As both the quantity and the variety of published material continue to grow over the years, keeping track of the different publications available and of their respective versions and editions has become a complex task. Besides, given the malleability of digital content, identifying the copy of a work consistently over time has become increasingly difficult. An ontological framework capable of identifying the different aspects of a work should therefore be developed in order to determine the extent to which the terms and conditions of a copyright license may or may not apply to the various instances of a work.