JP2005057406A - Method for providing distribution information of distribution data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a follow-up check of digital data after distribution even after the digital data are once distributed so that it is desirable for a copyright holder. <P>SOLUTION: A contents enterprise 1 distributes the digital data 5 with identification information embedded to them to a contents market or a network 4 and the data are given (distributed) to other people legitimately or illegitimately. A watermark detection requester 3 in an optional distribution stage acquires digital data 5' to which the identification information is embedded after the distribution from the contents market or the network 4. When the identification information detected from the identification information embedded digital data 5' after distribution is not equal to identification information denoting the watermark detection requester 3, a watermark detection service center 2 informs the contents enterprise 1 related by the detected identification information about an electronic watermark detection result of the digital data 5' and detection request contents 8. Thus, the follow-up service can be realized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a distribution data distribution information providing method, and in particular, distribution of distribution data that provides distribution information of digital data distributed to an unspecified number of distributors and users via a network or a recording medium to an information provider. Information provision method.

  Conventionally, when digital data is distributed to a large number of unspecified people via recording media on which digital data such as video data, audio data, and multimedia data created by data producers is recorded, or via a network As a source confirmation method for copyright protection, digital watermark technology is widely known. This digital watermark technique is difficult to separate from digital data, and identification information unique to the digital data is embedded in the digital data so that it cannot be perceived by the viewer during normal playback. By making it possible to detect identification information by a predetermined method, it is easy to identify the identity of digital data.

  Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the identification information embedded by this digital watermark technology from being erased intentionally or unintentionally during the distribution of digital data. Many methods have been proposed in which the embedded identification information is not erased (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This patent document 1 discloses a method of distributing and arranging narrowband signals representing watermarks in a wideband spectrum in which data exists.

  In this way, when identification information unique to digital data is embedded in the digital data by applying a digital watermark technique, the embedded identification information can be detected at an arbitrary time after the digital data is distributed. The forms of detection include the monitoring of digital data in the network and other markets by copyright managers, the confirmation of material contents by digital content data providing service providers and production companies, digital data editing applications by general users, There is a digital data reproducing apparatus in which detection by a digital watermark detection program incorporated in a digital data viewer or a dedicated watermark detection apparatus is incorporated.

JP-A-9-191394

  In the above-described digital watermarking technology, the subject that detects the identification information embedded in the digital data knows what the detected identification information is. By confirming, it is limited only for the purpose of confirming that the material such as the recording medium on which the distributed digital data is recorded is not an illegal misuse, or confirming the origin of the digital data that happened to be found on the network. ing.

  However, even after digital data is distributed once, how the distributed digital data is distributed is traced using the identification information embedded in the digital data by the above-mentioned digital watermark technology. Making it possible is desirable for copyright holders.

  The present invention was devised to meet the above requirements, and an object thereof is to provide a distribution data distribution information providing method capable of providing distribution information of distributed digital data to at least an information provider.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first invention embeds identification information of a predetermined business operator or data producer in digital data distributed as digital watermark information, and the digital data with the identification information embedded is embedded in a content market or network. And distributing the digital data of the embedded identification information distributed to the content market or network at any distribution stage in the content market or network to the watermark detection requester. A second step for obtaining, a third step for detecting identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution obtained in the second step, and the identification information detected in the third step are watermarks. If the identification information indicates the detection requester, the watermark detection requester When the identification information detected in the third step is not identification information indicating the watermark detection requester, the detection result information is provided to the watermark detection requester and the detected identification is provided. And a fourth step of providing a detection result and detection request information to a predetermined operator or data producer indicated by the information.

  In this invention, the digital data distributed with the identification information embedded as digital watermark information is detected after distribution at any distribution stage in the content market or network, and the detection result indicates the watermark detection requester. If it is not the identification information to be shown, the detection result and the detection request information are provided to the predetermined operator or the data producer indicated by the detected identification information. Therefore, the identification data is embedded and the digital data is distributed. The business operator or the data producer can know the state after distribution of the distributed digital data.

  In order to achieve the above object, the second invention embeds a plurality of identification information respectively indicating a plurality of predetermined operators or data producers in digital data distributed as digital watermark information, and the identification information is embedded. The first step of distributing the digital data to the content market or network, and the digital data after the distribution of the identification data embedded in the content market or network at any distribution stage in the content market or network A second step for allowing the watermark detection requester to obtain data; a third step for detecting identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution obtained in the second step; and a third step. Provide information of detected detection result to the watermark detection requester, Fourth, providing detection results and detection request information to each of a plurality of predetermined operators or data producers indicated by a plurality of identification information when there are a plurality of detection results detected in step 3 And a step.

  In the present invention, after digital data in which a plurality of identification information is embedded as digital watermark information is distributed to a content market or network, it is embedded from digital data at an arbitrary distribution stage after being distributed in the content market or network. And providing information on detection results and detection requests to each of a plurality of predetermined operators or data producers indicated by the plurality of identification information when there are a plurality of detection results. Can do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the third invention embeds identification information of a content data manager, a predetermined business operator, or a data producer in digital data distributed as digital watermark information, and the identification information is embedded. A first step of distributing digital data to a content market or network, and digital data after distribution of digital data embedded with identification information distributed to the content market or network at any distribution stage in the content market or network Are detected in the second step, the third step for detecting the identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution obtained in the second step, and the third step. Information on the detection result of the identified identification information is provided to the watermark detection requester Rutotomoni, characterized in that it comprises a fourth step of providing each information detection request and the detection result to the content data administrator.

  In the present invention, digital data distributed with identification information embedded as digital watermark information is detected after distribution at any distribution stage in the content market or network, and the detection result is sent to the content data manager. Since the information of the detection request is provided, the content data manager can know the state after distribution of the distributed digital data.

  Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, the fourth invention is the third step in the first to third inventions, in which the watermark detection service center detects the identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution. The detection result obtained by performing the processing is stored in the information recording means together with the detection request, and the watermark detection service center is requested by a predetermined business operator, data producer, or content data manager at a desired time. A fifth step of extracting and providing history information of detection results relating to identification information of a predetermined business operator, data producer, or content data manager requested from the information stored in the information recording means to be managed; It is characterized by that.

  In this invention, a predetermined business operator, data producer, or content data manager can know the state after distribution at any point in the content data market or network to which the distributed digital data is distributed.

  According to the present invention, a predetermined business operator or data producer knows the state of digital data after distribution after distributing digital data in which his / her identification information is embedded as digital watermark information to the content market or network. Therefore, it is possible to perform a follow-up survey to know the distribution destination of the digital data distributed by a predetermined business operator or data producer embedded with identification information, and further by a content data manager.

  According to the present invention, the detection result obtained by detecting the identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution is stored in the information recording means together with the detection request. The producer or content data manager can read and acquire history information after distribution in the content data market or network to which the distributed digital data is distributed from the information recording means at an arbitrary time.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a distribution data distribution information providing method according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the watermark detection service center 2 is set up so that a provider who performs the watermark detection service performs a tracking survey of the digital data 5 distributed by the content provider 1 in response to a request from the watermark detection requester 3. Have. The watermark detection service center 2 includes information recording means 6.

  In FIG. 1, content provider 1 embeds identification information for identifying itself as digital watermark information in digital data such as video data, audio data, multimedia data, etc., and digital data 5 in which the identification information is embedded. Are recorded on a recording medium or distributed to the content market or the network 4 by communication.

  The digital data 5 embedded with the identification information distributed to the content market or network 4 is then passed (ie, distributed) to other people in the content market or network 4 in a legitimate or unauthorized manner. The watermark detection requester 3 obtains the identification information embedded digital data 5 ′ after distribution from the content market or the network 4 at an arbitrary distribution stage in the content market or the network 4 of the distributed identification information embedded digital data 5. This is transmitted to the detection service center 2 to request detection of identification information embedded by the digital watermark technique.

  The content market or the arbitrary distribution stage in the network 4 means, for example, that the content provider 1 who has produced a character image embeds its own identification information as digital watermark information in the character image data. When distributed to the network 4, each stage of production of another image data using a character image, production of a printed material using the other image data, and facsimile transmission / reception of the printed material in the content market or the network 4 is performed. Point to.

  The watermark detection service center 2 detects identification information embedded as digital watermark information from the identification information embedded digital data 5 ′ received from the watermark detection requester 3 after distribution. When the identification information detected by the watermark detection service center 2 is the identification information indicating the watermark detection requester 3, the watermark detection service center 2 identifies the content business originally indicated by the identification information detected by the watermark detection requester 3. Therefore, it is determined that the content provider 1 is making a digital watermark detection request, and information on the detection result 7 is recorded in the information recording means 6 and the watermark detection requester 3 is notified. Provide information.

  On the other hand, when the identification information detected from the identification information embedded digital data 5 ′ after distribution is not the identification information indicating the watermark detection requester 3, the watermark detection service center 2 uses the information of the detection result 7 as information recording means. 6 and provides information to the watermark detection requester 3 and information about the digital watermark detection result of the digital data 5 ′ and the detection request content 8 to the content provider 1 associated with the detected identification information. provide. This is because the business operator who performs the watermark detection service performs the distribution data tracking service.

  That is, in the tracking service, the watermark detection requester 3 who mediates or uses the identification information-embedded digital data 5 ′ that has been distributed in a secondary manner voluntarily or forcibly watermarks the digital data 5 ′. This is transmitted to the detection service center 2 to detect the identification information which is the digital watermark information of the digital data 5 ′, and the detection result is recorded as a log in the information recording means 6 of the business operator who performs the watermark detection service. This is because the log information is a service that extracts only the information related to the embedded identification information related to the content provider 1 to which the digital data 5 has been distributed, and provides it to the content provider 1.

  The watermark detection service center 2 detects history information associated with the content provider 1 from the identification information recorded in the information recording means 6 in response to a request from the content provider 1, and uses the detected history information 9 You may make it provide to the content provider 1.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the detection request from the watermark detection requester 3 is received and the watermark detection service center 2 detects the identification information as the digital watermark information, the watermark detection result 7 Is notified to the watermark detection requester 3 and also to the content provider 1 in which the identification information is embedded in the digital data. Follow-up can be made possible.

  In the present embodiment, a provider of a watermark detection service including the watermark detection service center 2 and the information recording means 6 provides a tracking service for the distribution digital data 5 to the watermark detection requester 3 and the content provider 1. Thus, compensation can be obtained from the watermark detection requester 3 and the content provider 1.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the distribution data distribution information providing method according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is a distribution data distribution information providing method in the case where a plurality of identification information is detected, and the content provider 10 can create digital data such as video data, audio data, and multimedia data. The first identification information for identifying itself is embedded as digital watermark information, and the digital data 13 in which the first identification information is embedded is distributed to the distributor 11.

  The distributor 11 embeds second identification information for identifying itself as digital watermark information in the distributed digital data 13 and records the digital data 14 with the second identification information embedded in a recording medium or Distribute to the content market or network 4 by communication.

  The digital data 14 embedded with the first and second identification information distributed to the content market or network 4 is then passed to other people in the content market or network 4 in a legitimate or illegal manner (ie, distribution). To do). The watermark detection requester 3 uses the distributed identification information embedded digital data 14, but after the digital data 14 has been distributed from the content market or network 4 at any distribution stage in the content market or network 4. The digital data 14 'is obtained and transmitted to the detection service center 12 voluntarily or forcibly to request detection of the watermark.

  The detection service center 12 detects identification information that is digital watermark information from the received digital data 14 ′ after distribution, records the detection result 7 in the information recording means 6, and notifies the detection service requester 3. Further, when the identification information detected from the identification information embedded digital data 14 ′ after distribution is the above-described first and second identification information, the watermark detection service center 12 is a content provider associated with the identification information. 10 and the distributor 11 are notified of the digital watermark detection result and detection request content 15 of the digital data 14 ′, respectively. This is because the business operator who performs the watermark detection service performs the distribution data tracking service.

  The watermark detection service center 12 also obtains history information associated with the content provider 10 or the distribution provider 11 from the information recorded in the information recording means 6 in response to a request from the content provider 10 or the distribution provider 11. Detecting and providing this detection history information to the content provider 10. As described above, in the present embodiment, after distributing digital data 14 in which a plurality of identification information is embedded, an opportunity to know the distribution destination after distribution can be given to the content provider 10 and the distribution operator 11.

  Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of still another embodiment of the distribution data distribution information providing method according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. In the present embodiment of FIG. 3, a watermark detection service is performed so that a business operator performing a watermark detection service performs a tracking survey of the digital data 22 distributed by the content data manager 21 at the request of the watermark detection requester 3. A service center 23 is provided. The watermark detection service center 23 includes information recording means 6.

  In FIG. 3, a content data manager 21 is a provider who manages the distribution status of digital data (content data) such as video data, audio data, and multimedia data created by a content provider that is a data producer. In this case, the content provider also creates digital data (content data), but may be different from the content provider.

  The content data manager 21 embeds identification information for identifying itself as digital watermark information in the created digital data, records the digital data 22 embedded with the identification information on a recording medium or by communication, Distribute to network 4. If the content data manager and the content provider are different, the respective identification information is embedded as digital watermark information.

  The digital data 22 embedded with the identification information distributed to the content market or network 4 is then passed (ie, distributed) to other people in the content market or network 4 in a legitimate or unauthorized manner. The watermark detection requester 3 obtains the identification information embedded digital data 22 ′ after distribution from the content market or the network 4 at any distribution stage in the content market or the network 4 of the distributed identification information embedded digital data 22. This is transmitted to the watermark detection service center 23 to request detection of identification information embedded by the digital watermark technique.

  The watermark detection service center 23 detects digital watermark data from the received digital data 22 ′ and records the result in the information recording means 6. Further, the information of the detection result 7 is provided to the watermark detection requester 3, and the digital data 22 ′ digital watermark detection result and the detection request are sent to the content data manager 21 managing the digital data 22 ′ indicated by the identification information. Provide information on content 8.

  In response to a request from the content data manager 21, the watermark detection service center 23 detects history information related to the digital data specified by the content data manager 21 from the information recorded in the information recording means 6. The detection history information 9 is provided to the content data manager 21.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, when the watermark detection service center 23 receives the detection request from the watermark detection requester 3 and detects the identification information as the digital watermark information, the watermark detection result 7 Is provided to the watermark detection requester 3 and also to the content data manager 21 that manages the digital data 22, so that the content data manager 21 can follow up the distributed digital data 22 as a result. It can be made possible.

  In the present embodiment, a provider of a watermark detection service including the watermark detection service center 23 and the information recording means 6 provides a tracking service for the distributed digital data 22 to the watermark detection requester 3 and the content data manager 21. Thus, compensation can be obtained from the watermark detection requester 3 and the content data manager 21.

It is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of other embodiments of the present invention. It is a block diagram of further another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,10 Content provider which performed watermark embedding 2, 12, 23 Watermark detection service center 3 Watermark detection requester 4 Content market or network 5, 13, 14, 22 Identification information embedded distribution digital data 5 ′, 14 ′, 22 ′ Digital data after distribution with identification information embedded 6 Information recording means 11 Distribution company that performed watermark embedding 21 Content data manager

Claims (4)

A first step of embedding identification information of a predetermined operator or data producer in digital data to be distributed as digital watermark information, and distributing the digital data in which the identification information has been embedded to a content market or a network;
A second step of allowing a watermark detection requester to obtain digital data distributed in an arbitrary distribution stage in the content market or network of the digital data embedded with the identification information distributed to the content market or network; ,
A third step of detecting the identification information embedded in the post-distributed digital data obtained in the second step;
When the identification information detected in the third step is identification information indicating the watermark detection requester, information on the detection result is provided to the watermark detection requester and detected in the third step. When the identification information is not identification information indicating the watermark detection requester, the detection result information is provided to the watermark detection requester and detected by the predetermined operator or data producer indicated by the detected identification information. A distribution data distribution information providing method comprising: a fourth step of providing a result and detection request information. A first step of embedding a plurality of identification information respectively indicating a plurality of predetermined business operators or data producers in digital data to be distributed as digital watermark information, and distributing the digital data in which the identification information has been embedded to a content market or a network; ,
A second step of allowing a watermark detection requester to obtain digital data distributed in an arbitrary distribution stage in the content market or network of the digital data embedded with the identification information distributed to the content market or network; ,
A third step of detecting the identification information embedded in the post-distributed digital data obtained in the second step;
The detection result information detected in the third step is provided to the watermark detection requester, and when there are a plurality of detection results detected in the third step, indicated by the plurality of identification information. A distribution data distribution information providing method comprising: a fourth step of providing the detection result and detection request information to each of the plurality of predetermined operators or data producers. A first step of embedding identification information of a content data manager, a predetermined operator or a data producer in digital data to be distributed as digital watermark information, and distributing the digital data in which the identification information has been embedded to a content market or a network;
A second step of allowing a watermark detection requester to obtain digital data distributed in an arbitrary distribution stage in the content market or network of the digital data embedded with the identification information distributed to the content market or network; ,
A third step of detecting the identification information embedded in the post-distributed digital data obtained in the second step;
The detection result information of the identification information detected in the third step is provided to the watermark detection requester, and the detection result and detection request information are provided to the content data manager, respectively. A distribution data distribution information providing method comprising the steps of: In the third step, the watermark detection service center performs a process of storing the detection result obtained by detecting the identification information embedded in the digital data after distribution in the information recording means together with the detection request. A request is made from information stored in the information recording means managed by the watermark detection service center at a given point in time at the request of the predetermined provider, data producer or content data manager 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a fifth step of extracting and providing history information of detection results relating to identification information of the predetermined business operator, data producer, or content data manager. The distribution data distribution information providing method according to one item.

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