JP2002351745A - Communication system; method and device for communication control, method and device for data recording and program used for communication system; and computer-readable recording medium having program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sufficiently protect the copyright when literary work data are distributed through a network. SOLUTION: When receiving the literary work data sent from an author server at a distribution request from a terminal, a communication controller 3 connected between the author server and terminal extracts and analyzes distribution conditions given to the literary work data by using a data analyzing means 32. According to the analyzed distribution conditions, a decision data acquiring means 33 obtains the identification number of the terminal from the terminal and sends it to the author server to obtain information showing whether the transmission-destination terminal is a regular user. According to the information, a decision means 34 decides whether the terminal is a regular user and according to the decision result, a control means 35 controls whether the literary work data may be transmitted to the terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to protection of copyright when communication is performed via a network from a server having digital data such as music and images to a terminal of a user who desires to use the copyrighted work. The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication control method, a communication control device, a data recording method, and a data recording device used in the communication system with due consideration.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a copyright protection technique for distributing copyrighted work data via a network, a writer assigns a use restriction such as encrypting the copyrighted work data, and the copyright is protected by a user terminal. Copyright protection has been achieved by removing restrictions on use.

[0003] For example, the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-90039 discloses that music data is encrypted and distributed using a public key created based on an ID unique to a reproduction apparatus of a user who receives the distribution of the music data. Protects the copyright of the music data.

[0004] An outline of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. An author server 2 for distributing music data and terminals 4 and 5 as music data reproducing devices are connected via a network 1. The author server 2 distributes music data to the terminal 4 or the terminal 5 via the network 1. In the present invention, a public key 6 and a secret key 7 are created based on an ID unique to the terminal 4 or 5 which is a user terminal, the public key 6 is registered in the author server 2, and the secret key 7 is Alternatively, it is held in the terminal 5. When there is a distribution request for music data from the terminal 4, the author server 2 encrypts the music data with the registered public key 6 and transmits it to the terminal 4 via the network 1. The music data encrypted with the public key 6 is encrypted data that can be decrypted with the secret key 7. The terminal 4 decrypts the encrypted music data using the secret key 7 and reproduces the music data. Since the music data stored in the terminal 4 is encrypted with the public key 6 created based on the ID unique to the terminal 4, the music data cannot be reproduced on another terminal 5.

[0005]

As described above, conventionally, copyright protection when distributing copyrighted data via a network imposes restrictions on use such as encrypting copyrighted data when distributing the copyrighted data. The use restriction has been released at the user terminal.

[0006] However, in such a method, once the use restriction such as encryption is broken, the copyrighted work data without the use restriction is transmitted through the network. There is a problem that a copyrighted work can be obtained and used.

[0007] This problem can also occur in the invention described in JP-A-2000-90039. That is, if the encryption mechanism is broken in a certain reproducing apparatus, copyrighted work data whose use is not restricted is transmitted via the network.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system for protecting a copyrighted work, a communication control method used in the communication system, and a communication control device. With the goal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a data recording method and a data recording apparatus for protecting a literary work when the literary work data held by the terminal is recorded on a recording medium.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a program in a communication system for protecting a copyrighted work and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a communication system includes an author server holding copyrighted work data,
A terminal that receives the distribution of the copyrighted work data, and a communication control device connected to the author server and the terminal; the communication control device converts the copyrighted work into copyrighted data in response to a request to transmit the copyrighted data from the terminal; Means for obtaining from the author server distribution data to which the distribution conditions defining data distribution have been assigned, and information for identifying the terminal obtained from the terminal in response to a request for transmission of the copyrighted work data from the terminal to the author. Means for transmitting to the server, obtaining from the author server information indicating whether or not the terminal is an authorized user, and determining whether transmission of distribution data to the terminal is possible. Means for assigning distribution conditions to the copyrighted work data in response to the request and transmitting the data to the communication control device, and determining whether the terminal that has requested the transmission of the copyrighted work data is an authorized user in response to the request from the communication control device. And transmits to the communication control device information indicating and means. Here, the authorized user is a user registered in the author server.

According to the present invention, a communication control method is a communication control method for controlling communication when copyright data is transmitted from an author server to a terminal. Receiving, from the author server, distribution data in which distribution conditions defining the distribution of the copyrighted work data have been added to the copyrighted work data,
A second step of extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the step, and requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying the terminal to the terminal based on an instruction based on the distribution conditions. A third step of transmitting first discrimination data to the author server and acquiring second discrimination data from the author server indicating whether or not the terminal is an authorized user; A fifth step of determining whether the terminal is a legitimate user based on the second determination data, and a sixth step of transmitting distribution data to the terminal when the terminal is a legitimate user based on a result of the determination. Is provided.

Preferably, the second determination data is a result determined based on license information for determining whether the terminal is an authorized user.

Preferably, the license information includes a terminal identification number and a license number assigned to the terminal.

[0015] Preferably, the communication control method further comprises a seventh step of requesting the terminal to perform a predetermined process for becoming an authorized user when it is determined that the terminal is not an authorized user in the fifth step; An eighth step of receiving information indicating that the terminal has become a legitimate user from the author server when the predetermined process has been executed, and transmitting distribution data to the terminal.

Preferably, in a seventh step, a program for causing the terminal to execute a charging process for the author server is transmitted to the terminal.

Preferably, the distribution condition further includes a restriction condition for restricting distribution of the distribution data.
In the fifth step, it is determined whether transmission of distribution data to the terminal is possible, further considering the analysis result of the restriction condition.

Preferably, the restriction condition further includes the number of past distributions of the distribution data and the number of possible distributions of the distribution data, and the communication control method includes the step of: It is determined whether data transmission is possible.

Preferably, in the communication control method, when it is determined in the fifth step that transmission of distribution data is possible, the restriction condition is changed in the sixth step, and the distribution data is transmitted to the terminal.

[0020] Preferably, in the communication control method, in the sixth step, the distribution data is rewritten to a value obtained by adding 1 to the distribution number and the distribution data is transmitted to the terminal.

[0021] Preferably, in the communication control method, in the sixth step, the quality of the copyrighted work data included in the distribution data is degraded and transmitted to the terminal.

Preferably, in the communication control method, when it is determined in the fifth step that transmission of distribution data to the terminal is not possible, data stored in advance is transmitted to the terminal instead of copyrighted work data.

Further, according to the present invention, the communication control method includes a step of transmitting distribution data from a first terminal which receives distribution data to which distribution conditions defining distribution of copyrighted data are added to copyrighted data. A communication control method for controlling communication when transmitting to the second terminal, the first step of receiving distribution data from the first terminal in response to a request for transmission of copyrighted work data from the second terminal; Extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the first step;
A step of requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying the second terminal from the second terminal based on an instruction based on the distribution condition; A fourth step of transmitting, from the author server, second determination data indicating whether or not the second terminal is an authorized user, and transmitting a second determination data based on the second determination data. A fifth step of determining whether or not the terminal is an authorized user; and a sixth step of transmitting distribution data to the second terminal when the second terminal is an authorized user based on the determination result. Prepare.

[0024] Preferably, the distribution condition further includes a condition for checking the user's own unauthorized rewriting, and the communication control method includes, as a history log, information on the first terminal and the second terminal based on the result of the condition determination. The method further includes a seventh step of creating and an eighth step of transmitting a history log to the author server.

Preferably, the distribution condition further includes a condition for confirming the version of the copyrighted work data with the author server, and the communication control method includes a step of determining whether the version of the copyrighted work data is not the latest version. A ninth step of creating an instruction requesting the latest version of the author server from the author server, and in a sixth step,
The command is transmitted to the second terminal together with the distribution data.

According to the invention, the communication control device is a communication control device for controlling communication when transmitting copyrighted data from the author server to the terminal. Communication means for transmitting and receiving distribution data to which the distribution data defining distribution of the copyrighted work data is assigned, and data for extracting and analyzing the distribution conditions included in the distribution data received by the communication means. Analyzing means; requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying the terminal based on the instruction based on the distribution condition analyzed by the data analyzing means; A determination data acquisition unit that transmits the determination data and obtains second determination data indicating whether or not the terminal is an authorized user from the author server; Comprising determination means for determining whether a Tadashi user terminal based on the result of the determination is a control means for controlling the communication means to transmit the distribution data to the terminal when the authorized user.

According to the present invention, the first program is a program in a communication system for transmitting copyrighted work data from an author server to a terminal via a communication control device. Granting, transmitting the copyrighted work data to which the distribution condition is provided to the communication control device, and determining whether or not the terminal requesting the transmission of the copyrighted work data in response to the request from the communication control device is an authorized user And transmitting the result of the determination to the communication control device.

Also, according to the present invention, the first recording medium is a computer-readable medium having the first program recorded thereon.

Further, according to the present invention, the second program is a program in a communication system for transmitting copyrighted work data from the author server to the terminal via the communication control device. In response to the transmission request, receiving from the author server distribution data provided with distribution conditions that regulate the distribution of the copyrighted data to the copyrighted data, and extracting and analyzing the distribution conditions included in the distribution data. Requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying a terminal to a terminal based on an instruction based on distribution conditions;
Transmitting from the author server second determination data indicating whether or not the terminal is an authorized user; and determining whether the terminal is an authorized user based on the second determination data. And transmitting distribution data to the terminal when the terminal is an authorized user based on the result of the determination.

According to the present invention, the second recording medium is a computer-readable medium having a second program recorded thereon.

According to the present invention, a communication system includes an author server holding copyrighted work data, a terminal receiving distribution of the copyrighted work data, and a communication control device connected to the author server and the terminal. The communication control device includes means for acquiring distribution data, to which the distribution conditions defining the number of distributions of the copyrighted data are assigned to the copyrighted data, from the author server, and extracting the distribution conditions included in the acquired distribution data. The author server includes means for analyzing and means for determining whether or not transmission of distribution data to the terminal is possible based on the number of distributions, and the author server includes means for assigning distribution conditions to the copyrighted work data and transmitting the data to the communication control device. .

Further, according to the present invention, the data recording method is a data recording method for recording copyrighted data held by a terminal on a recording medium. A first step of receiving from the terminal distribution data in which distribution conditions defining recording of copyrighted work data are added to the copyrighted work data, and extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the first step A second step of: requesting and acquiring first determination data for specifying a recording medium from an external recording apparatus that recognizes the recording medium and performs recording on the recording medium based on the analysis result; A fourth step of transmitting the first determination data to the terminal and obtaining second determination data indicating whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded from the terminal; and a second step of transmitting the first determination data to the terminal. of A fifth step of determining whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded based on the different data; and transmitting the distribution data to an external recording device when the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded based on the determination result. A sixth step of transmitting.

Further, according to the present invention, the data recording device is a data recording device for recording the copyrighted work data held by the terminal on a recording medium. Communication means for receiving distribution data with distribution conditions defining recording of the copyrighted work data in the copyrighted work data, transmitting the data to an external recording device for recognizing the recording medium and recording on the recording medium; A data analysis unit for extracting and analyzing distribution conditions given to the received copyrighted work data; and a first for identifying a recording medium to an external recording device based on an instruction based on the distribution conditions analyzed by the data analysis unit. Requesting and acquiring the discrimination data of the first and second determination data based on the first discrimination data transmitted to the terminal. Determining means for obtaining the determination data from the terminal, determining means for determining whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded based on the second determination data; and recording medium based on the determination result. And control means for controlling the communication means so as to transmit distribution data to the external recording device when recording is permitted.

According to the present invention, the third program is a program in a communication system for recording copyrighted data from a terminal to a recording medium via a data recording device, and is a program for requesting a terminal to record copyrighted data. Receiving, from the terminal, distribution data provided with distribution conditions that define the recording of the copyrighted work data in the copyrighted work data, extracting and analyzing the distribution conditions provided to the distribution data, Requesting and acquiring first discrimination data for specifying a recording medium from an external recording device that recognizes the recording medium based on the information and performs recording on the recording medium; And send
Obtaining second determination data indicating whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded from the terminal; and determining whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded based on the second determination data. And transmitting the distribution data to the external recording device when recording on the recording medium is permitted based on the result of the determination.

Further, according to the present invention, the third recording medium is a computer-readable medium on which the third program is recorded.

As described above, according to the communication system according to the first aspect, the communication control method according to the second to thirteenth aspects, or the communication control apparatus according to the sixteenth aspect, when the copyrighted work data is distributed, Since the transmission of the copyrighted work data can be controlled based on the distribution condition given to the product data, the copyright of the copyrighted work data is sufficiently protected.

According to the data recording method described in claim 22 or the data recording device described in claim 23, the distribution conditions given to the copyrighted work data at the stage of recording the copyrighted work data on the recording medium are satisfied. Since the recording permission / prohibition of the copyrighted work data can be controlled based on the copyrighted work data, the copyright of the copyrighted work data is sufficiently protected.

[0038]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions have the same reference characters allotted, and description thereof will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment] A configuration example of a communication system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, music data is described as an example of copyrighted work data. However, copyrighted work data is not limited to music data, and may be image data, moving image data, or the like. Communication system 10
Comprises a network 1, an author server 2, a communication control device 3, and a plurality of user terminals. In this configuration example, a case is shown in which two terminals, a terminal 4 and a terminal 5, are connected as user terminals. An author server 2 holding music data is connected to a network 1 such as the Internet, and terminals 4 and 5 receiving distribution of music data from the author server 2 are connected to the network 1 via a communication control device 3. The communication control device 3 is installed in a provider, for example. The author server 2 is a source of music data that is a literary work, and also provides distribution conditions to the music data at the time of distribution, and manages users who use the music data. The communication control device 3 controls transmission and reception of music data and data related to the distribution between the author server 2 and the terminals 4 and 5, and requests transmission of the music data based on the distribution conditions given to the music data. Control whether transmission to the user terminal is made. The terminals 4 and 5 request the author server 2 to distribute music data, and receive the music data permitted to be transmitted by the communication control device 3.

Referring to FIG. 2, author server 2 includes a bus 20, a CPU 21, a RAM 22, a ROM 23,
An input / output interface device 24 and a storage device 25 are provided. The CPU 21 performs transmission of the music data requested to be distributed from the terminals 4 and 5, confirmation of the presence or absence of a license of the terminal requesting the distribution, assignment of distribution conditions to the music data, and the like. The RAM 22 is a work memory for the CPU 21 to operate. The ROM 23 is a memory in which an execution program of the CPU 21 and the like are stored. The input / output interface device 24 inputs and outputs data between the author server 2 and the network 1. The storage device 25 includes a content database 251 and a license information database 252 of the user terminal. The content database 251 includes music data that is a copyrighted work. The license information database 252 includes information for determining whether the user who has requested the distribution is legitimate. The bus 20 is a data communication path when these devices exchange data with each other.

When the author server 2 receives a distribution request for music data from the terminal 4, the CPU 21 stores the music data requested for distribution in the content database 2 of the storage device 25.
The data is extracted from the RAM 51 to the RAM 22 via the bus 20. Then, the CPU 21 assigns distribution conditions to the music data by the distribution condition assignment program read from the ROM 23, and transmits the assigned distribution data to the input / output interface device 24. The distribution conditions are given as header information of the music data. The input / output interface device 24 transmits the distribution data to the communication control device 3 via the network 1. When the creator server 2 receives a request from the communication control device 3 to confirm whether or not the terminal 4 to which the music data is to be transmitted is an authorized user, the CPU 21 sends the terminal 4 from the license information database 252 of the storage device 25 And determines whether the terminal 4 is an authorized user. The determination result is transmitted to the communication control device 3 via the network 1 by the input / output interface device 24 in the same manner as the distribution data. FIG. 3 shows an example of data included in the license information database 252. The identification number for specifying the user terminal is associated with the license number assigned to the user terminal.

Referring to FIG. 4, the configuration of communication control device 3 will be described. The communication control device 3 includes: a communication unit 31;
The apparatus includes a data analysis unit 32, a determination data acquisition unit 33, a determination unit 34, and a control unit 35.

The communication means 31 transmits and receives data between the author server 2 and the user terminals 4 and 5 or between the user terminals 4 and 5. The data includes distribution data in which distribution conditions are added to music data, as well as discrimination data necessary for determining whether a destination terminal is an authorized user.

The data analysis means 32 extracts distribution conditions included in the distribution data received by the communication means 31 and analyzes them. With reference to FIG. 5, the analysis of the distribution conditions performed by the data analysis means 32 will be described. Distribution conditions are
"Condition name", "Condition", "Value", "Target"
"Operation". “Condition name” indicates the type and content of the condition that regulates distribution. “Condition” indicates a condition to be satisfied. The “operation” indicates an instruction content requested of the communication control device 3 when the “condition” is satisfied. "conditions"
If is not specified, "operation" is performed unconditionally. "Value" and "Target" are "Condition" or "Operation"
Is described. In particular, if there is no need to refer to the “condition” or “operation”, it is determined that there is no data. The data analysis unit 32 requests the first distribution condition having the condition name “acquisition of the identification number” from the terminal to which the distribution data is transmitted to the identification number of the terminal. Analyze that the operation is to store the value. The second distribution condition having the condition name “license authentication” is transmitted to the author server 2 by transmitting the obtained identification number to the author server 2, and the result of the determination as to whether the terminal having the identification number is an authorized user is transmitted to the author server. 2, and if the result is true, it is analyzed as an operation that allows distribution of distribution data to the destination terminal.

The discrimination data acquisition means 33 requests and acquires the identification number of the terminal to which the distribution data is to be transmitted, based on the instruction of the first distribution condition analyzed by the data analysis means 32. Further, based on the instruction of the second distribution condition, the identification number acquired from the destination terminal is transmitted to the author server 2, and the result of determining whether the destination terminal is an authorized user or not is determined by the author server 2. To get from.

The judging means 34 includes a judgment data acquiring means 33
Determines whether the destination terminal is an authorized user based on the result obtained from the author server 2.

The control means 35 determines whether or not the distribution data can be transmitted to the destination terminal based on the result determined by the determination means 34. If the transmission is possible, the control means 35 instructs the communication means 31 to transmit the distribution data.

Next, a processing flow when transmitting music data from the author server 2 to the terminal 4 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, respective processes of the author server 2, the communication control device 3, and the terminal 4 are shown in association with each other. The terminal 4 requests the author server 2 to distribute music data (step S
1). Upon receiving the distribution request (step S2), the author server 2 creates distribution data in which distribution conditions defining the distribution of the music data have been added to the requested music data, and transmits the distribution data to the communication control device. 3 (step S3). Upon receiving the distribution data (step S4), the communication control device 3 extracts the distribution conditions from the distribution data (step S5). Subsequently, the data analysis unit 32 analyzes the condition name “acquisition of identification number”, which is the first distribution condition (step S6).
Based on the analysis result, the discrimination data acquisition unit 33 requests the terminal 4 of the transmission destination for the identification number (step S
7). The terminal 4 receives the request for the identification number (step S
8), and transmits its own identification number to the communication control device 3 (step S9). When the communication control device 3 receives the identification number from the terminal 4 (step S10), the discrimination data acquisition unit 33 stores the received identification number in the “value” of “license authentication” that is the second distribution condition (step S10). Step S1
1). Subsequently, the data analysis unit 32 analyzes the condition name “license authentication” that is the second distribution condition (step S12). If there is an identification number in the “value” (step S13), the data analysis unit 32 transmits the identification number to the author server 2 (step S14). If no data exists in the “value”, that is, if the identification number received from the terminal 4 is null data, the process ends, and the distribution data is not transmitted to the terminal 4. When the author server 2 receives the identification number (step S1)
5), license information database 2 in storage device 25
It is determined whether or not the terminal 4 has been authenticated for a license based on the information of 52, and the result is transmitted to the communication control device 3 (step S16). When receiving the determination result (step S17), the communication control device 3 determines whether or not the terminal 4 is an authorized user based on the determination result (step S18). When it is determined that the terminal 4 is an authorized user, the control unit 35 transmits the distribution data received from the author server 2 to the terminal 4 so as to transmit the distribution data to the terminal 4.
1 (step S19). And communication means 3
1 transmits the distribution data to the terminal 4. The terminal 4 receives the distribution data transmitted from the communication control device 3, and receives the target music data (Step S20).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, music data can be transmitted only to authorized users by distributing music data with distribution conditions.
The copyright of music data can be protected.

[Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, when music data is transmitted from the author server 2 to the terminal 4, it is determined that the terminal 4 is not an authorized user. Further processing is included. The communication system 10 according to the second embodiment is obtained by replacing the communication control device 3 with a communication control device 3A. When it is determined that the terminal 4 is not a regular user, the communication control device 3A creates a billing program for causing the terminal 4 to execute a billing process to become a regular user, and transmits the billing program to the terminal 4. The terminal 4 performs a charging process on the author server 2 in accordance with the charging program. When the communication control device 3A receives from the author server 2 data indicating that the terminal 4 has become an authorized user, the communication control device 3A transmits the distribution data to the terminal. Send to 4.

Referring to FIG. 7, communication control device 3A further includes data creation means 36 in addition to the configuration of communication control device 3.

The data creating means 36 creates a billing program to be transmitted to the terminal 4 when the determining means 34 determines that the terminal 4 is not an authorized user. The data creating means 36 also creates a terminal history log and the like as described later.

The control means 35 instructs the communication means 31 to transmit the accounting program created by the data creation means 36 to the terminal 4, and the communication means 31 transmits the accounting program to the terminal 4.

Referring to FIG. 8, the distribution conditions include the first distribution condition having the condition name “acquisition of identification number” and the second distribution condition having the condition name “license authentication” and the condition name “charging”. A third distribution condition of “request”. The data analysis unit 32 analyzes the third distribution condition as an operation of creating a billing program and transmitting the billing program to the destination terminal. Here, the operation of the second distribution condition includes an operation of storing the determination result as to whether the destination terminal acquired from the author server 2 is an authorized user in the “value” of the condition name “billing request”. Have been added.

Next, a communication control method according to the second embodiment in the case where it is determined that terminal 4 is not an authorized user when transmitting music data from author server 2 to terminal 4 will be described. If the determining means 34 determines that the terminal 4 is not an authorized user based on the second distribution condition, the data creating means 36 creates a charging program to be transmitted to the terminal 4 based on the third distribution condition. The control unit 35 instructs the communication unit 31 to transmit the charging program to the terminal 4, and the communication unit 31 transmits the charging program to the terminal 4. When the terminal 4 receives the charging program, the charging program starts up, and the terminal 4 is required to perform a charging process for becoming an authorized user. When the terminal 4 performs a predetermined accounting process on the author server 2 according to the procedure of the accounting program, the author server 2 registers the license information of the terminal 4. The author server 2 transmits a result of the determination that the terminal 4 is a legitimate user to the communication control device 3A upon registration of the license information. The communication control device 3A that has obtained the determination result from the author server 2 permits distribution of the distribution data based on the second distribution condition, and transmits the distribution data to the terminal 4.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, a non-authorized user can become a regular user by performing a charging process according to a charging program transmitted from the communication control device, and can receive music data. it can.

[Third Embodiment] In the third embodiment, in addition to the first or second embodiment, a process for controlling the number of distributions of distribution data is further included. The communication system 10 according to the third embodiment is obtained by replacing the communication control device 3 with a communication control device 3B. The communication control device 3 </ b> B, based on a restriction condition that restricts the number of distributions of distribution data included in the distribution condition,
It controls whether distribution data can be transmitted to the terminal 4 or the terminal 5.

Referring to FIG. 9, communication control device 3B further includes a data modifying means 37 in addition to the configuration of communication control device 3.

When the communication means 31 transmits the distribution data to the destination terminal, the data modification means 37 changes or writes the value of the distribution condition, or modifies the contents of the copyrighted work data included in the distribution data. . In the third embodiment, the data modification unit 37 changes the past number of distributions when transmitting distribution data to a destination terminal based on a restriction condition of a condition name “number of distributions” described later.

Referring to FIG. 10, in addition to the above-described first to third distribution conditions, the distribution conditions include a fourth distribution condition having a condition name “number of distributions”, which is a restriction condition, And a fifth distribution condition having the name “source”. The data analysis unit 32 sets the fourth distribution condition to an operation of permitting distribution of distribution data and adding 1 to the “value” when the transmission source is not the author server 2 and the “value” is smaller than 1. Is analyzed. Here, the “value” represents the number of circulations so far, and when it is transmitted from the author server 2 for the first time, 0 is set as an initial value. Further, the data analysis unit 32 determines that the fifth distribution condition is a condition that the transmission source is the author server 2.
If so, it is analyzed that the operation is one that enables distribution of distribution data.

Next, a communication control method for controlling the number of distributions of distribution data according to the third embodiment will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the terminal 4 that is a legitimate user who has made a charge obtains music data from the author server 2 that allows unlimited transmission of a copy to another user. The non-authorized user terminal 5 that has received the music data from the terminal 4 cannot further transmit a copy to another unauthorized user.

First, when the terminal 4, which is a legitimate user who has charged, requests the author server 2 to distribute music data, the author server 2 performs communication control on the distribution data to which the above-described distribution conditions have been added. Transmit to the device 3B. The communication control device 3B that has received the distribution data,
The distribution conditions are taken out and analyzed according to 2, and the distribution data is transmitted from the author server 2, so that the distribution data can be distributed to the terminal 4 based on the fifth distribution condition and distributed to the terminal 4. Data is sent. Next, terminal 4
Attempts to transmit distribution data to the terminal 5 which is not an authorized user. The communication control device 3B that has received the distribution data from the terminal 4 fetches and analyzes the distribution conditions by the data analysis unit 32, and based on the fourth distribution conditions, the transmission source is not the author server 2 and the “value” Since the initial value is 0, the condition is satisfied and transmission of distribution data to the terminal 5 is permitted. At this time, the data modifying unit 37 changes the “value” indicating the number of past distributions of the fourth distribution condition from 0 to 1. The communication control device 3B transmits to the terminal 5 the distribution data to which the changed distribution conditions have been added. When the terminal 5 that has received the distribution data from the terminal 4 tries to transmit the distribution data to another user terminal, the condition of “value” <1 is not satisfied in the fourth distribution condition. Does not permit distribution of the distribution data, and the terminal 5 cannot transmit the distribution data to another terminal.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to prevent, for example, secondary distribution from users other than authorized users who have received distribution of music data from author server 2.

[Fourth Embodiment] In the fourth embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, when music data is transmitted from the author server 2 to the terminal 4, if the terminal 4 is not an authorized user, It further includes a process of transmitting the data while deteriorating the quality. In the fourth embodiment, a communication control device 3B is used. In the fourth embodiment, the data altering unit 37 determines whether the data
It degrades the quality of the music data included in the distribution data.

Referring to FIG. 11, the distribution condition further includes a sixth distribution condition having a condition name “license” in addition to the above-described first distribution condition and second distribution condition. The data analysis unit 32 analyzes the sixth distribution condition as an operation of transmitting the copyrighted work data included in the distribution data at a reduced sampling rate if the transmission destination terminal does not have a license.

Next, a description will be given of a communication control method according to the fourth embodiment for transmitting the music data with the quality of the music data degraded when transmitting the music data from the author server 2 to the terminal 4 which is not an authorized user. The communication control device 3B, which has received the distribution data transmitted from the author server 2 to the terminal 4, performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, based on the first distribution condition and the second distribution condition, It is determined whether the terminal 4 is an authorized user. If it is determined that the terminal 4 is not an authorized user, the data modifying unit 37 changes the sampling rate of the music data included in the distribution data to low based on the analysis of the sixth distribution condition performed by the data analysis unit 32. Is applied to the music data. The communication control device 3B transmits the distribution data including the changed music data to the terminal 4.

In the fourth embodiment, when the destination terminal is not an authorized user, communication control device 3B transmits music data with degraded quality and, for example, only a part of the music data as a trial version. May be transmitted to the destination terminal.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, an unauthorized user cannot receive sufficient music data and can protect the copyright of the music data.

[Embodiment 5] Embodiments 1 to 4
This is a communication control method for communicating music data from the author server 2 to the terminal 4. According to the present invention, the terminal 4, which is an authorized user to whom music data is distributed from the author server 2, transmits music data to another terminal 5. At the time of transmission, it is also possible to determine whether or not the terminal 5 is an authorized user and control whether transmission is possible. Also in this case, the above-mentioned communication control devices 3, 3A, 3B can be used as they are, and the source of the music data is not the author server 2, but the terminal 4 which is the authorized user who has received the distribution of the music data from the author server 2. Other than that, the method is the same as the method of transmitting music data from the author server 2 to the terminal 4 described in the first to fourth embodiments.

In the fifth embodiment, the terminal 4 as an authorized user
When the terminal 4 tries to transmit the music data by illegally rewriting the transmission data when transmitting the music data from the terminal 4 to another terminal 5, a process of creating a log of the distribution of the music data and transmitting the log to the author server 2 is performed. Prepare. In the fifth embodiment, communication control devices 3A and 3B are used. In the fifth embodiment,
The data creation unit 36 creates a history log of the terminal 4 and the destination terminal 5 from the past distribution information of the communication control device 3A.

Referring to FIG. 12, the distribution condition further includes a seventh distribution condition having a condition name “checksum” in addition to the above-described first distribution condition and second distribution condition. The data analysis unit 32 checks the seventh distribution condition by checking the checksum of its own distribution condition, and if the authentication result is false, disables distribution of the distribution data and creates information of the transmitting and receiving terminals as a history log. It analyzes that the operation is to transmit the history log and its distribution data to the author server 2.

Next, a communication control method according to the fifth embodiment will be described. If the terminal 4 attempts to transmit distribution data to the terminal 5 by illegally rewriting the distribution condition, for example, rewriting the number of distributions in the distribution condition, the communication control device 3A
Disables transmission of distribution data based on a seventh distribution condition, and creates a history log of the terminal 4 of the transmission source and the terminal 5 of the transmission destination from the past distribution information of the communication control device 3A by the data creating means 36. I do. The control unit 35 instructs the communication unit 31 to transmit the history log to the author server 2 together with the illegally rewritten distribution data.
Transmits the history log and the illegally rewritten distribution data to the author server 2.

According to the fifth embodiment, the author can detect that illegal distribution data has been distributed and take countermeasures, and manage the distribution of distribution data in the author server 2. it can.

[Embodiment 6] Embodiment 6 is to provide the latest version of music data to terminal 5 when transmitting music data from terminal 4 as a regular user to another terminal 5. Provide processing. In the sixth embodiment, communication control devices 3A and 3B are used. In the sixth embodiment, the data creation unit 36 creates an instruction for requesting the author server 2 for the latest version of the music data to be transmitted to the terminal 5. The communication control device 3A transmits the created command to the terminal 5 together with the distribution data. The distribution conditions are, in addition to the above-described first distribution conditions and second distribution conditions,
It further includes an eighth distribution condition named condition name "Latest Data Request". The data analysis unit 32 requests the author server 2 to confirm whether or not the eighth distribution condition is the latest version of the music data included in the distribution data. An instruction for requesting the author server 2 to transmit is created and analyzed to be an operation of transmitting to the destination terminal.

Next, a communication control method according to the sixth embodiment will be described. Communication control device 3A that has received distribution data to be transmitted from terminal 4 as an authorized user to another terminal 5
Performs the extraction and analysis of the distribution conditions by the data analysis means 32 and requests the discrimination data acquisition means 33 to confirm whether or not the music data included in the distribution data is the latest version based on the eighth distribution conditions. For the author server 2. If the determination data obtaining means 33 obtains the confirmation result and the determining means 34 determines that it is not the latest, the data generating means 36 generates an instruction for requesting the author server 2 of the latest version of the music data. The control means 35 instructs the communication means 31 to transmit this command together with the distribution data to the terminal 5, and the communication means 31
The distribution data and this command are transmitted to the terminal 5. This command is launched at the terminal 5 and the author server 2
When a request for transmitting the latest version of music data is made, the author server 2 transmits the latest version of music data to the terminal 5, and the terminal 5 acquires the music data.

When receiving a result indicating that the music data is not the latest from the author server 2, the communication controller 3A requests the author server 2 to transmit the latest version of the music data. Distribution data in which the distribution conditions of the original distribution data received from the terminal 4 are added to the music data may be created by the data creating means 36 and transmitted to the terminal 5.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, the authorized user can always receive the latest version of the music data.

[Embodiment 7] In Embodiment 7, when music data is distributed, regardless of whether the terminal receiving the music data is an authorized user or not, the number of distributions set by the author in advance is determined. A process for distributing music data by the minute is provided.
The communication system 10 according to the seventh embodiment is obtained by replacing the communication control device 3 with a communication control device 3C. The communication control device 3C is obtained by removing the discrimination data acquisition unit 33 and the judgment unit 34 from the communication control device 3B. The communication control device 3C controls whether or not the distribution data can be transmitted based on only the restriction condition for restricting the number of distributions of the distribution data included in the distribution conditions without determining whether the terminals 4 and 5 are authorized users. I do.

Referring to FIG. 13, the distribution condition according to the seventh embodiment includes a ninth distribution condition having a condition name “distribution frequency”. The data analysis unit 32 sets the ninth distribution condition as
When the “value” is smaller than 2, the distribution of the distribution data is permitted, and it is analyzed that the operation is to add 1 to the “value”. Here, the “value” represents the number of circulations so far, and when it is transmitted from the author server 2 for the first time, 0 is set as an initial value.

Next, a communication control method according to the seventh embodiment will be described. In this example, the author sets distribution conditions so that music data distributed from the author server 2 can be distributed up to twice regardless of whether the terminal is an authorized user or not. I do.

First, when the terminal 4 requests the author server 2 to distribute music data, the author server 2 transmits the distribution data in which the ninth distribution condition is added to the music data to the communication control device 3C. Send to The communication control device 3C that has received the distribution data by the communication unit 31 performs extraction and analysis of the distribution condition by the data analysis unit 32,
Since the “value” is the initial value of 0 in the fourth distribution condition, transmission of distribution data to the terminal 4 is permitted. At this time, the data modifying unit 37 changes the “value” indicating the number of past distributions of the fourth distribution condition from 0 to 1. Control means 3
5 assigns to the distribution data distribution conditions in which the “value” has been changed in place of the original distribution conditions, and transmits the data to the terminal 4 by the communication means 31. Subsequently, it is assumed that the terminal 4 that has received the distribution data transmits the distribution data to the terminal 5. in this case,
The communication control device 3C that has received the distribution data from the terminal 4
Since “value” is 1 in the fourth distribution condition, the condition of “value” <2 is satisfied, so that transmission of distribution data to the terminal 5 is permitted. And the communication control device 3C
Changes the “value” of the fourth distribution condition from 1 to 2 and transmits the distribution data to the terminal 5. Subsequently, it is assumed that the terminal 5 further transmits music data to another terminal. In this case, the “value” is 2 in the fourth distribution condition.
Since the condition of ““ value ”<2” is not satisfied, the communication control device 3C does not permit distribution of the distribution data,
The terminal 5 cannot transmit distribution data to another terminal.

As described above, according to the seventh embodiment, the author distributes the music data by the number of distributions set by himself, regardless of whether the terminal receiving the distribution of the music data is an authorized user. be able to.

In all the above embodiments, the network 1 is not limited to the Internet,
It may be wired such as an N cable or wireless such as infrared communication.

The author server 2 may be a personal terminal of the author or a server of a trader who distributes copyrighted works. In the case of a trader's server, the author registers the work in the server through a network or the like.

Terminals 4 and 5 receiving distribution data
Is, for example, a personal computer, a server, a mobile phone, a PDA, and other communication terminals.

[0086] The author server 2 stores in advance the distribution data in which the distribution conditions are given to the music data by the distribution condition providing program in the storage device 25, and retrieves the distribution data from the storage device 25 when there is a distribution request. Distribution data may be transmitted.

In all the above-described embodiments, the identification number of the transmission destination of the distribution data is the number unique to the device connected to the terminal, the number unique to the external recording medium, personal information for specifying the user, and the like. It is. The personal information is information including, for example, a user's name, address, user ID, and password. Further, the identification number of the destination of the distribution data is not limited to the number unique to the destination terminal. For example, the domain part of the Internet address may be specified, and the destination may be identified as a group.

The distribution conditions may be embedded in the music data itself using a method such as digital watermarking.

Further, examples of other distribution conditions will be described with reference to FIG. If the authentication result of the watermark data is false, an operation of transmitting the distribution history to the author server 2 is performed by the communication control device 3.
Is required. The distribution condition having the condition name “distribution history” requests the communication control device 3 to perform an operation of creating a history log and transmitting it to the author server 2 every time distribution data is distributed.

The configuration of the distribution condition is not limited to this, and may include, for example, an attribute value indicating the order of analysis of the distribution condition. By describing the distribution conditions as a program, the author who sets the distribution conditions can perform more complicated distribution control.

[Eighth Embodiment] An eighth embodiment relates to a data recording method for recording copyrighted work data held by a terminal on a recording medium. This corresponds to the case where distribution data is recorded on a recording medium.

Referring to FIG. 15, the configuration of the communication system according to the eighth embodiment will be described. The data recording device 30 is incorporated in the terminal 40. The terminal 40 includes a bus 400, a CPU 401, a RAM 402, a ROM
403, a storage device 404, an input / output interface device 405, and an input device 406. The data recording device 30 is connected between the bus 400 of the terminal 40 and the input / output interface device 405. The external recording device 50, which is a drive device for the recording medium, is connected to the input / output interface device 405 of the terminal 40. When recording the music data held by the terminal 40 on the recording medium attached to the external recording device, the data recording device 30 determines whether or not the music data can be recorded on the recording medium based on the distribution condition given to the music data. Control. The terminal 40 has distribution data in which distribution conditions are given to music data, and also has license information of a recording medium acquired in advance from the author server 2. The external recording device 50 records the distribution data received from the data recording device 30 on a recording medium.

The data recording device 30 has the same configuration as the communication control device 3. The communication unit 31 transmits and receives data between the bus 400 and the input / output interface device 405.

The data analysis means 32 extracts distribution conditions included in the distribution data received by the communication means 31 and analyzes the distribution conditions. With reference to FIG. 16, the analysis of the distribution conditions performed by the data analysis means 32 will be described. Distribution conditions are
A tenth distribution condition having a condition name of “identification number acquisition” and an eleventh distribution condition having a condition name of “license authentication” are included. The data analysis unit 32 executes the first condition name “acquisition of identification number”.
A distribution condition of 0 is analyzed as an operation of requesting an identification number of a recording medium to be recorded in the external recording device 50 and storing the acquired identification number in the “value” of the condition name “license authentication”. Further, the eleventh distribution condition having the condition name “license authentication” is transmitted to the terminal 40 with the obtained identification number, and the result of the determination as to whether or not the recording medium having the identification number is permitted to be recorded. Is obtained, and if the result is true, it is analyzed that the operation is an operation that enables recording of distribution data on a recording medium.

The discrimination data acquisition means 33 requests and acquires the identification number of the recording medium from the external recording device 50 based on the instruction of the tenth distribution condition analyzed by the data analysis means 32. Also, based on the instruction of the eleventh distribution condition, the obtained identification number of the recording medium is transmitted to the terminal 40, and the result of determining whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded is obtained from the terminal 40. I do.

The judgment means 34 is provided with a judgment data acquisition means 33
Then, based on the result obtained from the terminal 40, it is determined whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded.

The control means 35 determines whether or not recording on a recording medium is possible based on the result of the determination by the determination means 34.
0 transmission is instructed.

The CPU 401 accepts a recording request from the input device 406, takes out the requested music data from the storage device 404 and transmits it to the data recording device 30, and checks whether or not the recording destination recording medium has a license. Perform The RAM 402 is a work memory for the operation of the CPU 401. The ROM 403 is a memory in which an execution program of the CPU 401 and the like are stored. The storage device 404 stores distribution data including music data distributed from the author server 2 and license information of a recording medium. The input / output interface device 405 is connected to the terminal 4
0 and the data recording device 30, the external recording device 50, the input device 406 and the Internet 1. The input device 406 is a keyboard or the like for inputting a command to the terminal. The bus 400 includes a CPU 401,
This is a data communication path when the RAM 402, the ROM 403, the storage device 404, and the data recording device 30 exchange data with each other.

When a request to record music data on a recording medium is made from the input device 406, the CPU 401 extracts distribution data including the requested music data from the storage device 404 and sends it to the data recording device 30. The data recording device 30 determines whether or not recording on the recording medium is possible based on the distribution conditions included in the distribution data. If recording is possible, the data recording device 30 transmits to the external recording device 50 with the recording medium mounted via the input / output interface device 405. Send distribution data. The external recording device 50 records the received distribution data on a recording medium. When receiving a confirmation request from the data recording device 30 as to whether or not the recording medium on which the music data is to be recorded is permitted, the CPU 401 stores the license information of the recording medium stored in the storage device 404 in the RAM 402. And retrieves the license information of the recording medium of the recording destination to determine whether or not the recording is permitted. The license information of the recording medium is obtained in advance from the author server 2 and stored in the storage device 404. CPU 401 transmits the determination result to the data recording device.

The external recording device 50 is the data recording device 30
When the distribution data is received from the server, recording on the recording medium is performed. When the external recording device 50 receives a request for acquiring the identification number of the loaded recording medium from the data recording device 30, the external recording device 50 outputs the identification number recognized at the time of loading to the data recording device 30.
Reply to In this case, if the external recording device 50 cannot recognize the identification number, the external recording device 50
1 Return the data.

Next, with reference to FIG. 17, a description will be given of a processing flow when the music data held by the terminal according to the eighth embodiment is recorded on a recording medium. In FIG. 17, the respective processes of the data recording device 30, the external recording device 50 including the recording medium, the CPU 401 of the terminal 40, and the storage device 404 are shown in association with each other. Input device 406
When a music data recording request is input, the CPU 40
1 requests the storage device 404 to transmit the music data to be recorded (step S1). Upon receiving the transmission request (step S2), the storage device 404 transmits distribution data including the music data requested to be transmitted to the data recording device 30 (step S3). When the data recording device 30 receives the distribution data (step S4), the data analysis unit 32 extracts distribution conditions from the distribution data (step S5). Subsequently, the data analysis means 32
Analyzes the condition name "acquisition of identification number" which is the tenth distribution condition (step S6). Based on the analysis results,
The determination data acquisition unit 33 requests the identification number of the mounted recording medium from the external recording device 50 (step S7). Upon receiving the request for the identification number (step S8), the external recording device 50 transmits the identification number of the attached recording medium to the data recording device 30 (step S8).
9). When the data recording device 30 receives the identification number (step S10), the discrimination data acquisition unit 33 stores the identification number in the “value” of “license authentication”, which is the eleventh distribution condition (step S11). Next, the data analysis unit 32 analyzes the condition name “license authentication” which is the eleventh distribution condition (step S12). If the “value” includes an identification number (step S13), the data analysis unit 32 transmits the identification number to the terminal 40 (step S14). If there is no data in the “value”, that is, if the identification number received from the external recording device 50 is null data, the process is terminated, the distribution data is not transmitted to the external recording device 50, and the recording medium No music data is recorded. When the terminal 40 receives the identification number (step S15), the CPU 401 requests the storage device 404 for license information of a recording medium held by the storage device 404 (step S16). When receiving the request for the license information of the recording medium (step S17), the storage device 404 transmits the held license information to the CPU 401 (step S18). CPU4
01 receives the license information (step S1).
9) The result of whether or not the recording medium mounted on the external recording device 50 has been permitted to record is transmitted to the data recording device 30 (step S20). When the data recording device 30 receives the result (step S21), the determining means 34 determines whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded based on the result (step S2).
2). If the recording is permitted, the control means 35
Instructs the communication means 31 to transmit the distribution data to the external recording device 50 (step S23). The external recording device 50 records the distribution data transmitted from the data recording device 30 on a recording medium (Step S24).

As described above, according to the eighth embodiment, when music data is recorded on a recording medium, the music data can be recorded only on the recording medium for which recording is permitted, and the copyright of the music data is Can be protected.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description of the embodiments, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention, when copyrighted work data is transmitted, it is determined whether or not transmission is possible each time distribution is performed at the distribution stage, and transmitted. Therefore, there is an effect that the copyright of the copyrighted work data is sufficiently protected.

Further, according to the present invention, when the copyrighted work data is recorded on a recording medium, it is determined whether or not the data can be recorded at the recording stage, and the data is recorded. Therefore, the copyright of the copyrighted work data is sufficiently protected. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an author server shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing license information held by an author server.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the communication control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing distribution conditions.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process when transmitting copyrighted work data from the author server to the terminal.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the communication control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of distribution conditions.

9 is a block diagram showing still another configuration of the communication control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing still another example of distribution conditions.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing processing when recording copyrighted work data possessed by a terminal on a recording medium.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 network, 2 author server, 3, 3A, 3B
Communication control device, 4, 5, 40 terminal, 6 public key, 7
Secret key, 10 communication system, 20 bus, 21 C
PU, 22 RAM, 23 ROM, 24 input / output interface device, 25 storage device, 251 content database, 252 license information database, 31 communication device, 32 data analysis device, 33 determination data acquisition device, 34 determination device, 35 control device,
36 data creation means, 37 data modification means, 30
Data recording device, 400 bus, 401 CPU, 40
2 RAM, 403 ROM, 404 storage device, 405
I / O interface device, 50 external recording device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04L 9/32 G07F 17/00 B // G07F 17/00 H04L 9/00 675D (72) Inventor Masaaki Hirata Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Tadahide Shibao 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi Osaka Prefecture F-term in Sharp Corporation (reference) 5B017 AA06 BB09 BB10 CA16 5B085 AA08 AC04 AE01 BA07 BC01 BG03 BG07 5J104 AA01 AA07 KA01 KA02 NA05 PA07 PA10

Claims (25)

[Claims] An author server holding copyrighted work data, a terminal receiving distribution of the copyrighted work data, and a communication controller connected to the author server and the terminal, wherein the communication controller is Means for acquiring from the author server distribution data to which distribution conditions defining the distribution of the copyrighted work data have been added to the copyrighted work data in response to a transmission request for the copyrighted work data from the terminal; Transmits to the author server information for identifying the terminal obtained from the terminal in response to a request for transmission of copyrighted work data from the terminal, and displays information indicating whether the terminal is an authorized user or not. Means for determining whether or not distribution data can be transmitted to the terminal by acquiring from the author server, wherein the author server responds to the request from the terminal by adding the distribution data to the copyrighted work data. Means for providing a condition to the communication control device and transmitting to the communication control device, in response to a request from the communication control device, information indicating whether or not the terminal that has requested transmission of the copyrighted work data is an authorized user; Means for transmitting to the communication control device. 2. A communication control method for controlling communication when transmitting copyrighted work data from an author server to a terminal, wherein the copyrighted work data is transmitted in response to a copyright data transmission request from the terminal. A first step of receiving, from the author server, distribution data to which distribution conditions defining distribution of copyrighted work data are provided; and extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the first step. A second step, a third step of requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying the terminal from the terminal based on an instruction based on the distribution condition, and a step of: A fourth step of transmitting first discrimination data and acquiring second discrimination data indicating whether or not the terminal is an authorized user from the author server; A fifth step of determining whether the terminal is a legitimate user, and a sixth step of transmitting the distribution data to the terminal when the terminal is a legitimate user based on the result of the determination. Provided communication control method. 3. The communication control method according to claim 2, wherein the second determination data is a result determined based on license information for determining whether the terminal is an authorized user. 4. The communication control method according to claim 3, wherein said license information includes an identification number of said terminal and a license number assigned thereto. 5. A seventh step of requesting the terminal to perform a predetermined process to become an authorized user when it is determined that the terminal is not an authorized user in the fifth step; Receiving, from the author server, information indicating that the terminal has become an authorized user, and transmitting the distribution data to the terminal;
The communication control method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising: 6. The communication control method according to claim 5, wherein in the seventh step, a program for causing the terminal to execute a charging process for the author server is transmitted to the terminal. 7. The distribution condition further includes a restriction condition for restricting distribution of the distribution data, and in the fifth step, the distribution data is transmitted to the terminal in further consideration of an analysis result of the restriction condition. The communication control method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, further comprising determining whether transmission is possible. 8. The restriction condition further includes a past distribution count of the distribution data and a distribution count of the distribution data, and the restriction condition to the terminal is determined based on a magnitude relationship between the distribution count and the distribution count. The communication control method according to claim 7, wherein it is determined whether transmission of distribution data is possible. 9. When it is determined in the fifth step that transmission of the distribution data is possible, in the sixth step, the restriction condition is changed;
The communication control method according to claim 7, wherein the distribution data is transmitted to the terminal. 10. The communication control method according to claim 9, wherein, in the sixth step, the distribution data is rewritten to a value obtained by adding 1 to the distribution number and the distribution data is transmitted to the terminal. 11. The communication control method according to claim 2, wherein in the sixth step, the quality of copyrighted work data included in the distribution data is degraded and transmitted to the terminal. 12. In the fifth step, when it is determined that transmission of the distribution data to the terminal is impossible, data stored in advance is transmitted to the terminal in place of the copyrighted data. 5. The communication control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 13. The distribution control method according to claim 2, wherein the distribution data is distributed from a first terminal that receives distribution data to which distribution conditions defining distribution of the copyrighted work data are added to the copyrighted work data. A communication control method for controlling communication at the time of transmission to a second terminal, wherein the distribution data is received from the first terminal in response to a copyright data transmission request from the second terminal. 1
And a second step of extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the first step; and a second step for the second terminal based on an instruction based on the distribution conditions. A third step of requesting and obtaining first discrimination data for specifying a terminal, and transmitting the first discrimination data to the author server, and determining whether the second terminal is an authorized user A fourth step of obtaining second determination data indicating whether or not the second terminal is an authorized user based on the second determination data; and a fifth step of determining whether the second terminal is an authorized user based on the second determination data. And transmitting the distribution data to the second terminal when the second terminal is an authorized user based on the result of the determination.
And a communication control method. 14. The distribution condition further includes a condition for checking the user's unauthorized rewriting, and creates information of the first terminal and the second terminal as a history log based on a result of the determination of the condition. The communication control method according to claim 13, further comprising: a seventh step; and an eighth step of transmitting the history log to the author server. 15. The distribution condition further includes a condition for confirming a version of the copyrighted work data to the author server, and when it is confirmed that the version of the copyrighted work data is not the latest, the distribution condition of the copyrighted work data is The ninth step of creating an instruction for requesting the latest version from the author server, wherein the sixth step transmits the instruction to the second terminal together with the distribution data. 3. The communication control method according to 1. 16. A communication control device for controlling communication when transmitting copyrighted work data from an author server to a terminal, wherein the copyrighted data is added to the copyrighted data in response to a copyright data transmission request from the terminal. Communication means for transmitting and receiving distribution data to which distribution conditions defining distribution of copyrighted work data are provided; data analysis means for extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received by the communication means; and Requesting and obtaining first determination data for specifying the terminal from the terminal based on an instruction based on the distribution condition analyzed by the analysis means, and further obtaining the first determination data from the author server; Discrimination data obtaining means for transmitting data from the author server to obtain second determination data indicating whether or not the terminal is a legitimate user; Determining means for determining whether or not the terminal is an authorized user based on the control unit; and controlling the communication means to transmit the distribution data to the terminal when the terminal is an authorized user based on a result of the determination. A communication control device comprising: 17. A program in a communication system for transmitting copyrighted work data from an author server to a terminal via a communication control device, the program comprising: a step of assigning the distribution condition to the copyrighted data; Transmitting the copyrighted work data to the communication control device, and determining whether or not the terminal that has transmitted the copyrighted work data in response to a request from the communication control device is an authorized user. And transmitting the result of the determination to the communication control device. 18. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 17 is recorded. 19. A program in a communication system for transmitting copyrighted work data from an author server to a terminal via a communication control device, wherein the program is adapted to transmit the copyrighted work data in response to a request for transmission of copyrighted work data from the terminal. Receiving from the author server distribution data to which distribution conditions that define the distribution of the copyrighted work data are provided; extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data; Requesting and acquiring first discrimination data for identifying the terminal based on the terminal, and transmitting the first discrimination data to the author server, wherein the terminal is an authorized user Obtaining from the author server second identification data indicating whether or not the terminal is present; Program for executing a whether the determining whether there are, the steps of the terminal transmits the distribution data to the terminal when the authorized user based on the determination result to the computer. 20. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 19 is recorded. 21. An author server holding copyrighted work data, a terminal receiving distribution of the copyrighted work data, and a communication control device connected to the author server and the terminal. Means for acquiring from the author server distribution data to which the distribution data is provided with a distribution condition defining the number of distributions of the copyrighted data, and extracting and analyzing the distribution conditions included in the acquired distribution data. Means for determining whether transmission of distribution data to the terminal is possible based on the number of distributions, wherein the author server assigns the distribution condition to the copyrighted work data to the communication control device. A communication system including means for transmitting. 22. A data recording method for recording copyrighted work data held by a terminal on a recording medium, wherein the copyrighted work data is added to the copyrighted work data in response to a recording request for the copyrighted work data in the terminal. A first step of receiving, from the terminal, distribution data to which distribution conditions defining recording have been given; a second step of extracting and analyzing distribution conditions included in the distribution data received in the first step; A third step of requesting and acquiring first determination data for identifying the recording medium from an external recording apparatus that recognizes the recording medium and performs recording on the recording medium based on the analysis result; A fourth step of transmitting the first determination data to the terminal, and acquiring second determination data from the terminal indicating whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded; A fifth step of determining whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded based on the second determination data; and permitting the recording medium to permit recording based on the determination result. Transmitting the distribution data to the external recording device when the data recording is performed. 23. A data recording device for recording copyrighted work data held by a terminal on a recording medium, wherein the copyrighted work data is added to the copyrighted work data in response to a recording request of the copyrighted work data in the terminal. Communication means for receiving distribution data to which distribution conditions defining recording are given and transmitting the data to an external recording device for recognizing the recording medium and recording on the recording medium; and the copyrighted work data received by the communication means Data analyzing means for taking out and analyzing the distribution conditions given to the storage device, and a first determination for specifying the recording medium with respect to the external recording device based on an instruction based on the distribution conditions analyzed by the data analysis means Data is requested and obtained, and based on the first determination data transmitted to the terminal, it is determined whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded. Determination data obtaining means for obtaining, from the terminal, second determination data as a result, and determination means for determining whether or not the recording medium is permitted to be recorded based on the second determination data. A data recording device comprising: a control unit that controls the communication unit so as to transmit the distribution data to the external recording device when recording on the recording medium is permitted based on the determination result. 24. A program in a communication system for recording copyrighted data from a terminal to a recording medium via a data recording device, wherein the copyrighted data is added to the copyrighted data in response to a recording request for copyrighted data in the terminal. Receiving, from the terminal, distribution data to which distribution conditions that specify recording of product data are provided; extracting and analyzing distribution conditions provided to the distribution data; and the recording medium based on the analysis result. Requesting and acquiring first discrimination data for specifying the recording medium from an external recording device that recognizes and records on the recording medium; and Transmitting, and acquiring, from the terminal, second determination data indicating whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded; Determining whether or not the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded based on another data; and distributing the data to the external recording device when the recording medium has been permitted to be recorded based on the determination result. Transmitting a data to the computer. 25. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 24 is recorded.