A first access policy is stored to provide information on a first distributee to which an electronic document is distributed, to which the first distributee is permitted to distribute the electronic document, and use rights that permit the second distributees to use the electronic document. Also stored is a distribution target information indicating the second distributees. When the first distributee requests permission to grant use rights to a specific distributee, the distribution target is consulted to confirm whether or not the specific distributee is included in the second distributees. A second access policy associating the specific distributee with the information on the use rights is then registered. When the specific distributee requests permission to use the electronic document, the second access policy is consulted to permit the specific distributee to use the electronic document.