JP2002041994A - Contents delivery method, management center, and audiovisual device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents delivery method capable of supplying contents having a delivery value. SOLUTION: A management center 3 registers contents accepted from a contents holder server 1 in contents data base. The management center 3 accepts purchase order concerning each contents registered from an audiovisual device 7. It determines that delivery is done as for the contents in which the number of purchase order exceeds a predetermined number and income exceeds a fixed charge specified from a contents holder. Moreover, it divides an excess amount into an amount supplied to the contents holder and a subtracted amount of purchase price of contents to update purchase price with respect to the contents in which income exceeds the fixed charge. As for the contents in which an application period of purchase order elapses and sufficient number of purchase order is obtained, contents are delivered to purchaser's audiovisual device 7 through a feeding-out device 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a content distribution method and the like for distributing paid content.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for distributing pay contents to users has been realized. In such a system, a management center that manages content distribution determines broadcast content, content purchase price, and the like.

[0003]

However, since the purchase price of the content in the above-described system is estimated from data relating to the purchase of the past content, it cannot be said that the price is always in accordance with the current situation. There is a possibility that content having a distribution value that many users want to distribute may not be distributed. In this case, the distribution side cannot obtain the expected profit. Further, there is a need in the industry for a system that can return profits of contents to users by reducing the purchase price when the number of contents purchasers is large.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a content distribution method and the like that can supply content having a distribution value. Another object of the present invention is to provide a content distribution method or the like that can adjust the purchase price of content and provide the content at an appropriate purchase price.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a content distribution method according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises:
A content distribution method in a system for distributing content registered by a content owner to a user for a fee, wherein, at a content management source, a receiving step of receiving a request for viewing specific content from the user;
A decision step of deciding whether or not to distribute each content based on the reception status of the viewing request received by the reception step, and a distribution step of distributing the content to each purchaser according to the determination by the determination step. It is characterized by having.

According to such a configuration, it is determined whether or not to distribute the content based on the reception status of the desired viewing of each content. For example, there is a demand from a large number of users. It is possible to realize a system for selecting and distributing content having a distribution value such that the owner can also obtain the expected profit.

[0007] The deciding step is a step of deciding the distribution of the content when the amount of money accompanying the purchase of the content is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. And determining at least one of the following.

[0008] The content management source calculates the income of each content, and for the content whose calculated income exceeds a certain amount, the surplus amount to be supplied to the content owner; And a step of reducing the purchase price of the content based on the reduced amount allocated in the allocation step.

Thus, for example, when the number of purchasers is large, the profit can be returned to the users. Further, the purchase price can be adjusted according to the number of purchasers and the like, and the content can be provided at an appropriate price.

[0010] In the viewing device receiving the distribution of the content, an input of a desired price of the specific content may be received from a user, and purchase price information of the specific content may be obtained from the content management source. When the price indicated by the purchase price information of the specific content becomes equal to or less than the desired price, a request for viewing the content may be supplied to the content management source.

[0011] The content viewing request may include at least one of a content purchase request, a distribution request, and a response to a distribution questionnaire.

According to such a configuration, it is determined whether or not to distribute the content based on the designated number of times of each content. Can be realized.

[0013] A management center according to a second aspect of the present invention is a management center for a system that distributes contents registered by content owners to users for a fee, wherein the content is transmitted from each content owner to each other. Means for accepting and registering in the database, accepting means for accepting a desired content viewing request from the user, and determining whether or not to distribute each content registered in the database based on the reception status of the desired viewing. It is characterized by comprising a deciding means for deciding, and a means for requesting a predetermined distribution device to distribute contents according to the decision by the deciding means.

According to such a configuration, it is determined whether or not to distribute the content based on the reception status of the desired viewing of each content. For example, there is a demand from a large number of users. The owner can also select and distribute content having a distribution value such that the intended profit can be obtained.

[0015] The deciding means is means for deciding the distribution of the content when the amount of money accompanying the purchase of the content exceeds a predetermined amount, and distributing the content when the desired number of views exceeds the predetermined number. And at least one of:

The amount of income of each content is calculated, and for the content whose calculated amount of income exceeds a certain amount, the amount of the excess is supplied to the content owner, and a deduction amount with respect to the purchase price of the content. , And means for reducing the purchase price of the content based on the allocated reduction amount.

Thus, for example, when the number of purchasers is large, the profit can be returned to the users. Further, the purchase price can be adjusted according to the number of purchasers and the like, and the content can be provided at an appropriate price.

A viewing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is a viewing apparatus for a system in which a content management source distributes a content registered by a content holder to a user for a fee, and the specific content is Receiving the desired price input, obtaining the purchase price information of the specific content from the content management source, and determining whether the amount indicated by the obtained purchase price information is equal to or less than the input desired price. Means for judging whether the content is below the desired price and supplying a viewing request for the content to the content management source.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The content distribution system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes:
As shown in FIG. 1, a content holder server 1, a management center 3, a key management center 4, a transmitting device 5, and a viewing device 7 are provided.

The content holder server 1 is a content holder (content holder) from which the content is provided.
Performs registration of the content owned by the content holder to the management center 3, and the like. The content holder server 1 includes a control unit 11 and a storage unit 13.

The control unit 11 includes a content to be registered,
The predetermined information about the content is read from the storage unit 13 and transmitted to the management center 3 together with a predetermined registration request. The storage unit 13 stores content and predetermined information related to the content. The predetermined information related to the content includes, for example, information such as a title, a fixed fee, a desired distribution unit price, a minimum distribution unit price, content content information, an application period (a period during which content purchase is accepted), an outline, a genre, and performers. The information is input from an input unit (not shown) by a content holder, for example.

Here, the fixed fee indicates a price required by the content holder for content distribution. The desired distribution unit price indicates the initial value of the content fee charged per purchaser of the content. Further, the minimum distribution unit price indicates a minimum allowable price of a content fee charged per one content purchaser.

When registering the content, the content holder pays the content registration fee to the management center 3. The means of payment is optional, and may be, for example, transfer of funds between accounts in a financial institution, settlement by electronic money or debit, account transfer using cash, or the like.

The management center 3 manages contents to be distributed, receives a purchase request for contents, and the like. The control unit 31 and the contents database 32
, A related information database 33, a price information database 34, a price setting unit 35, a scheduler 36, and a customer information database 37.

The control unit 31 controls the content holder server 1
In response to the registration request from, a content ID is issued for the content received with the request. Then, when the number of purchasers of the content exceeds a predetermined number and the revenue obtained thereby exceeds a fixed fee set in advance by the content holder, a parameter indicating the proportion of the content holder's share of the excess amount (the commission) Rate). The method of determining the commission rate is arbitrary. For example, a numerical value set for each content holder may be set, or the commission rate may be calculated based on information on the content acquired from the content holder. Further, a numerical value designated from the content holder may be set, or a fixed value may be used for all the content holders.

The control unit 31 controls the content holder server 1
A content ID is assigned to the content received along with the registration request from the content database 32 and registered in the content database 32. In addition, based on data related to the content received together with the content from the content holder server 1, content related information related to the content of the content, and price information related to the price of the content based on the commission rate and the like, a related information database is generated. 33 and the price information database 34 respectively.

The contents database 32 stores contents to be distributed. Related information database 33
Stores content-related information related to content such as a content ID, a title, an outline, a genre, a cast, a content holder name, and the like, as shown in FIG. The price information database 34 stores, for example, price information regarding content prices such as a fixed fee, a desired distribution unit price, a minimum distribution unit price, a purchase price, a commission rate, an application deadline, a status, and the total number of applications as shown in FIG. . here,
The total number of applications indicates the number of content purchase applications accepted by the management center 3. The purchase price is an actual price of the content, and for example, a desired distribution unit price is set as an initial value.

The status in the price information is
It indicates the state of the registered content, and includes “reception start”, “delivery established”, “reception completed”, “not established”, and the like. The “acceptance start” status is a status that is given to the content from immediately after the registration of the content until the revenue (desired distribution price × number of purchasers) for the content reaches a fixed fee set in advance. When this status is set, the fee of the content charged to each purchaser is maintained at the desired distribution unit price, and it is undecided whether or not the content is distributed.

The "delivery established" status is a status given to content whose distribution has been determined when the number of purchasers has reached a predetermined number or more and the resulting income has reached a fixed fee. If the number of purchasers increases while this status is given, the price will fluctuate.

The "acceptance completed" status is a status given to content whose distribution has been decided and for which an application period for accepting the purchase request has elapsed. The “unsuccessful” status is a status given to content for which a transaction is unsuccessful because the number of purchasers reaches a predetermined number within the application period and the income cannot reach a fixed fee.

The control unit 31 supplies information on the content registered in the management center 3 in response to a request from the viewing device 7, and accepts an application for purchasing the content. For example, the control unit 31 provides information (outline, genre, preview image, etc.) for introducing the content, presents the current reception status (purchase price, status, etc.) of each content, searches and views the content by a keyword. A service function such as presenting a purchase application status for each user is supplied in response to a request from the viewing device 7. The control unit 31 supplies purchase application data (content ID, terminal ID, and the like) regarding purchase of the content received from the viewing device 7 to the price setting unit 35.

The price setting unit 35 performs a predetermined price setting process for each content with respect to the purchase application data from the viewing device 7 received from the control unit 31. Specifically, for each content, the current number of applicants is added to the total number of price information applications, and the status is determined. When the status is "delivery completed", a predetermined price change process is performed, and when the status is "acceptance started", whether the amount obtained by multiplying the desired distribution price and the total number of applications is a fixed fee or more, That is, it is determined whether or not an income equal to or higher than the fixed fee is generated. If the calculated amount is equal to or higher than the fixed fee, the status of the content is changed from "acceptance start" to "delivery completed" and a predetermined price change process is performed, and if not, the status is changed Absent.

In the price change process, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the amount obtained by subtracting the fixed fee from the amount obtained by multiplying the desired distribution unit price by the total number of applications is set as the distribution amount. Then, the amount obtained by multiplying the distribution money by the commission rate is taken as the content holder's share, and the remaining money is taken as the reduction of the content price. Then, based on the reduced amount, the unit price of the content is calculated using, for example, the following formula, and the unit price in the price information is updated. (Purchase unit price) = (desired distribution unit price)-
(Reduced amount) / (Total number of applications) Note that the purchase price must not be lower than the minimum distribution price, and when the calculated purchase price is lower than the minimum distribution price, the minimum distribution price is set as the purchase price instead of the calculated price I do.

For example, in the price change processing, the fixed fee of the content to be processed is “10000 yen”, the desired distribution unit price is “1000 yen”, and the commission rate of the content A is “0.
4 and the total number of applications is “15”, the desired distribution unit price is “1000 yen” and the total number of applications is “1”.
The fixed amount "10000 yen" is subtracted from the amount "15,000 yen" obtained by multiplying "5 people", and the distribution amount is "5000".
Circle ”. Then, the amount "2000 yen" obtained by multiplying the distribution amount "5000 yen" by the commission rate "0.4" is taken as the content holder's share, and the remaining balance "3000 yen" is taken as the reduction of the content price. And the reduced amount "3
000 yen "divided by the total number of applications" 15 people "
The new purchase price “800 yen” is calculated by subtracting the “yen” from the desired distribution price “1000 yen”.

The price setting section 35 registers customer information including the terminal ID and the content ID of the viewing device 7 included in the purchase application data in the customer information database 37.
In addition, the price setting unit 35 supplies the scheduler 36 with a distribution request including information such as the content ID and the distribution date and time of the content for the content whose status in the price information has been changed to “delivery established”.

Further, the price setting section 35 checks whether or not the application deadline in the price information of the price information database 34 has passed every predetermined period (for example, every day).
If the status has passed, the status is set to "not established" if the status is "acceptance started", and the status is set to "acceptance completed" if the status is "delivery established". Price setting unit 3
5 notifies the content holder server 1 of the content holder of the registration source of the content whose status is set to "not established" or "reception completed".

The scheduler 36 receives the distribution request from the price setting unit 35, reads out the corresponding content from the content database 32 based on the distribution date and time of each content, and sends it to the transmitting device 5 together with the distribution request including the information of the distribution destination. Supply. The customer information database 37
The customer information including the terminal ID of the purchaser's viewing device 7, the content ID of the purchased content, and the like are stored.

Further, the management center 3 collects a price equivalent to the purchase price from the purchaser of the content, and provides the content holder of the content whose status is “accepted” to the content holder (the fixed fee and the fixed fee). Pay based on the commission rate). In addition, a predetermined fee may be collected from the content holder. The means for collecting the purchase price and the commission and the means for paying the usage fee are arbitrary, and may be, for example, transfer of funds between accounts at a financial institution, settlement by electronic money or debit, account transfer using cash, and the like.

The key management center 4 includes a key information storage unit 41,
And a key supply unit 43. The key information storage unit 41 stores a content encryption key used for encrypting distributed content, a content decryption key for decrypting the encrypted content, an encryption key of each user, and the like. The key supply unit 43 acquires customer information from the customer information database 37 of the management center 3, and acquires the acquired customer information (content I
D, terminal ID, etc.) and each key stored in the key information storage unit 41, encrypts the content decryption key with the encryption key of the content purchaser to generate key information, and generates the key information together with the content encryption key. To supply.

The sending device 5 is a device for supplying the content to the viewing device 7 of the purchaser, and includes an encryption unit 51 and a sending unit 53. The encryption unit 51 encrypts the content with the content encryption key based on the distribution request from the management center 3 and the content encryption key and the key information from the key management center 4, and transmits the encrypted content to the predetermined distribution destination together with the key information. I do.

The viewing device 7 is a device for the user to purchase and view the content, and includes a control unit 71, a desired price purchasing unit 72, a storage unit 73, a decoding unit 74, and an input unit 75. And a display unit 76. The control unit 71
In response to the user's request input to the input unit 75, the information acquisition / display of the content from the management center 3 and the application for the purchase of the content are performed. Specifically, the control unit 71
Displays, for example, a menu screen including a selection menu on the display unit 76 as shown in FIG. 5A, and responds to the selection of the menu by the user, and outputs information corresponding to the selection to the management center 3. Request to.

For example, when “Introduction of recommended contents” is selected, the control section 71 notifies the selection to the management center 3 and introduces the recommended contents as shown in FIG. 5B, for example. For this purpose, information (outline, genre, preview image, etc.) is acquired from the management center 3 and displayed on the display unit 76. Also, from the menu, "Reception status"
Is selected, the control unit 71 notifies the management center 3 of the selection, and for example, as shown in FIG. 5C, information (purchase price, status, etc.) on the current reception status of each content. Obtained from the management center 3 and displayed on the display unit 76.

When "search" is selected from the menu, the control unit 71 acquires and displays a search screen as shown in FIG. 6A from the management center 3, for example.
Accepts search keyword input. Then, the input search keyword is notified to the management center 3, and a search result (contents corresponding to the search keyword, etc.) for the search keyword is acquired from the management center 3 and displayed on the display unit 76.

When “purchase application status for each viewer” is selected from the menu, the control unit 71 notifies the management center 3 of the selection together with the terminal ID stored in a memory (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), predetermined information (title, status, broadcast date, purchase price, etc.) about the case where the user has already applied for purchase is acquired from the management center 3 and displayed on the display unit 76. To be displayed.

When "content purchase application" is selected from the menu, the control unit 71 transmits information (for example, content ID) for specifying the content to be purchased.
Etc.) (selection), and transmits the input data to the management center 3. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 6C, the purchase content is confirmed, and screen information for accepting the purchase application is displayed on the display unit 76. And
In response to the pressing of the application button, the control unit 71 generates purchase application data including the content ID, the terminal ID, and the like, and transmits the generated data to the management center 3. In addition, when “desired price purchase application” is selected from the menu, the control unit 71 notifies the desired price purchase unit 72 of the selection.

The control unit 71 receives the distribution of the encrypted content from the transmission device 5 and
To be stored. When a content reproduction instruction is input from the input unit 75, the control unit 71
3, the corresponding content is read out and supplied to the decoding unit 74 to be decoded and reproduced. Note that the content decrypting process may be performed when the encrypted content is received from the transmitting device 5.

The desired price purchasing section 72 performs a predetermined desired price purchasing process in response to the notification that “desired price purchasing application” has been selected from the menu. In this desired price purchase processing, input (selection) of information (for example, a content ID or the like) for specifying content to be purchased is received, and
An input for transmitting input data to the management center 3 and accepting an input of a "desired price" for making a purchase application when the purchase price of the designated content becomes less than, for example, as shown in FIG. Display the screen and accept the input of the desired price. Then, for the specified content, information such as the current purchase price and the application period is stored in the management center 3.
And repeats the process of comparing the desired price with the current purchase price every predetermined period until the purchase price becomes equal to or less than the desired price or the application period of the designated content elapses. If the purchase price is equal to or less than the desired price, purchase application data is generated and transmitted to the management center 3. When the application period for the purchase application has elapsed, the processing for the content is terminated.

The storage unit 73 is composed of a hard disk device or the like, and stores and stores the content distributed from the transmission device 5. The decryption unit 74 decrypts and reproduces the encrypted content using an encryption key read from a storage unit (not shown) such as an IC card or a memory.
The input unit 75 receives an input from a user. The display unit 76 displays, for example, each processing screen shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, reproduced content, and the like.

Next, the system operation of the content distribution system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, for example, the content holder server 1 of a certain content holder registers a content together with a predetermined registration request and predetermined information on the content (title, fixed fee, desired distribution unit price, minimum distribution unit price, Content content information, application period, etc.) to the management center 3 (S1). Further, the content holder A pays the registration fee of the content to the management center 3 (S2). The content registration fee may be a fixed fee set by the content holder, a desired distribution unit price, a minimum distribution unit price, an amount according to an application period, or the like, or may be a fixed fee.

The management center 3 issues a content ID to the received content in response to the registration request from the content holder server 1, and stores the content in the content database 32 (S3). Further, the management center 3 determines a commission rate for the content holder,
Based on the commission rate and the data received from the content holder, content related information and price information are created and registered in the related information database 33 and the price information database 34, respectively (S4). Thereby, the content from the content holder is registered in the management center 3.

Next, for example, in order to purchase a content, a certain user operates his / her own viewing device 7 and requests information on desired content. The management center 3 reads out the relevant information from the related information database 33 and the price information database 34 and supplies the read information to the viewing device 7 in response to the user's request from the viewing device 7 (S5, S5).
6). For example, when “Introduction of recommended content” is selected, the management center 3 determines the content registered in advance as “recommended content” or the content extracted based on a predetermined criterion such as a large number of purchase applications. Is read out from the related information database 33 and the price information database 34 and supplied to the viewing device 7.

The user determines the content to be purchased based on the information (contents, price, etc.) of the content displayed on the viewing device 7, and determines the ID of the content to be purchased.
A purchase request is input together with the above (S7). In response, the viewing device 7 generates purchase application data including the content ID and the terminal ID of the content selected by the user, and transmits the generated purchase application data to the management center 3 (S8).

The management center 3 collects a plurality of purchase application data by, for example, accumulating purchase application data from the viewing device 7 for a certain period of time. Then, for each content for which a purchase application has been made, the current number of applications is added to the total number of applications in the price information, and a price setting process is performed to calculate and update a new price according to the status (S
9). The management center 3 stores the customer information corresponding to the current application in the customer information database 37 (S1).
0).

Further, the management center 3 supplies the scheduler 36 with a distribution request including data such as the content ID and the distribution date and time of the content for the content whose status has been changed to "delivery established" in the price setting process (S11). . The scheduler 36 performs distribution adjustment according to the distribution date and time (S12), and the content database 32
The content to be distributed is read from the server and supplied to the transmission device 5 together with the distribution instruction (S13).

The transmitting device 5 encrypts the content received from the management center 3 with the content encryption key (S1).
4) The encrypted content and key information are sent together with the key information obtained from the key management center 4 (S15), and are supplied to the viewing device 7. Since the key information is a purchaser's encryption key and the content decryption key is encrypted, only the purchaser can acquire the content decryption key from the key information and decrypt the encrypted content.

The management center 3 collects a purchase price (purchase price) of the content from each purchaser (S16).
Further, the management center 3 notifies the content holder server 1 of whether or not distribution is possible (S17). Management center 3
Pays a content usage fee (a fixed fee and a fee based on a commission rate) to the content holder for the case where the distribution is established (S18). In addition, a predetermined fee may be collected from the content holder.

Next, the price setting unit 3 of the management center 3
5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the price setting unit 35 performs a preparation process such as sorting the purchase application data for each content ID (step S21). Then, after confirming that there is purchase application data to be processed (step S22), the content ID is taken out, the status corresponding to the content ID is obtained, and whether the status is "accepted" or "not established" Is determined (step S23), and if any of them is satisfied, it is determined that the application is inappropriate, and processing for the next content ID is performed (step S31).

If the status does not correspond to any of the statuses in step S23, the current number of applicants is added to the total number of applications (step S24). Then, it is determined whether the status is “acceptance started” or “delivery established” (step S25). If it is determined in step S25 that the status is "acceptance started", it is determined whether or not the amount calculated by multiplying the desired distribution price by the total number of applications is equal to or more than a fixed fee (step S26). Step S
In 26, if it is determined that the calculated amount is less than the fixed fee, the process proceeds to step S31, and the content ID to be processed is changed to the next number. If it is determined in step S26 that the calculated amount is equal to or greater than the fixed fee, the status is changed to "delivery established" (step S2).
7).

After the status is changed in step S27, or in step S25, the status is "distribution established".
Is determined, the price change processing (see FIG. 4) for reducing the purchase unit price based on the distribution money is performed (step S).
28), the content ID to be processed is changed to the next number (step S31). In this way, the processing of steps S23 to S31 is repeated until there is no more purchase application data to be processed (step S22), and when there is no more processing object, the price setting processing ends.

Next, the desired price purchase processing by the desired price purchase unit 72 of the viewing device 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the desired price purchase unit 72
Accepts input of designation of content and desired price for the designated content (step S4)
1). Next, the desired price purchase unit 72 obtains data such as the current purchase price and the application period for the designated content from the management center 3 (step S42). In addition,
The acquisition of these data is performed every predetermined time.

The desired price purchase unit 72 determines whether the current purchase price is equal to or less than the desired price received from the user based on the acquired data (step S43), and the current purchase price is equal to or less than the desired price. In the case of, the purchase application data is generated and transmitted to the management center 3 (step S44), and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S43 that the desired price is not less than the purchase price, it is determined whether or not the application period for the content purchase application has elapsed (step S45). Then, the flow returns to step S42, and if the time has elapsed, the process ends. Thereby, if the desired price becomes equal to or less than the purchase price before the application period of the purchase application elapses, the purchase application for the content can be automatically performed.

Thus, for each content,
By distributing the content when a predetermined number or more of purchase applications are received and the accompanying income reaches a predetermined amount, there is a demand from the user, and the content holder also obtains a planned profit. It is possible to realize a system for supplying contents having a distribution value that can be provided. In addition, by dividing the income (distribution money) of a predetermined amount or more out of the income obtained for the content into the share of the content holder and the reduction of the purchase price, if the number of purchasers is large, the profit can be reduced. It is possible to give back to the user and to provide a purchase price corresponding to the number of purchasers.

In the price setting process, the criterion for changing the status from “acceptance start” to “delivery established” is arbitrary. For example, when the number of purchase applications exceeds a predetermined number, The status may be changed.

When the content holder registers the content in the management center 3, the content may be registered via a medium for storing the content and information related to the content.

Means for distributing the content to the purchaser is arbitrary, and may be, for example, a communication line such as a public line or a dedicated line, or may be transmitted using a broadcast wave.

The method of distributing the encryption key to each viewing device (user) is arbitrary, and a medium such as an IC card storing the encryption key may be distributed to each user. The information may be supplied to the viewing device 7 via a line.

Further, one center or device may have at least two functions of the management center 3, the key management center 4, and the sending device 5.

Further, in the above description, the content to be distributed is paid, and when the number of purchase applications for each content becomes equal to or more than a predetermined number and a certain amount of money or more is obtained, it is decided to distribute the content. Although a system is described, the application of the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the present invention relates to a system for distributing contents for a fee or free of charge.
(Users), the system may be implemented as a system in which the number of requests from the user and the like are totaled for each content, and for a content whose total value is a predetermined number or more, distribution of the content is determined. .

It should be noted that the system of the present invention can be realized using an ordinary computer system without using a dedicated system. For example, by installing the program from a medium (floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, or the like) storing a program for performing the above-described operation in a computer, the content holder server 1 that executes the above-described processing can be obtained. A management center 3, a key management center 4, a transmitting device 5, a viewing device 7, and the like can be configured. In the case where the above-described function is realized by the OS sharing or the OS and the application being jointly performed, the OS
Only the other parts may be stored in the medium.

It is also possible to superimpose a program on a carrier wave and distribute it via a communication network. For example, the program may be posted on a bulletin board (BBS) of a communication network and distributed via the network. Then, by starting this program and executing it in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the OS, the above-described processing can be executed.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In order to determine whether to distribute the content based on the reception status of the purchase application of each content, for example, there is a demand from a large number of users, so that the content owner can also obtain the expected profit It is possible to realize a system for selecting and distributing such content having distribution value.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining content-related information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining price information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining price change processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the viewing device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the viewing device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for receiving input of a desired price.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a system operation of the content distribution system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a price setting process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a desired price purchase process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Content holder server 11 Control part 13 Storage part 3 Management center 31 Control part 32 Content database 33 Related information database 34 Price information database 35 Price setting part 37 Customer information database 4 Key management center 41 Key information storage part 42 Key supply part 43 Key Supply unit 5 Transmission unit 51 Encryption unit 53 Transmission unit 7 Viewing device 71 Control unit 72 Desired price purchase unit 73 Storage unit 74 Decryption unit 75 Input unit 76 Display unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/16 H04N 7/16 C 7/173 640 7/173 640A (72) Inventor Naoko Toda Koto, Tokyo 3-3-3 Toyosu Ward, NTT Data Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Abe 3-3-3 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo NTT Data Corporation (72 ) Inventor Satoshi Masamoto 3-3-3 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside NTT Data Corporation (72) Inventor Akira Saito 3-3-1 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo NTT Corporation・ T-Ti data F term (reference) 5B049 BB11 CC05 CC36 DD01 DD05 EE01 EE02 FF09 GG04 GG07 GG09 GG10 5B075 KK07 KK13 KK33 KK37 ND03 ND20 PP22 PQ32 UU40 5C064 BA01 BB01 BB05 BC0 4 BC14 BC18 BD03 BD07 BD14

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A content distribution method in a system for distributing content registered by a content owner to a user for a fee, wherein a receiving step of receiving, from the user, a request to view specific content from a user at a content management source; A decision step of deciding whether or not to distribute each content based on the reception status of the desired viewing received in the reception step; and a distribution step of distributing the content to each purchaser in accordance with the determination in the decision step. A content distribution method, characterized in that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining step determines the distribution of the content when the amount of income associated with the purchase of the content is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining distribution. 3. The content management source calculates the income of each content, and for the content whose calculated income exceeds a certain amount, the amount of the excess is supplied to the content owner; The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a distribution step of allocating a reduction amount to the purchase price of the content, and a step of reducing the purchase price of the content based on the reduction amount allocated in the distribution step. 3. The content distribution method according to 1 or 2. 4. A viewing device that receives distribution of a content, receives input of a desired price of a specific content from a user, acquires purchase price information of the specific content from the content management source, and 4. If the amount indicated by the purchase price information becomes equal to or less than the desired price, the content viewing request is supplied to the content management source. 5. Content delivery method. 5. The content viewing request according to claim 1, wherein the content viewing request includes at least one of a content purchase request, a distribution request, and a response to a distribution questionnaire. 2. The content distribution method according to claim 1. 6. A management center for a system for distributing contents registered by a content owner to a user for a fee, comprising: means for receiving the content from each content owner and registering the content in a database; Receiving means for receiving a request for viewing from a user, determining means for determining whether or not to distribute each content registered in the database based on the reception status of the request for viewing, and according to the determination by the determining means, Means for requesting a predetermined distribution device to distribute content. 7. The means for deciding distribution of the content when the amount of money associated with the purchase of the content is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. 7. The management center according to claim 6, further comprising at least one of: 8. An amount of income of each content is calculated, and for the content whose calculated amount of income exceeds a certain amount, an amount of the surplus is supplied to the content owner, and a reduction in the purchase price of the content. The management center according to claim 6, further comprising: means for allocating money to money; and means for reducing a purchase price of the content based on the allocated reduction money. 9. A viewing device for a system in which a content management source distributes content registered by a content owner to a user for a fee, means for receiving an input of a desired price of the specific content; Means for acquiring the purchase price information of the content from the content management source; and determining whether or not the amount indicated by the acquired purchase price information is equal to or less than the input desired price. Means for supplying a request for viewing the content to the content management source.