A system and method for managing access rights of media files communicated over a network. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention allows a user to obtain rights to access media files of selected content, which may include a song, album, movie, etc. Once the user obtains rights to access media files of the selected content, information that identifies the user and information that describes the selected content is communicated to a plurality of content providers. By receiving information that identifies the user and information that describes the selected content, each content provider can verify independently that the user is authorized to access one or more files that contain the selected content. The user may then directly contact any one of many service providers to access media files that contain the selected content.