INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING ACCESS RIGHTS TO AN OBJECT

An information processing apparatus for managing an access right to an object includes a storage unit configured to store objects in a hierarchical structure and a determination unit configured to determine an access right to a low-level object. The low-level object has inheritance information indicating whether or not the low-level object inherits an access right from an object at a higher level. The determination unit determines the access right to the low-level object for the user based on an access right to the low-level object set for the user if the inheritance information of the low-level object is set as “not inherited.” Alternatively, the determination unit determines the access right to the low-level object based on an access right to the lowest-level object of the objects at a level higher than the low-level object if the inheritance information of the low-level object is set as “inherited.”