JP2001176192A - Information transmitting method, information recording method and these devices - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information transmitting method, an information recording method and these devices effectively suppressing a copyright violation act related to the contents distributed to the general public terminal equipments through e.g. a network. SOLUTION: When the prescribed contents S51 are transmitted, by transmitting the coexistence information that a part CPOK leaving the copy of the contents and the part CPNG prohibiting the copy coexist in the contents together with the contents, the copy control of the contents based on the coexistence information is performed in a recorder side receiving the contents.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information transmission method, an information recording method, and an apparatus therefor, and more particularly to an information transmission method, an information recording method, and an apparatus suitable for protecting a copyright of music data or the like. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a system for distributing content such as music from a website to an unspecified number of network terminal devices (computers and the like) via a network such as the Internet.

[0003] By recording distributed music contents in the form of digital data on various recording media, a computer user can create a music source in which favorite music is recorded with high sound quality at will. it can.

[0004]

As described above, a user can freely record content such as music on a recording medium simply by accessing a website via a terminal device such as a computer. There was a problem of copyright infringement.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and for example, an information transmission method capable of effectively suppressing copyright infringement on contents distributed to an unspecified number of terminal devices via a network, An information recording method and an apparatus therefor are proposed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, when a predetermined content is transmitted, a portion where copying of the content is permitted and a portion where copying is prohibited are mixed in the content. Since the information is transmitted together with the content, the copy control of the content based on the mixed information can be performed on the recording device side that has received the content.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes a music distribution system as a whole. A computer 6 of a website 2 and an unspecified number of computers 7 _n used by users are connected via a network 1. Here, of an unspecified number of computers 7 _n, described computer 7 _1.

[0009] In the music distribution system 30, the digital watermark information embedding device 31 receives the input audio signal S5.
After embedding the electronic watermark information S52 into the audio signal S31 so as not to impair the sound perception, the audio signal S31 with the electronic watermark information is inserted into a compact disc (CD: Compact).
Disc) 33.

In this case, the digital watermark information embedding device 31
Is an audio signal S5 as digital watermark information S52.
The digital watermark information WM (F) which is weak in compression to be embedded in the audio level equal to or lower than the audible level 1 and the digital watermark information WM (R) which is strong in compression to be embedded in the audio level equal to or higher than the audio level of the audio signal S51 are included in the audio signal S51. It is embedded in each assigned frequency domain.

As shown in FIG. 2, the digital watermark information embedding device 31 receives an audio signal S51 input via a terminal 51 into an FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) processing circuit 53. The FFT processing circuit 53 converts the audio signal S51 from the time domain to the frequency domain, generates a frequency spectrum S53, and generates the frequency spectrum S53.
Is output to the variable filter circuit 55.

The digital watermark information embedding device 31 has a terminal 5
The digital watermark information S52 (digital watermark information WM (R) that is strong in compression and digital watermark information WM (F) that is weak in compression) input through the multiplication circuit 54 is received by the multiplication circuit 54. Multiplication circuit 5
4 is a small-amplitude PN (Pseudo
Noise: a pseudo-random noise) signal S57 is multiplied by the digital watermark information S52 to spread the spectrum over a wide frequency band.
, And outputs the digital watermark information signal S54 to the variable filter circuit 55.

The variable filter circuit 55 generates a digital watermark information signal S55 by filtering the digital watermark information signal S54 with a filter characteristic according to the frequency spectrum S53, and outputs this to the addition circuit 56.

The adding circuit 56 adds the audio signal S51 from the terminal 51 and the digital watermark information signal S55 from the variable filter circuit 55, and thereby adds the digital watermark information embedded audio signal S55.
31 is generated.

The addition circuit 56 outputs the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information to a recording means (not shown) to record it on the compact disc 33 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the data structure of the digital watermark information S52, and includes copy control information (CCI: Copy Control Infoma
tion) DA (4 bits) and usage information ID (Usage ID) D
B (8 bits) and record number information (ISRC) DC
(60 bits). In this system, the copy control information (CCI) DA and the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB of the digital watermark information S52 are 1
Transmitted every 5 seconds, record number information (ISRC) DC
Is transmitted every 30 seconds.

The copy control information (CCI) uses the two bits B0 and B1 to generate the digital watermark information S5.
Audio signal S with digital watermark information embedded with 2
It is made to represent information about 31 copies,
Both the first bit B0 and the second bit B1 are "0"
, The audio signal S with digital watermark information
31 indicates that copying is possible, and the first bit B0
Is "1" and the second bit B1 is "0", it indicates that the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information can be copied only once, and the first bit B0
Is “0” and the second bit B1 is “1”, it indicates that the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information cannot be copied any more.
When both 0 and the second bit B1 are "1", it indicates that the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information cannot be copied.

The third copy control information (CCI) DA
Bit B2 is the user terminal (computer 7 _n), the computer 7 _n-side when the detection of the compression based on were made resistant to compressed digital watermark information WM (R) and susceptible to compression digital watermark information WM (F) Is a flag for upgrading to perform copy control based on the digital watermark information WM (R) strong in compression and the digital watermark information WM (F) weak in compression.

The fourth copy control information (CCI) DA
The bit B3 indicates whether, when only the digital watermark information WM (R) which is strong in compression is detected in the user terminal (computer 7 _n ), it is determined that there is a trace of the compression, and whether or not the copying should be prohibited. This is the flag that represents.

The first bit B10 of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB is an audio signal S with digital watermark information.
31 is a flag indicating that the content to which the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB is added includes a portion that can be copied and a portion that cannot be copied.

The second bit B11 of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB is an audio signal S with digital watermark information.
In the case where the copy-enabled portion and the copy-inhibited portion are mixed in the content to which the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB of 31 is added, the copy-enabled portion or the copy-inhibited portion is present. This is a flag indicating a part.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the parts CPOK1 and CPOK2 that can be copied to the content CONT (audio signal) and the parts CPOK that cannot be copied
When NG1, CPNG2, and CPNG3 are mixed, the first bit B1 of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB
0 (mix flag) indicates that the copy is permitted or not permitted for the entire content, and the second bit B11 (represents copy permitted or not permitted) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB. Flag) is a copyable portion C
“1” representing copy permitted in POK1 and CPOK2 is assigned, and portions CPNG1 and CPN that cannot be copied are assigned.
In G2 and CPNG3, “0” indicating copy prohibition is assigned.

Therefore, the computer 7 used by the user
_{In 1} , by detecting these flags, it is possible to perform detailed copy control separately for a portion where copying is permitted and a portion where copying is prohibited within one content.

In FIG. 1, an audio signal S 31 with digital watermark information recorded on a compact disc 33
Is the first, is played directly by the compact disk player of the computer 7 ₁ used by the user (not shown). In this case, the audio signal S with digital watermark information
31 by not subjected to compression processing such as MP3 (MPEG Layer3), sensitive electronic watermark information strong electronic watermark information WM (R) and compressed to a compression in the digital watermark information including audio signal S31 reproduced by the computer 7 ₁ WM
Both (F) remain.

On the other hand, the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information recorded on the compact disc 33
Second, is reproduced by the CD player 4 on the website 2 and compressed by the MPEG3 encoder 5. The compressed MP3 file S5 is distributed from the computer 6 of the website 2 to an unspecified number of computers 7 _n (for example, 7 ₁ ) via the network 1. Thus the digital watermark information including audio signal S31 delivered through the network 1 (MP3 file S5), by compression processing by MP3 is added, is input to the user's computer 7 ₁ MP
3 file S5 includes digital watermark information WM that is strong in compression as digital watermark information embedded in the audio signal.
Only (R) remains.

[0026] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the computer 7 ₁ user side, strong compression digital watermark information WM
(R) and the digital watermark information-added audio signal S3 according to the detection state of the digital watermark information WM (F) which is weak in compression.
1 can be controlled as to whether copying is possible.

[0027] That is, the screen processing unit 101 of the computer 7 ₁ screen electronic watermark information with the audio signal S31 inputted (either when reproduced directly from the case or compact disk is delivered via the network 1) Input to the processing unit 101.

In the screen processing section 101, the first digital watermark information detecting section 100R includes digital watermark information WM that is strong in compressing the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information.
The digital watermark information WM (R) that is strong in compression is detected from the frequency domain allocated to (R), and the second digital watermark information detection unit 100F is allocated to the digital watermark information WM (F) that is weak in compression. The digital watermark information WM (F) that is weak in compression is detected from the frequency region of interest.

That is, the first digital watermark information detecting section 1
00R is, as shown in FIG.
5, an MP3 file S5 is expanded by MP3 to generate an audio signal S75 with digital watermark information, and this is processed by the FFT processing unit 70 and the variable filter processing unit 7.
Output to 1.

The FFT processing section 70 converts the audio signal S75 with digital watermark information from the time domain to the frequency domain to generate a frequency spectrum S70, and outputs the frequency spectrum S70 to the variable filter processing section 71. The variable filter processing unit 71 extracts a digital watermark information signal S71 included in the audio signal with digital watermark information S75 with filter characteristics according to the frequency spectrum S70, and applies the extracted digital watermark information signal S71 to the multiplication processing unit 72. Output.

The multiplication processing section 72 outputs the digital watermark information signal S
By multiplying 71 by a PN sequence code S57, an original digital watermark information signal S72 from which the PN sequence code has been removed is generated. The multiplication processing section 72 includes a digital watermark information signal S72.
To the digital watermark (WM) information detection processing unit 76.
The storage unit 73 stores a reference value which is the information amount of the digital watermark information signal WM (R) which is strong in compression and embedded by the digital watermark information embedding device 31.

The digital watermark information detection processing section 76 performs a digital watermark process based on the detection amount obtained by integrating the extracted digital watermark information signal S71 for a predetermined time and the information amount stored in the storage section 73. Find the information retention rate. Then, the digital watermark information detection processing unit 76 determines, based on the remaining rate, the digital watermark information WM (R) that is strong in compression.
Is determined, and the determination result is sent to the condition determination unit 102 (FIG. 1) as a detection signal S46.

Incidentally, digital watermark information WM which is weak in compression
The digital watermark information detecting section 100F configured to detect (F) also has a configuration obtained by removing the MP3 decoding processing section 75 from the digital watermark information detecting section 100R described above with reference to FIG. 6, and is output from the digital watermark information detecting section 100R. M
Digital watermark information is detected from the result of the P3 decoding (the audio signal with digital watermark information S75).

The condition judging section 102 determines the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information input at this time based on the detection result of the digital watermark information WM (R) which is strong in compression and the digital watermark information WM (F) which is weak in compression. Is transmitted via a compression system (that is, the network 1) or is directly reproduced from a compact disc.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when only the digital watermark information WM (R) which is strong in compression remains in the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information, the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information is transmitted to the network 1 , That is, the content may have been distributed contrary to the intention of the copyright holder. At this time, the condition determination unit 102 supplies a copy prohibition signal to the gate unit 104. The LCM (Licensed Compliant Module) 10 of the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information
The transmission of the audio signal to the recording medium (such as the memory card MC) is prohibited by stopping the transmission to the recording medium 3.

On the other hand, when both the digital watermark information WM (R) that is strong in compression and the digital watermark information WM (F) that is weak in compression are detected as the detection result of the digital watermark information, Audio signal S with watermark information
31 is not via the compression system (network 1);
That is, it indicates that the audio signal has been reproduced from a legitimately purchased compact disc. At this time, the condition judging unit 102 supplies a copy permission signal to the gate unit 104, and thereby the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information is supplied. By sending to the LCM 103
Recording medium for the audio signal (memory card MC, etc.)
Allow recording to

By the way, the digital watermark information WM which is strong in compression
If both (R) and the digital watermark information WM (F) weak to compression are not detected, this means that the audio signal contains either the digital watermark information WM (R) resistant to compression or the digital watermark information WM (F) weak to compression. At this time, the condition determination unit 102 permits the copying of the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information.

The LCM 103 compresses the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information by a predetermined compression method.
The data is encrypted and recorded on the memory card MC.

Here, the condition determining unit 102 described above with reference to FIG. 3 in addition to the copy control which is determined based on the digital watermark information WM (R) which is strong in compression and the digital watermark information WM (F) which is weak in compression. Copy control based on copy control information (CCI) DA of digital watermark information and usage information ID (Usage ID) DB is performed.

That is, the condition judging unit 102 controls the copy control of the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information in which the digital watermark information is embedded based on the copy control information (CCI) DA of the digital watermark information as described above with reference to FIG. It is made according to the rules.

In this case, the condition determination unit 102 determines that the first bit B0 of the copy control information (CCI) DA is "1" and the second bit B1 is "0", that is, only one copy is performed. When it is detected that it is possible, the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information is recorded on the recording medium (memory card MC) by supplying a copy permission signal to the gate unit 104 in response to this. At this time, the condition judging unit 102 controls the gate unit 104 to copy control information (CCI) of the audio signal S31 with digital watermark information.
The first bit B0 of DA is rewritten from “1” to “0” and the second bit B1 is rewritten from “0” to “1”. As a result, the information indicating "copying is permitted only once" by the first and second bits B0 and B1 of the copy control information (CCI) DA is rewritten to the information indicating "no more copying is permitted" and together with the audio signal. It is recorded on the memory card MC.

[0042] In this case, condition determining unit 102 of the computer 7 _1, the combination of the first bit B0 and second bit B1 of the copy control information (CCI) DA is "1",
If it detects "0", that is, "copy once only", the first bit B0 and the second bit B of the copy control information (CCI) DA of the content thereafter
All 1s are rewritten so as to represent "0" and "1", that is, "no more copies". Thus, once “1”
When the information indicating “copying permitted only once” is detected, all information after the detection is rewritten so as to indicate “no more copying permitted” in the content, and the condition determination unit 1
02 discriminates information (FIG. 3) relating to copy control represented by the first bit B0 and the second bit B1 of each copy control information (CCI) DA embedded in the content every 15 seconds. This avoids complicated processing such as rewriting.

As described above, the condition judging unit 102 temporarily stores the copy control information (CCI) indicating "copying only once".
When the DA is detected, the first bit B0 and the second bit B1 of the copy control information (CCI) DA are rewritten so as to indicate "no more copies" in the content after the detection, thereby obtaining the contents shown in FIG. Area CP that can be copied in content as described above
OK1, CPOK2 and copy prohibited areas CPNG1, CP
Even if NG2 and CPNG3 coexist, all of these areas are represented as copy prohibited in the copy control information (CCI) DA.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the copy control information (CCI) DA indicates "1" in one content.
Area AR21 represented as "copy only once",
If there is a mixture of the area AR31 represented as “copying is permitted any number of times” by the second bit B11 (usability flag) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB, the copy control information (CCI) DA Is indicated as copy prohibited (no more copy allowed) in any area.
Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, areas that can be copied are mixed regardless of the copy control information (CCI) DA by the first bit B10 (mixing flag) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB of the digital watermark information. In addition, the position is indicated by the second bit B11 (usable flag) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB.

Thus, the copy control information (CCI) D
Even if A is rewritten so as to indicate “no more copies,” the usage information ID (Usage I
D) The first bit B10 of the DB indicates the coexistence, and the second bit B11 of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB can specify the copyable position.

As described above, the copy control information (CCI) DA
Describes a screen process when an audio signal with digital watermark information rewritten from information indicating "copying is allowed only once" to information indicating "no more copying is allowed" is recorded on a recording medium (memory card MC or the like). I do.

[0047] In FIG. 8, the screen processing unit 101 of the computer 7 ₁ enters from the step SP10 to the copy control processing procedure, whether embedded in the audio signal watermark information (Watermark) is input at step SP11 Judge. If a negative result is obtained here, this means that an audio signal without embedded digital watermark information is input,
The screen processing unit 101 copies the audio signal to the memory card MC in the following step SP12.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP11, this means that digital watermark information is embedded in the audio signal input at this time, and at this time, the screen processing unit 101 Moving to step SP13, the mixed flag (the second bit B1) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB of the digital watermark information is used.
It is determined whether or not (0) is “1”.

If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the mixed flag of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB is in a state of "not mixed", and at this time, the screen processing unit 101 Moving to SP14, it is determined whether or not copying is possible based on the first bit B0 and the second bit B1 of the copy control information (CCI) DA of the digital watermark information.

If a negative result is obtained in step SP14, this means that the audio signal being input at this time is in a copy-prohibited state over the entire content. At this time, the screen processing unit 101
Ends the copy processing in step SP17.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP14, this means that the audio signal input at this time can be copied.
The screen processing unit 101 proceeds to step SP16,
The process of copying the audio signal to the memory card MC is continued, and the digital watermark information is periodically checked thereafter.

If a positive result is obtained in step SP13, this indicates that the mixed flag (the first bit B1) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB of the digital watermark information is used.
0) indicates that there is a mixture of areas that can be copied and areas that cannot be copied within one content. At this time, the screen processing unit 101 proceeds to step SP15 and uses the usage information ID. It is determined whether or not the second bit B11 (usability flag) of the (Usage ID) DB indicates that copying is permitted.

If an affirmative result is obtained here, this means that the input audio signal includes a copy-enabled area and a copy-inhibited area, and the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB Indicates that the area to be represented is an area designated as copyable by the availability flag of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB,
At this time, the screen processing unit 101 proceeds to step SP18, and copies only the area that can be copied according to the availability flag to the memory card MC.

On the other hand, if a negative result is obtained in step SP15, this means that the area that can be copied and the area that cannot be copied are mixed in the input audio signal, and that the use information ID ( Usage ID) D
B indicates that the area represented by B is not copyable, and at this time, the screen processing unit 101
Proceeding to P19, copying is restricted for the uncopyable area.

As described above, the screen processing unit 101 is configured as shown in FIG.
Is repeated in one content of the input audio signal, the usage information ID (U
(sageID) Partial copy control can be performed according to the mixed flag and the availability flag of the DB.

[0056] In the above configuration, the screen processing unit 101 of the computer 7 ₁ used by the user, when the electronic watermark information to the audio signal to be inputted is added, the copy control information of the digital watermark information (CCI) D
A determines whether copying is possible or not.
At this time, assuming that the copy control information (CCI) DA is “copy once only”, the screen processing unit 101
Is a copy control information (CCI) D in exchange for copying an audio signal to a recording medium (memory card MC).
A is rewritten to “no more copy allowed”. In this rewriting process, the screen process is performed by each copy control information (C
CI) DA and copy control information (CCI) DA are rewritten regardless of the state of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB.

Thus, the copy control information (CCI) D
A indicates that the content of the audio signal being processed at this time is all rewritten to “no more copy permitted”, but the partial copy permission area is displayed by the permission flag of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB. The presence of a partially copyable area is indicated by the mixed flag of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB.

Therefore, when the mixed flag is present in the digital watermark information of the input audio signal, the screen processing section 101 uses the usage information ID (Usage ID) regardless of the information represented by the copy control information (CCI) DA. ) By searching for a DB flag in the DB, it is possible to determine a copy-permitted area and copy only this area to the memory card MC.

As described above, if an area that can be partially copied is provided in the content, the user can copy a part of the content, and the copyright holder of the content can use the part of the content as a promotion as a user. Can be presented.

According to the above configuration, the usage information ID (Usage
An area where copying is possible and an area where copying is not possible are provided by the permission flag of the ID) DB, and the usage information ID (U
sageID) The mixed flag of the DB indicates the mixed state, so that the computer 7
_{In 1} , it is possible to recognize from the content that the copyable area and the non-copyable area are mixed in the content by the mixed flag, thereby enabling the partial copy of the content.

In the above-described embodiment, the copy permitted area and the copy prohibited area in the content are represented by the permission flag (second bit B11) of the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, by overwriting without rewriting “copy only once” of the copy control information (CCI) DA, the original The copy control information (CCI) DA (the first bit B0 and the second bit B1) is left, and the copy enabled area and the copy disabled are determined by the mixed flag of these bits and the usage information ID (Usage ID) DB. May be determined. In this case, the copy control information (CC
I) By overwriting the DA with a bit B3 indicating "no more copying is permitted" separately from the first bit B0 and the second bit B1, the original copy control information (CC
I) Even if DA (the first bit B0 and the second bit B1) is left, it is possible to indicate that "no more copying is possible".

In the above embodiment, the copy control information (CCI) DA and the usage information ID (Usage ID) D
The case where an audio signal is embedded as B as digital watermark information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as out-of-band information of a compact disc on which an audio signal is recorded (additional information written in an area outside the audio signal) It may be written. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, the additional information writing unit 32 writes the additional information S32 into the out-of-band area of the compass disk, and writes the additional information S32 on the computer 7 used by the user.
_{What is} necessary is just to detect it in the additional information detecting unit 132 and to input it to the condition determining unit 102.

In the above embodiment, the case where an audio signal is copied as content has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is widely applied to a case where various other information such as a video signal is copied. can do.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, when transmitting predetermined content, mixed information in which a portion where copying of the content is permitted and a portion where copying is prohibited is mixed in the content is transmitted together with the content. By doing so, the copy control of the content based on the mixed information can be performed on the recording device side that has received the content.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an information transmission device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital watermark information embedding device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a data structure of digital watermark information.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a mixed state of a copy permitted area and a copy prohibited area in a content.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a copy control method based on a compression history.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital watermark information detection unit of the screen processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a copy control state based on a usage information ID (Usage ID) DB.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a screen processing procedure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a copy control state according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing a copy control method using additional information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... network, 7 _n ... computer, 31 ...
Digital watermark information embedding section, 32... Additional information writing section,
100R, 100F... Digital watermark information detection unit, 101
...... Screen processing unit, 102 ... Condition determination unit, 103
... LCM.

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An information transmission method for transmitting predetermined content, wherein mixed information indicating that a portion permitted to copy and a portion prohibited from being copied are mixed in the content is transmitted together with the content. Information transmission method. 2. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein in the information transmission method, the mixed information is transmitted as being embedded in the content as digital watermark information. 3. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein in the information transmission method, the mixed information is transmitted as additional information different from the content. 4. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein in the information transmission method, information indicating a position of a portion permitted to copy is transmitted together with the content. 5. The information transmission method according to claim 4, wherein in the information transmission method, information indicating a position of the portion permitted to be copied is transmitted as being embedded in the content as digital watermark information. Method. 6. The information transmission method according to claim 4, wherein the information indicating the position of the portion permitted to be copied is transmitted as additional information different from the content. . 7. An information transmission apparatus for transmitting predetermined content, wherein mixed information transmitting means for transmitting mixed information together with the content indicating that a portion permitted to copy and a portion prohibited from being copied are mixed in the content. An information transmission device comprising: 8. The information transmitting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said mixed information transmitting means embeds said mixed information in said content as digital watermark information. 9. The information transmitting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said mixed information transmitting means transmits said mixed information as additional information different from said content. 10. The information transmission apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the information transmission apparatus includes copy permission position information transmission means for transmitting information indicating a position of the copy permitted portion together with the content. apparatus. 11. The information transmission apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the copy permission position information transmission means embeds information representing the position of the portion permitted to copy as digital watermark information in the content. 12. The information according to claim 10, wherein the copy permission position information transmitting means transmits information indicating a position of the portion permitted to copy as additional information different from the content. Transmission equipment. 13. A step of detecting mixed information indicating that a part permitted to copy and a part prohibited from copying are mixed in the content input together with the predetermined content, and based on the detected mixed information. Controlling the copying of the content to a recording medium. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein in the step of controlling the copy, the copy of the content is controlled in accordance with the copy control information input together with the content when the mixed information is detected. Information recording method. 15. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of controlling the copy includes: when the mixed information is detected, a part which is input together with the content and which indicates a part which permits copying or a part which prohibits copying. 14. The information recording method according to claim 13, wherein the content is partially recorded on the recording medium. 16. Mixed information detecting means for detecting mixed information indicating that a portion permitted to copy and a portion prohibited from being copied are mixed in the content input together with the predetermined content; An information recording apparatus, comprising: copy control means for controlling copying of the content to a recording medium based on the information. 17. An information recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said copy control means controls copying of said content according to copy control information input together with said content when said mixed information is detected. . 18. The copy control means according to claim 17, wherein said copy control means includes a copy permission portion or a copy prohibition portion which is input together with said content when said mixed information is detected. 17. The information recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein recording is partially performed on the recording medium.