.

"In order to bypass some of the problems mentioned above, some consumers use a media management application such as iTunes., distributed by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., instead of a typical web browser/media player combination. iTunes incorporates an online media store and integrates the functions of web browser and media player into a single software application, thereby allowing the user to search or browser media items, to preview media items before purchase, to purchase desired media items, to download purchased media items, and to play downloaded media items.

"Conventional methods of communicating information about a media item are limited to information regarding a single media item and are fairly unsophisticated in execution. A consumer using one of the conventional methods cannot, for instance, use an existing media information sharing method to compose an e-mail that will contain a link that will open the recipient's media management application rather than merely opening a web browser. Moreover, an e-mail using one of the current methods will contain a link only to a single media item. Furthermore, the conventional methods only allow a message to be sent to a single recipient. If a user wants to specify multiple recipients, each recipient must be sent in a separate e-mail.

"Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques to implement a means of communicating information about one or more media items to multiple recipients via e-mail and to facilitate viewing those media items using a media management application instead of a web-browser in combination with a media player."

Finally, here's Apple's summary of the invention:

"The present invention relates to sharing information between users of a media management application. In one embodiment, a sophisticated media information message can be sent simultaneously to multiple e-mail recipients.

"The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, system, device, apparatus, graphical user interface, or computer readable medium. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.

"According to one embodiment of the invention, a user browses or searches for media items in a media repository using a client application. The user, upon receiving information regarding one or more media items which are displayed by the client application, chooses to send a media information share request to a remote server computer, which causes that remote server computer to send a media message form back to the client application. Upon receipt of the media message form, the client application displays the media message form including media item information pertaining to one or more of the plurality of media items associated with the media information share request. The media message form also includes a plurality of text fields that are to be filled out by the user. One of these text fields is a list of one or more destination e-mail addresses. When the user has finished entering the requested information into the media message form, the user requests that the completed media message form be sent to recipients as specified when filling out the media message form. When the client application detects that a request has been made, the media message is submitted to the server computer for transmission to one or more recipients.

"According to another embodiment of the invention, a server computer receives a media information share request for artist or album information from a client computer, retrieves the requested information, constructs a media message form with the artist or album information and blank text boxes wherein the user can enter a plurality of recipient e-mail addresses as well as other information, and sends the completed media message form to the client computer. Later, after the media message form has been completed at the client computer and sent by the client application, the server receives a completed media message form, constructs a media message, extracts a list of e-mail addresses which were previously entered after client computer, selects one of the e-mail addresses, sends a media message to the selected e-mail address, and then repeats the process for every e-mail address in the list of e-mail addresses."