The trading of content between broadcasters requires that descriptive data and some versions or illustrations of the content may be quickly assessed and the commitment confirmed and honoured with the minimum of delay or administration. However, the ownership of content can be complex and anybody intending to trade the property of a third party has obligations to the owner and prospective purchaser. The Atman project is seeking to model content trading using both archived programmes and live events coverage as examples. The issues raised and the overall requirements of such a system will be presented in the paper which will then extend the principles to the more general field of the supply of content by broadcaster to audience via the range of distribution methods available (PAL, DVB, DAB, Internet etc) whether the user watches live or records the programme

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