JP2003337590A - Music delivery management and support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology for supporting copyright management work for music delivery service utilizing a computer network. <P>SOLUTION: The musical composition delivery management and support system 100 connected to the Internet 300 comprises: a site information collection section 110; an illegal site finding, processing, and support section 120; a reminder mail transmission section 130; a usage license, application, and reception section 140; a usage report reception section 150; a royalty calculation section 160; a communication control section 170. The above sections conduct processes required for copyright management targeted for the music delivery service utilizing a computer network, including illegal site finding processing, reminder mail transmission processing, usage license, application, and reception processing, usage report reception processing, and royalty calculation processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for supporting copyright management work for a music distribution service using a computer network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, music distribution services using computer networks typified by the Internet have become popular regardless of individuals or companies.
Since the music that is the target of music distribution is a copyrighted work, the person who performs the music distribution service (distributor) receives a license from the copyright holder of the copyrighted work in principle and pays a usage fee according to the usage I have to pay.

[0003] Generally, the fee for music is charged by the composer
A copyright management organization that manages copyrights, rather than managing them by authors such as lyricists, music publishers, etc. Is being collected.

In copyright management organizations, music distribution services using computer networks have been popular before they became popular.
Licensed to use music for performances, broadcasting, etc.
The usage fee was collected according to the contract contents, but these are
It was mainly intended for limited companies and individuals.

[0005]

However, due to the nature of the computer network, the music distribution service utilizing the computer network allows an unspecified number of individuals to easily become service providers. It is considered that a considerable number of people who perform music distribution services illegally distribute music without obtaining a license, and it is not easy to grasp the actual situation.

[0006] Therefore, the copyright management organization should discover an illegal website that distributes music without a license, and obtain a license from the distributor who has opened the website. It is necessary to efficiently carry out the work to encourage it. In addition, a distributor who is urged to obtain a license or voluntarily obtains a license from
It is desirable to accept the license application by a simple procedure.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for supporting copyright management work for a music distribution service using a computer network.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a music distribution management support system connected to a computer network, wherein a website distributing music on the computer network is provided. A means for specifying, a means for determining whether the specified website illegally distributes music, and an e-mail address written in the website illegally distributing music And a means for sending an e-mail prompting you to obtain a license,
Music distribution management comprising means for accepting a license application on the website, means for accepting a music usage report on the website, and means for calculating a music usage fee A support system is provided.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an outline of copyright management work for music distribution using the Internet will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The copyright management work for music distribution using the Internet can be broadly divided into the following processes as shown in this flowchart. That is, the illegal site discovery process (S101) and the dunning mail transmission process (S1)
02), usage permission application acceptance processing (S103), usage report acceptance processing (S104), usage fee calculation processing (S105),
Usage fee collection processing (S106) and usage fee distribution processing (S
107).

The illegal site finding process (S103) finds a website that is delivering music on a web page without receiving the necessary license and uses the e-mail address of the creator (distributor) of the website. Etc. is a process for specifying. The illegal site finding process (S103) can be further divided into a request page information collecting process and a top page associating process. The request page information collection process is a process of automatically collecting URL information and the like of Web pages associated with music files by using a search engine function. The top page associating process identifies and associates the top page of the website from the collected request pages, and also provides information about the website such as the e-mail address of the distributor (including information on whether or not the license is granted). This is the processing to be added. As a result of this processing, it is determined that a website that distributes music without a license is an illegal site.

By the way, when a distributor distributes music on a Web page, a predetermined portion on the Web page is associated with a music file. And
When the predetermined portion is selected by the viewer, the associated music is played or downloaded. We associated with music files in this way
Page b is referred to as a request page. Further, generally, a website is hierarchically configured by a plurality of web pages, but the highest web page in the website is referred to as a top page.

The necessity of processing for associating the request page with the top page will be described.

Generally, it is easy to collect the URL information of the request page by using the search engine function, but the request page is We set by the distributor.
Since it is only part of the b site, U in the request page
The RL information alone is not sufficient to obtain the information of the distributor who manages the request page. In particular, when one distributor (business operator) provides a plurality of request pages in a website, unless each distributor is aggregated to specify the distributor, how the distributor will be on the Web page. It is not possible to grasp whether or not the music is distributed. Also, if the distributor cannot be identified, it is judged whether the music distribution is illegal without permission,
And it is difficult to remind us to obtain permission when it is illegal.

In order to collect a plurality of request pages existing in the website and obtain the information of the distributor, the information of the top page which is the highest page of the website including the request page is used as a key. Can be considered. Therefore, it becomes necessary to associate the request page with the top page of the website including the request page.

The dunning e-mail transmission process (S102) is licensed to the founder of the Web site which is found as a result of the illegal site discovery process (S101) and which is delivering music without the required license. This is a process of sending an e-mail inviting you to perform the procedure.

The license application acceptance process (S103) is performed by W
This is a process of accepting a music license application on a Web page for a person who is delivering music on the eb page or who intends to perform music distribution. It should be noted that the license application by this processing includes the license application from a person other than the person who has been the subject of the dunning mail transmission process.

The contents of the license determined at the time of application for the license, for example, the specification method of the music to be used, the calculation method of the usage fee, etc. can take various forms.

In the present embodiment, the method of designating the music to be used does not specify the music and give the permission, but gives a comprehensive permission to all the repertoires of the copyright management organization.

On the other hand, the calculation method of the usage fee is such that the fee is set according to the number of times of use (for example, the number of times of download), and the fee is calculated according to the number of songs used, etc. The fixed rate system provided shall be selectively adopted. Which of the pay-as-you-go system and the flat-rate system is applied is determined depending on, for example, whether the distributor's music distribution is commercial, whether the license applicant's website has an advertisement income, or the like. In order to calculate the usage fee, the distributor to which the pay-as-you-go system is applied needs to report the usage record of the music to the copyright management organization in the next usage report reception process (S104). Also, if the usage fee is fixed and a maximum of 10 songs are licensed, up to 10 songs can be targeted for music distribution on the Web page at the same time among the songs managed by the copyright management organization. Become. 1
As long as the number of music pieces is 0, the combination of music pieces is arbitrary, and the combination of music pieces can be changed on the way.

The usage report acceptance process (S104) is a process for accepting a report of the contents actually used (distributed), for example, the title of the music, the number of downloads, the usage period, etc., from the distributor who has received the license. Is.

The usage fee calculation process (S105) is performed according to a predetermined calculation method from the contents of the usage report received by the usage report acceptance process from the distributor to which the usage rate calculation is applied according to the usage fee calculation. For a distributor to which the flat-rate system is applied, the usage fee of the music is calculated according to a predetermined calculation method from the content of the license such as the number of used music and the usage period.

In the usage fee collection processing (S106), the calculated usage fee is notified to the distributor to which the usage fee is calculated and the distribution is applied. This is a process of collecting the usage fee by a predetermined method from the person who has applied the flat-rate system for calculating the usage fee.

In the usage fee distribution process (S107), the usage fee collected by the usage fee collection process (S106) is set under a predetermined condition for the right holder or the like entrusting copyright management to the copyright management organization. Therefore, it is a process of distributing.

However, the processing division and the processing flow shown in FIG. 1 are examples, and the processing in the copyright management work for music distribution using the Internet is not limited to these.

Music distribution management support system 1 according to the present invention
00 is an illegal site detection process (S
101), dunning mail transmission processing (S102), usage permission application acceptance processing (S103), usage report acceptance processing (S10)
4), a function for supporting each process of the usage fee calculation process (S105).

FIG. 2 shows a music distribution management support system 100.
3 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of FIG.

As shown in the figure, the Internet 300
The music distribution management support system 100 connected to the site includes a site information collection unit 110 and an illegal site discovery processing support unit 12
0, reminder mail transmission unit 130, license application reception unit 14
0, a usage report reception unit 150, a usage fee calculation unit 160, and a communication control unit 170 are provided as functional units. Further, the music distribution management support system 100 includes a request page database 210, a top page database 220, and a permission information database 230 as a database for managing various data used by the functional units, and further for calculating a usage fee. There is provided a usage fee calculation table 240 for recording the rules.

The site information collecting unit 110 has a search engine that automatically circulates on the Internet 300, and has a function of automatically collecting URL information of Web pages satisfying a predetermined condition.

The illegal site detection processing support unit 120 has a function of supporting the work of associating a request page for music distribution with the top page of the website including the request page. The illegal site discovery processing support unit 120 also has a function of actually displaying the Web page specified by the URL on the Web browser.

The dunning e-mail sending unit 130 has a function of sending an e-mail inviting a person who is distributing music on a Web page to perform a licensing procedure without receiving a usage license. ing.

The license acceptance application receiving unit 140 has a function of accepting a license application for music on a Web page.

The usage report receiving unit 150 has a function of receiving a usage report of a music piece on a Web page.

The usage fee calculation unit 160 is recorded in the usage fee calculation table 240 in accordance with the content of the usage permission accepted by the usage permission application acceptance unit 140 and the track record of the music accepted by the usage report acceptance unit 150. It has a function to calculate the usage fee by the calculation method.

The communication controller 170 uses the Internet 30.
Communication processing for connecting to 0 is performed.

Next, the database provided in the music distribution management support system 100 will be described.

The request page database 210 is
It manages information about Web pages (request pages) that provide music files. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data structure of the request page database 210.

As shown in the figure, the request page database 210 has information on the request pages collected by the site information collecting section 110 for each request page.
Request page URL 210a and top page UR
L210b, music file number 210c, registration date 21
0d and update date 210e are managed. Further, the music file number 210c is associated with the music file list 210f.

Each request page information managed by the request page database 210 is the site information collecting unit 1.
10 is registered by collecting request page information existing on the Internet 300 and recording the URL, the number of music files, and the registration date.

The request page URL 210a is the UR of the request page collected by the site information collection unit 110.
It is L.

The top page URL 210b is the URL of the top page associated with the request page. At the time of registration, this field is blank because the request page is not yet associated with the top page.

The number of music files 210c is the number of music files associated with the request page.
Also, each music file name associated with the request page is recorded in the music file list 210f, and the request page database 210
It can be referenced above.

The registration date 210d is the date when the information of the request page is registered in the request page database 210. That is, the site information collection unit 110
This is the date on which the information on the request page was collected after traveling through the Internet 300.

The update date 210e is the date when the information on the request page is updated. At the time of registration, this field is blank.

The top page database 220 manages information about websites including request pages. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data structure of the top page database 220.

As shown in the figure, the top page database 220 has a top page URL 220a, an operator name 220b, an e-mail address 220c, for each top page as information of the top page associated with the request page. The provider 220d and the usage permission 220e are managed.

Each top page information managed by the top page database 220 is the illegal site finding process (S10).
In 1), when the top page associated with the request page is found, the operator of the music distribution management support system 100 receives an input and is registered.

The top page URL 220a is the U of the top page associated with any request page.
It is RL.

The operator name 220b is the name of the operator (distributor) of the website having the top page.

The electronic mail address 220c is the electronic mail address of the operator (distributor) of the website having the top page.

The provider 220d is the provider name used by the operator (distributor) of the website having the top page.

The license 220e is information indicating whether or not the operator (distributor) of the website having the top page has licensed the use of the music from the copyright management organization.

The license information database 230 manages information about the application contents of the license. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data structure of the permission information database 230.

As shown in the figure, the license information database 230 includes distributor information 231 and license content information 232.
And the usage record information 233 are managed.

The distributor information 231 is information about a distributor who has obtained a license to use the music, and includes a distributor name 231a and a distributor name 231a.
The address 231b, the e-mail address 231c, and the distributor ID 231d are included.

The license content information 232 is information on the content of the license, and includes the license number 232a and the top page UR.
L232b, usage category 232c, and number of simultaneously used songs 23
2d, charge category 232e, usage start month 232f,
The number of months used is 232g.

Here, the license number 232a is information for identifying the license agreement. Top page URL2
32b is the URL of the top page of the website for delivering music. The usage category 232c is a distinction between the usage format of the music and the download format or the stream format. The download format is a delivery format in which music data is downloaded as a file when a predetermined location on the Web page is clicked. The streaming format is a delivery format when a predetermined location on the Web page is clicked.
It is a distribution format in which music is played on the spot. The number of simultaneously used songs 232d is the maximum number of songs that can be used at the same time on the website. The charge category 232e is
It is a distinction whether the form of payment of the usage fee is a fixed amount system or a pay-as-you-go system.

The usage record information 233 is information relating to the result of actually using the music, and the usage music code 233a.
The usage period 233b and the usage count 233c are included and recorded for each usage song.

The music distribution management support system 100
Is a general information processing device including an arithmetic processing device, a main storage device, an external storage device, a storage medium reading device such as an optical disk, a communication control device, and the like, for example, a workstation,
Alternatively, it can be configured using a personal computer or the like. However, it is not limited to this. For example, a dedicated device as a management support system may be used. Also, the functions may be distributed to a plurality of information processing devices.

A workstation or the like, which is a general information processing device, functions as the music distribution management support system 100 by the arithmetic processing device executing a predetermined program. The program for this can be stored in an external storage device such as a hard disk, for example.

Next, the processing of the music distribution management support system 100 will be described in the order of the flow chart shown in FIG. (Illegal site discovery process) First, the illegal site discovery process (S
101) will be described. As described above, the illegal site finding process (S101) can be further divided into a request page information collecting process and a top page associating process.

The request page information collecting process is a process in which the site information collecting unit 110 circulates through the Internet 300 according to a predetermined rule to find a request page and collect information.

The request page information is collected by the site information collecting unit 110 because the request page is associated with the music file, and therefore the identifier of the music file (for example, a predetermined file extension) is used as the search target character. It can be collected by performing a search as a column. Of course, the method of collecting request page information is not limited to this, and various known methods can be used.

The site information collecting unit 110 collects the URL of the found request page and the music file name included in the request page and registers them in the request page database 210. At this time, the items to be registered are the request page URL 210a, the number of music files 210c, the registration date 210d, and the music file list 2.
10f.

Next, the top page association processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The illegal site detection processing support unit 120 of the music distribution management support system 100 extracts the request page URL 210a from the request page information stored in the request page database 210 and displays it in a list format on the screen (S201). ). The extraction condition can be set arbitrarily.

Here, in the case of request pages included in the same Web site, that is, request pages having a common top page, it is considered that the upper part of the URL is often the same. Therefore, it is convenient to sort the URLs in alphabetical order before displaying them.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying the request page URL in a list format.

In this figure, the request page URL list screen 400 has a field 401 for displaying request page information in a list format. A column 401 for displaying request page information in a list format includes, for each request page URL 401b, a column 401a indicating whether the request page has been associated with the top page, and the number of music files included in the request page. It has a column 401b.

Here, it can be judged whether or not the work of associating with the top page has been completed by checking whether or not the top page URL is registered in the top page URL 210b of the request page information. It can be acquired by referring to the music file number 210c of.

When the illegal site discovery processing support unit 120 receives a click on any of the ULRs of the request page URL 401b on the screen 400, it displays the request page indicated by the URL (S202). The request page displayed by this processing becomes the processing target request page.

From the displayed request page, the worker uses the above-mentioned link function to find the top page of the website including the request page. How to find the top page differs depending on the configuration of the website. For example, if the request page has a display portion "top", the W linked to the display portion is displayed.
The eb page can be determined to be the top page. Further, if there is a display portion such as "return" in the request page, it is possible to follow the link destination of the display portion and determine the arrived Web page as the top page. Also, even if there is no such display part,
Since the top page often includes an expression indicating the top page such as the title of the website, it is considered that the top page can be found by repeating the work of following the link within the website.

When the worker finds the top page of the website including the request page to be processed, the worker can click the "top page designation" button 405 with the top page displayed.

When the illegal site detection processing support unit 120 receives a click on the "designate top page" button 405, it checks whether the URL of the displayed top page is registered in the top page URL 220a of the top page database 220. (S204).

As a result, if not registered, the top page information is registered (S205).

In the top page information registration processing, the illegal site detection processing support unit 120 displays a top page information registration screen 420 as shown in FIG. 8 as an example, and prompts the operator to input.

In the figure, the top page information registration screen 420 has a top page URL display field 421, an operator name input field 422, and an e-mail address input field 423.
And a provider input field 424 and a license agreement display field 425
It has and.

The URL of the displayed top page is displayed in the top page URL display field 421. The operator is the name of the website operator from the website having the displayed top page,
The e-mail address and the information of the provider are searched for and input into the corresponding input fields 422-424.

The method of finding these pieces of information depends on the structure of the Web site. For example, if there is a Web page including a display part for mail transmission within the Web site,
The electronic mail address associated with the displayed portion can be determined to be the electronic mail address of the website operator. Further, if there is a web page that introduces the operator himself / herself in the website, the operator's name can be obtained from the web page. Further, the provider used by the operator can be inferred from a part (particularly, the upper part) of the URL of the top page. However, since this information may not always be clear, the input may be omitted if it is unknown.

The illegal site detection processing support unit 120 checks whether the URL input in the URL 421 of the top page is registered in the top page URL 232b of the license information database 230. As a result, if the website is registered, it is determined that the website is a legal site that has been licensed, and "Yes" is displayed in the usage permission display field 425. On the other hand, if it is not registered,
It is determined that the site is an illegal site that distributes music without receiving the usage permission, and “none” is displayed in the usage permission display field 425. Of course, the legal / illegal information can be changed by the operator. Also, the top page database 220
After registering with, the license agreement procedure is performed and the top page U
When the RL is registered in the permission information database 230, the usage permission 220 of the top page database 220
It is reflected in e.

On the top page information registration screen 420, the illegal site discovery processing support unit 120 has a "register" button 42.
When the click of 6 is accepted, each input item and the determination result of illegality are registered in the top page database 220 as top page information.

For the request page to be processed, the top page URL 21 of the request page information is set.
UR of the top page found by the worker on 0b
Register L and update the request page database 210 (S206). As a result, the URL of the processing request page and the top page are associated with each other.

On the other hand, in the processing (S204), the URL of the displayed top page is the top page database 2
As a result of checking whether it is registered in the top page URL 104a of 04, if it is registered, the operator searches the top page URL 210b of the request page information without performing the top page registration processing (S205). The URL of the issued top page is registered and the request page database 210 is updated (S206). In this case, one top page has a plurality of request pages, but the URL of the processing target request page is also associated with the top page.

From the above (S202) to (S2)
The processing up to 06) can be repeated by changing the target request page (S207). Therefore, the request page URL list screen 400 is "previous page".
A button 402, a “next page” button 403, and an “end” button 404 are provided. The operator can see this screen 4
"Previous Page" button 402 or "Next Page" of 00
By clicking the button 403, other request page information that cannot be displayed on one screen can be displayed in a list. Further, the work can be ended by clicking the “End” button 404. (Dunning mail sending process) Dunning mail sending process (S10)
In 2), in the illegal site finding process (S101), the administrator of the website having the top page determined to be illegal among the top pages associated with the request page is urged to perform the license agreement procedure. This is a process of transmitting an electronic mail.

For this reason, the dunning e-mail transmission unit 130, for example, the top page database 22 at predetermined intervals.
0, the top page information indicating that the usage permission 220e indicates “no permission” is extracted, and a reminder email having a predetermined text is transmitted to the email address recorded in the email address 220c. .

In the reminder mail, for example, it is necessary to obtain a license to use the music on the Web page, and the URL of the Web page where the license application can be made.
If you do not get permission to use the service, you should immediately post information such as discontinuing music distribution.

It is desirable that the dunning mail sending unit 130 should record a log of the destination to which the dunning mail was sent, the sending date and time, and the like. (License application acceptance process) License application acceptance process (S1
03) is a process for accepting a music license application on the Web page provided by the music distribution management support system 100. When the license application receiving unit 140 of the music distribution management support system 100 receives an access to a predetermined URL, it displays a license acceptance screen 440, an example of which is shown in FIG. 9, to request the license application. Accept.

As shown in the figure, the license acceptance screen 440
Includes an applicant name input field 441, an address input field 442, and an e-mail address input field 443 as fields for inputting information about the distributor. The top page URL input field 444, the usage category input field 445, the usage mode input field 446, the usage start month input field 447, the usage month number input field 448, and the respective approvals to be received are prepared. As items, for example, a simultaneous use music number input field 449 is provided.

A person who wants to obtain a license is to use this screen 4
By entering the necessary items in 40, it is possible to apply for a license.

In the field for inputting information regarding the contents of permission, the usage category 445 is a field for designating whether the usage mode of the music is the download format or the stream format. The usage pattern 446 is a field for inputting whether or not the music distribution is commercial, whether or not the website that performs the music distribution has earned an advertisement income, and the like. The use start month 447 and the use number of months 448 are fields for inputting a period for which a license is received. The number of simultaneously used music pieces 449 is a field for inputting the maximum number of music pieces that are simultaneously used on the website.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the usage fee calculation method (charge category) is obtained by combining these pieces of information. This rule is predetermined and recorded in the usage fee calculation table 240. For example, in the usage mode, music distribution is not commercial,
If the eb site does not receive any advertising revenue, the usage fee can be set to a flat rate system that is determined by the number of songs used simultaneously and the usage period regardless of the number of times of usage.
Of course, the method of calculating the usage fee is not limited to this, and various methods can be adopted.

Upon accepting the license application, the license application receiving unit 140 issues a distributor ID and license number,
Notify the applicant. Then, the received information, the issued distributor ID and the license number, and the determined charge category are registered in the license information database 230. At this time, it is desirable that the operator confirms the content of the license application and determines whether to grant the license.

When the license application accepting unit 140 accepts the license application, it issues a license mark. The license mark is image data that proves that the copyright management organization has licensed, and the music distributor has received the license by posting this license mark on the top page of the website. Can be shown.

When the license mark is issued, the license application receiving section 140 notifies the licenser of information for downloading the image data. The information for downloading is, for example, U of the Web page to be downloaded.
The RL, the distributor ID, and the password for authenticating the licensor can be used. The licensor obtains the image by downloading the image data in accordance with this information and puts it on the top page of the website established by himself.

It should be noted that the license mark issued by the license application accepting unit 140 may be embedded with a digital watermark, for example, in order to prevent forgery, duplication and the like. (Usage Report Reception Processing) Usage Report Reception Processing (S104)
Is a process of receiving a usage report of a music piece, which is a material for distributing a usage fee, from a distributor who has performed a licensing procedure on a Web page. When the usage rate is applied according to the calculation of the usage fee, the usage fee is determined based on the usage record, and thus this usage report may be used for calculating the usage fee.

The usage report acceptance unit 150 of the music distribution management support system 100 displays a usage report acceptance screen 460, an example of which is shown in FIG. 10, to accept the usage report.

In this embodiment, when the distributor name 461 and the distributor ID are input as the information for specifying the distributor, the contents of the license that the distributor has already obtained are displayed in a list.

As the track record of music use, the music ID 464 and the number of times of use 465 are input for each music used. Here, the music ID is an identifier given to each music by a copyright management organization to identify the music.

[0100] The usage record may be input on the Web browser screen, or may be a file transfer method via the Web browser in a format specified by the copyright management organization, for example.

The usage report acceptance unit 150 records the usage record of the music received on the usage report acceptance screen 460 in the usage record information 233 of the license information database 230. (Usage Fee Calculation Process) The usage fee calculation unit 160 of the music distribution management support system 100 refers to the license information database 230 and the usage fee calculation table 240 to calculate the usage fee for each licensed distributor. . The usage fee calculation unit 160 can calculate the usage fee when a license application is received, for example, for a distributor whose charge category is a flat-rate system. Further, for a distributor whose charge classification is a pay-as-you-go system, for example, a report of the track record of music usage on a monthly basis can be received from the distributor and the usage fee can be calculated for each month. (Usage fee collection processing / Usage fee distribution processing)
As described above, the conventional method is used regardless of the music distribution management support system 100. That is, the distributor is notified of the usage fee calculated by the usage fee calculation process for each distributor, and is collected by transfer to a specified account of the financial institution (usage fee collection process), and the distribution rules etc. are determined in advance. Distribute the usage fee collected to each right holder according to (usage fee distribution processing).

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the technology for supporting the copyright management work for the music distribution service using the computer network.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining an outline of copyright management work for music distribution using the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a music distribution management support system 100.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a data structure of request page database 210.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data structure of the top page database 220.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a data structure of the permission information database 230.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a top page associating process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying a request page URL in a list format.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a top page information registration screen 420.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a usage permission acceptance screen 440.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a usage report acceptance screen 460.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Music distribution management support system 110 ... Site Information Collection Department 120 ... Illegal Site Discovery Processing Support Department 130 ... Reminder mail sending part 140 ... License application reception section 150 ... Usage report reception section 160 ... Usage fee calculation unit 170 ... Communication control unit 204 ... Top page database 210 ... Request page database 220 ... Top page database 230 ... License information database 240 ... Usage fee calculation table 300 ... Internet

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A music distribution management support system connected to a computer network, wherein the website specifying means for specifying a website distributing music on the computer network and the specified website are illegal. To determine whether or not music is being distributed to a website, and an e-mail message that prompts you to obtain a license to the e-mail address written on the website that illegally distributes music. Means for transmitting an electronic mail for transmitting a usage license application for receiving a usage license application on the website, a usage report receiving means for receiving a usage report of a music on the website, and the use of the music Music distribution management support system characterized by comprising a usage fee calculation means for calculating a fee. Beam. 2. The music distribution management support system according to claim 1, wherein the website specifying means is a UR of a web page associated with a music file.
A means for collecting an L (Uniform Resource Locator) from a computer network, a means for displaying the collected URL in a selectable state, a means for displaying a Web page indicated by the selected URL, and a method based on a user instruction When an arbitrary web page is displayed and the designation of the displayed web page is accepted, the W
A music distribution management support system, comprising: means for storing the URL of the eb page in association with the web page associated with the music file. 3. The music distribution management support system according to claim 2, further comprising a license database that stores the URL of the website for which the license has been granted, wherein the illegal site determination means is associated with the associated site. URL
The music distribution management support system is characterized in that it is determined that music is illegally distributed when is not stored in the license database. 4. The music distribution management support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the license application accepting means, upon accepting the license application, indicates that the license has been licensed. A music distribution management support system characterized by generating image data and making it available for download by an applicant. 5. The music distribution management support system according to claim 1, wherein the usage report receiving means receives information for identifying a used music piece and the number of times of use. Music distribution management system characterized by.