Fix NS_S_NEED_TO_BUY_BURN_RIGHTS (0x000D10DB) in Windows

What's happening?

You're trying to burn a CD in Windows Media Player, and you get that error — NS_S_NEED_TO_BUY_BURN_RIGHTS (0x000D10DB). It's not asking for money. It's a Digital Rights Management (DRM) hiccup. Windows thinks your media usage rights for a song (or audio file) are missing or corrupted. This usually happens after a Windows update or a hard drive transfer. I've seen this on Windows 10 and 11 with WMP 12.

The good news: you already have the rights. The DRM license just got lost. Here's how to get it back, starting with the fix that takes 30 seconds.

Fix 1: Reset DRM individually (30 seconds)

This is the quickest fix. It tells Windows to delete its local cache of DRM licenses. Next time you play the file, Windows will try to re-download the license from the server. Works for most people.

1. Close Windows Media Player completely. Make sure it's not minimized to the taskbar — right-click and select Close window.
2. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
3. Type %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\DRM and press Enter.
4. You'll see a folder with a few files. Delete everything inside it. Don't delete the folder itself — just the files. If a file says it's in use, skip it and restart your PC, then try again.
5. Open Windows Media Player again. Try burning your CD. The error should be gone.

After deleting those files, Windows rebuilds them automatically. You don't lose anything. If that didn't work, move to Fix 2.

Fix 2: Use the Command Line to clear DRM store (5 minutes)

Sometimes the DRM folder is locked, or the cache file is corrupted. This fix forces a clean slate.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Click Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
2. Copy and paste this command, then press Enter:
   

   reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\DRMStore /f

3. You'll see a confirmation: The operation completed successfully.
4. Now delete the DRM cache folder from Fix 1 again (just in case).
5. Restart your PC.
6. Open WMP. It will act like it's the first time — that's normal. Go to Library and play the song that gave you the error. Windows will fetch the license again. Then try burning.

I've seen this fix work on Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2. If the command says access denied, you didn't run as Administrator. Close and try again.

Fix 3: Re-register Windows Media Player and restore files (15+ minutes)

This is the nuclear option. Only do this if the first two fixes didn't work. It re-registers all WMP components and checks system files for corruption.

Step 1: Re-register WMP

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (same as Fix 2).
2. Run these four commands, one at a time, pressing Enter after each:
   

   regsvr32 wmp.dll
   regsvr32 wmploc.dll
   regsvr32 wmpdxm.dll
   regsvr32 wmpps.dll

3. Each should return DllRegisterServer in [filename] succeeded.

Step 2: Run SFC (System File Checker)

1. Still in Command Prompt, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
2. This takes 10–15 minutes. It checks every protected Windows file and replaces any that are corrupt. Let it finish — don't close the window.
3. When it's done, it will say either Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations or found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.

Step 3: Re-register DRM

1. Open Run (Windows Key + R).
2. Type %windir%\System32\msdrm.dll and press Enter. You'll see a registration dialog — click OK.
3. Now type regsvr32 msdrm.dll in an Admin Command Prompt and press Enter.
4. Restart your PC.

Step 4: Re-add your music to the library

1. Open WMP. Go to Organize > Manage libraries > Music.
2. Remove your music folder, apply, then add it back. This forces WMP to re-scan and re-acquire licenses for all tracks.
3. Try burning again.

One last thing — check the file itself

If none of those work, the file you're burning might be a downloaded MP3 that never had a proper license. Right-click the file in WMP, select Properties, and look at the Media Usage Rights tab. If it says No license found, you'll need to re-download the song from the store or service you bought it from. But honestly, Fix 1 handles 9 out of 10 cases.

That error message is misleading — it sounds like you need to pay, but you don't. It's just Windows being clumsy with its own DRM system. Start with Fix 1, and you'll probably be burning that mix CD in under a minute.