JP2002123634A - System and method for producing/distributing contents - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the production or distribution of contents easy for a contents producer. SOLUTION: A site for producing contents while using material data is provided through a wide area network 6 to the contents producer by a material/ contents managing server 1, contents produced at such a time are managed by the server 1 and according to a distribution request, these produced contents are distributed through the wide area network 6 to a contents viewer by a contents distributing server 2. Besides, the utilization fees of a production/ distribution environment are charged to the contents producer and the viewing fees of contents are charged to the contents viewer by a central managing server 3. Besides, the material/contents managing server 1, the contents distributing server 2 and the central managing server 3 are operated by a service provider.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content production / distribution system and method for producing and distributing content formed by video, audio, and the like using a wide area network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the production of contents that handle large amounts of data such as video and audio, a content creator records material data such as video and audio used in the production of the content on a recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk. To the terminal for content creation and install it, or connect to the management server that manages the material data by LAN (Loca
l The content was produced using content production terminals connected via an area network.

When distributing produced content, the content is recorded on a recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk,
The contents are either brought into a distribution server for distribution via a network and installed, or contents are produced using a terminal connected to the distribution server via a LAN, and the contents are transferred to the distribution server via the LAN.

[0004] In addition, when using a management server or a distribution server in addition to a terminal for content production, the content creator himself manages these systems.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional production and distribution of contents, time is required for production and distribution because material data and produced contents are recorded and transported on a recording medium. . In particular, if the production of content is shared by multiple people, the production sharer may physically exchange material data and content by delivery of recording media, etc., which requires more time for production and distribution. I was

When a management server or a distribution server is connected to a LAN, the content creator himself manages the system of the management server or the distribution server, which requires a management burden and a maintenance cost.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a content production / distribution system and method capable of facilitating content production and distribution for a content producer. It is in.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a content production / distribution system according to the present invention manages material data used for producing a content, and creates a place for producing the content using the material data. Material management means for providing the content via the wide area network, content management means for managing the content produced using the material data, and content distribution means for delivering the produced content via the wide area network in accordance with the distribution request. , Is characterized by having.

[0009] A content production / delivery method according to the present invention manages material data used for content production, and provides a place for content production using the material data via a wide area network. The method includes the steps of managing content produced using data and distributing the produced content via a wide area network in accordance with a distribution request.

In the content production / distribution system and method of the present invention, a place for producing content using material data is provided via a wide area network to manage the produced content and to produce the content produced at this time. Content is distributed over a wide area network in accordance with the distribution request, and as a content creator, the burden of recording and managing large-capacity material data and content such as video and audio on recording media is relieved. In addition, content production and distribution can be easily performed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a content production / distribution system according to an embodiment. The content production / distribution system shown in FIG. 1 includes a material / content management server 1 connected to a content creator's personal computer 4 via a wide area network 6.
A content distribution server 2 connected to a personal computer 5 of the content viewer via a wide area network 6, and a central management server 3 connected to the material / content management server 1 and the content distribution server 2 via a LAN. It is a configuration to have.

The material / content management server 1, the content distribution server 2, and the central management server 3 may be constituted by dedicated hardware, or may be constituted by a computer such as a workstation or a personal computer. May be realized by software.

The wide area network 6 corresponds to, for example, the Internet, and is formed by a wired line or a wireless line. The material / content management server 1, the content distribution server 2, and the central management server 3 are arranged in a content production / distribution center and operated by a service provider.

The material / content management server 1 stores and manages material data such as video, audio, still image, text, and HTML used in the production of the content in a database, and also manages the content via a wide area network 6. Providing a place for content production to producers. Specifically, it prompts the content creator to select a video and specify a keyword, and based on the video selected here and the specified keyword, related audio, still image,
Material data such as text is searched, and the searched material data is transmitted to the personal computer 4 of the content creator. Then, it provides a place for content production in which these material data operate in synchronization, receives the content produced by the personal computer 4, and stores it in a database. This configuration eliminates the need for the personal computer 4 to store the material data and the content being produced or produced.

The contents distribution server 2 receives distribution registration of contents produced from the personal computer 4 of the contents creator. Then, a distribution request from the personal computer 5 of the content viewer is received, and the content registered for distribution is read from the material / content management server 1 via the LAN in accordance with the distribution request and distributed to the personal computer 5.

The central management server 3 has functions (PF function) such as authentication, charging, settlement, and copyright protection. In this authentication function, when a content creator or a content viewer accesses each using a personal computer, it is checked whether or not the user is a contractor by a user ID, a password, a digital signature, or the like. In this digital signature, a content creator or a content viewer transmits a signature encrypted using a so-called secret key, and the central management server 3 decrypts the encrypted signature using a public key corresponding to the secret key. By doing so, it is confirmed whether or not this signature is the same as that registered in advance.

In the billing function, the content creator is charged for the usage fee of the production / distribution environment in accordance with the usage time and the amount of data to be managed, and the viewing fee is distributed to the content viewer for the delivery time and distribution. The fee is charged according to the amount of data that has been collected. In the settlement function, the contents of the charges are tabulated, for example, on a monthly basis, and a charge to be collected is calculated.

In the copyright protection function, when distributing the content, management such as copy protection for preventing the content from being copied is performed. For example, the content and a player for reproducing the content are distributed together, and a key (protection) is applied to the player by using a public key to permit image browsing, copy, and the like. Only the user having the secret key corresponding to the above is permitted to view and copy the image. Alternatively, if an electronic watermark is inserted into the image to be distributed at a resolution that is invisible to the naked eye, and the image with the electronic watermark is copied to a place where it should not be copied, Make it easy to find it.

The content creator pays the service provider a production / distribution environment usage fee calculated by the charging function and the settlement function of the central management server 1. The content viewer pays the content viewing fee to the content creator.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen of the personal computer 5 displaying an example of the distributed contents. The figure shows SMIL content (synchronized content) for displaying a still image (not shown), text for telop, HTML, or the like in time synchronization with a moving image. The material data for producing the SMIL content is stored in the material / content management server 1, and the process of producing the content using the material data is executed by the material / content management server 1. The process of distributing SMIL content is executed by the content distribution server 2. Since the SMIL content is a technology that has already been standardized, a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the content / content management server 1 provides the content creator with content data using the material data via the wide area network 6 to the content creator. The content creator distributes the produced content to the content viewers via the wide area network 6 by the content distribution server 2, so that the content creator can obtain a large amount of material data such as video and audio. The burden of recording and managing the content on the recording medium is released, and the production and distribution of the content can be easily performed.

According to the present embodiment, a content production / distribution service is provided widely through the wide area network 6 so that even a user who does not have a material data management server or a content distribution server can use a personal computer. If you have such a terminal, you can easily create and distribute content. Further, since it is only necessary to access the wide area network 6 using a terminal, the place where the content is created or distributed is not limited.

According to the present embodiment, since the material / content management server 1 and the content distribution server 2 can produce and distribute SMIL content, which is one of the contents to be handled, the SMI can be used as a content creator.
The knowledge required for production and distribution of L content is no longer necessary,
Anyone can easily create and distribute SMIL content.

According to the present embodiment, content production and
By charging for the usage fee of the distribution environment and the content viewing fee, one content distribution business can be provided.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the content production / distribution system. The feature is that the material / content management server 21 transmits the material data to the personal computers 24a, 24b, 24c of the plurality of content creators A, B, C, which share and produce the content. The content that is being produced or that has already been produced is stored so as to be sharable to each content creator. In addition, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here.

In the material / content management server 21, the content being produced or produced by the personal computers 24a to 24c of each content creator is stored in a shared storage location and accessed by each content creator. Sometimes the content is transferred to a wide area network 6
When the content is further edited, the edited content is stored in the shared storage location.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in the content production sharing work by a plurality of content producers, the content being produced by the material / content management server 21 is stored in the shared storage location, and the content is exchanged. Is performed via the wide area network 6, so that the content creator does not need to physically exchange data using the recording medium, and can instantly access the content remotely. Therefore, one business providing a content production environment for a content production company can be provided.

[0029]

As described above, according to the content production / distribution system and method according to the present invention, a place for producing content using material data is provided via a wide area network, and the content produced at this time is provided. By managing the content and distributing the produced content via a wide area network in accordance with the distribution request, the content creator can transfer large amounts of material data and content such as video and audio to the recording medium. The burden of recording and managing is relieved, and content creation and distribution can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content production / distribution system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen of a personal computer on which an example of distributed content is displayed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the content production / distribution system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 21 material / content management server 2 content distribution server 3 central management server 4, 5 personal computer 24a, 24b, 24c personal computer 6 wide area network

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Material management means for managing material data used for content creation and providing a place for content creation using the material data via a wide area network, and content created using the material data. And a content distribution means for distributing the produced content via a wide area network in accordance with a distribution request. 2. The material management means includes: a search means for searching for material data in accordance with an instruction of a content creator; a transmission means for transmitting the searched material data to a terminal of the content creator; The content production / distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising: reception means for receiving content produced using the material data. 3. The content distribution means includes: reception means for receiving a distribution request from a terminal of a content viewer; and transmission means for transmitting content to a terminal of the content viewer in accordance with the distribution request. The content production / distribution system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The content management device according to claim 1, wherein the content management device includes a shared storage device that stores the content so that the content can be shared by a plurality of content creators.
Content production and distribution system according to any of the above. 5. A fee-charging means for charging a content creator a usage fee of a production / distribution environment, and a viewing fee charging means for charging a content viewer for a content viewing fee. The content production / distribution system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: 6. The content production / distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the content production / delivery system is operated by a service provider. 7. A step of managing material data used for producing the content, providing a place for producing the content using the material data via a wide area network, and managing the content produced using the material data. And a step of distributing the produced content via a wide area network according to a distribution request.