JP2005092943A - Reproduction device with copyright protection function, server device and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reproduction device with a copyright protection function which restricts transmission, conversion, watching and listening via a network of image/voice data and content, for example, movies or the like, and also provide a server device therefor. <P>SOLUTION: The reproduction device is provided with a copyright protection information detection means which detects copyright protection information recorded to a recording medium or a content and an identification means which identifies the copyright protection information detected. When the image/voice data are transmitted to other devices, the reproduction device determines whether the transmission is permissible based on the copyright protection information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention has a function of detecting copyright protection information for protecting the copyright of image / sound data, and provides a playback device that plays back the image / sound data, and other playback devices and services via a network. In particular, the present invention relates to a playback apparatus and a server apparatus that handle image / audio data based on copyright protection information of the image / audio data.

  In recent years, optical discs typified by so-called DVDs are widely used. High-quality image / sound data can be recorded on these optical discs, but they can be copied with almost no deterioration in the image / sound quality. Against this background, various copy protection techniques have been proposed, such as embedding copyright protection information for preventing unauthorized duplication in the image / audio data itself (see Non-Patent Document 1, for example).

  In addition, with the development and spread of network technologies represented by personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs) and the Internet, opportunities to view and acquire image / audio data and the like via the network are increasing. In addition to information acquisition using a PC, there is an increasing demand for browsing and acquiring information using an AV (Audio Visual) device such as a TV or a DVD player. It is commercially available.

  With regard to DVD players, standardization is progressing with respect to technology for reproducing high-quality image / sound data, for example, movie content, etc. Further, DVD players adopting the above technology have other AV devices etc. via a network. Standardization is also being promoted for a technique for displaying various information by connecting to and viewing (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

Video watermark "PIONEER R & D Vol.11 No.2" P.50-54 July 2001 Pioneer Corporation Nikkei Electronics July 21 issue, Nikkei BP, July 27, 2003, P.125-138

  In recent years, a recording device that records high-quality image / sound data, for example, a playback device that plays back an optical disk, has been increasingly connected to other playback devices via a network.

  In such a case, even if the playback device is not compatible with the optical disc, the high-quality image / audio data can be acquired from the playback device that plays back the optical disc via a network. That is, the image / audio data is transferred, converted into a reproducible form, and can be reproduced and viewed. At this time, the image / sound data is not duplicated, but is treated in the same way as if it was duplicated, and the rights of the copyright holder of the image / sound data are not protected.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a playback device and a server device having a copyright protection function for restricting transfer, conversion, and viewing of image / audio data, for example, content such as a movie via a network.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a playback device for playing back a recording medium on which image / audio data is recorded, playback means for playing back image / audio data from the recording medium, and image / audio data. A copyright protection information detecting means for detecting the embedded copyright protection information; and a transfer means for transferring image / sound data; and an image based on the copyright protection information detected by the copyright protection information detecting means. Provided is a playback device and a server device characterized by handling audio data.

  Also provided is a recording medium for recording copyright protection information for preventing unauthorized transfer, conversion, and viewing of image / audio data via a network.

  By using the playback device, server device, and recording medium according to the present invention, unauthorized transfer, conversion, and viewing of image / audio data via a network can be prevented, and copyrights of image / audio data and the like are protected. Is done.

  Hereinafter, a DVD player as an example of a playback apparatus according to a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a playback apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a system control unit that controls the entire playback apparatus, and reference numeral 102 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  First, a method for reading and reproducing image / audio data from a recording medium will be described with reference to FIG.

  Image / audio data read from a recording medium to be reproduced by a reproducing head such as an optical pickup, which is a DVD in the example of FIG. 1, is separated by a separation unit 103, and is digitally encoded image data and digital code. Converted into converted audio data. The type of the reproducing head is not particularly limited as long as it reproduces data from a recording medium. The reproducing head is, for example, an optical pickup of an optical disk such as a DVD, a magnetic head of a magnetic recording medium such as an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), a signal processing circuit of a semiconductor recording medium such as a memory card, or the like.

  The image data separated and digitally encoded by the separation unit 103 is decoded from the image data digitally encoded by the image expansion unit 104, converted into a format such as NTSC, and then externally connected via the image output terminal 105. Output to an image display device such as a TV.

  Also, the audio data separated and digitally encoded by the separation unit 103 is decoded from the audio data digitally encoded by the audio expansion unit 106, converted to an analog audio signal by D / A conversion, and amplified. The sound is output to an external sound output device such as a speaker through the sound output terminal 107.

  With the method described above, the playback apparatus plays back the image / audio data recorded on the recording medium.

  Next, a method in which the playback device having a network connection function exchanges data such as images / sounds with other devices having a network connection function via a network will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the playback apparatus is connected to other devices via a network to construct a home network. Reference numeral 201 in FIG. 2 denotes a playback apparatus having the network connection function or a server apparatus that provides a service in response to a request from another apparatus connected to the network. Here, for convenience of explanation, the names of the playback devices are unified, but this does not narrow the interpretation of the present invention.

  Reference numeral 202 denotes a device that connects to a home television to provide an additional function, a so-called set top box, 203 denotes a portable information device, a so-called PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and 204 denotes a notebook computer.

  Here, when the playback device 201 receives an information acquisition request from a device connected to the network, for example, the set top box 202, the playback device 201 acquires the target file or data and sends it to the set top box 202 that is the transmission source of the information acquisition request. Forward.

  Hereinafter, details of a method for performing communication and data transfer between the playback apparatus and another device, for example, the set top box 202, will be described with reference to FIG. The playback device and the set top box 202 are connected via a network I / F 112. Here, the network control unit 111 that has received the instruction transmitted from the set-top box 202 notifies the system control unit 101 that the instruction has been received. The system control unit 101 controls the system according to the contents of the instruction. For example, when the content of the instruction is acquisition of the image / sound data recorded on the optical disc 110, the system control unit 101 controls the drive control unit 108 and records the image recorded on the optical disc 110 via the DVD drive 109. / Acquire audio data, and transfer the acquired image / audio data to the set-top box 202 via the network I / F 112.

  In accordance with the method described above, the playback apparatus receives an instruction transmitted from another device connected via the network, acquires and transfers image / audio data recorded on the recording medium. At this time, if the transferred data is image / audio data recorded on the optical disk 110, for example, movie content, the set-top box 202 that has received the data transfer stores the transferred image / audio data in its own HDD. You can watch it anytime. Furthermore, the video format of the transferred image / audio data can be converted. For example, if the video format is an HD (High Definition) format, the video format can be converted into an SD (Standard Definition) format. it can. There are various video formats, but the video format is not particularly defined in the present invention.

  Note that, as a technology for connecting the playback device 201 and other devices to the network, there are wired and wireless technologies, but the connection form is not particularly defined in the present invention.

  Next, a description will be given of a function for protecting the copyright with respect to the above-described image / audio data transfer, video format conversion, and viewing operation.

  Here, a method for protecting the copyright of image / audio data using BCA will be described as an example.

  FIG. 3 is an external view of the optical disc, and 301 is a data recording area called BCA (Burst Cutting Area).

  The BCA 301 is a disc in which information unique to the disc is recorded by scratching the inside of a normal data area of the optical disc 110 using a special laser beam. The BCA information can be read based on the difference in light reflectance, and can be read using a conventional optical pickup.

  Here, the BCA is configured so as to record information such as a content creation manufacturer, a title, a release date, a serial number, and copyright protection information recorded on the disc.

  The playback device reads copyright protection information from the BCA 301 at the start of data transfer to another device. Specifically, the system control unit 101 issues a BCA read command to the drive control unit 108, the drive control unit 108 reads the BCA information of the optical disc 110 in accordance with the BCA read command, and the read BCA information is the system control unit 101. Returned to

  The system control unit 101 extracts the manufacturer, title, release date, serial number, copyright protection information, and the like of the optical disc 110 from the read BCA information. The extracted information may be recorded in the RAM 102. This is because information can be extracted easily and at a higher speed than reading information from the optical disk 110, and it is necessary to read information from the optical disk for the first time, but if information is recorded in the RAM 102 at that time, Subsequent information can be easily and quickly extracted from the RAM 102.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the read BCA information.

  The copyright protection information 405 in FIG. 4 includes information on, for example, copy, transfer, conversion, and viewing, as indicated by 407. Further, as shown at 408, the information is composed of, for example, 2-bit data. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the bit data can be processed any number of times if the bit data is 00, the processing can be performed only once if it is 10, and the processing cannot be performed if it is 11. Define the handling information as follows.

  Here, the example of the copyright protection information 408 indicates that copying is not possible, transfer is possible only once, conversion is impossible, and viewing is possible any number of times. The playback apparatus handles data on the optical disk based on the copyright protection information 408. In this example, when a data transfer instruction is received from another device, the data transfer is performed only once. According to the copyright protection information 408, once data is transferred, data transfer should not be performed thereafter. Therefore, bit data related to transfer is rewritten in the copyright protection information recorded in the BCA of the disc. For example, the bit data is rewritten as 11 so that the subsequent transfer cannot be performed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the above transfer process.

  When the process is started in step S1, copyright protection information is read in step S2. In step S3, the bit data of the read copyright protection information is determined.

  If the result of the bit determination is 00, the process proceeds to step S4 and data transfer is performed.

  If the result of the bit determination is 10, data transfer is performed in step S4, and then the copyright protection information is updated in step S5 so that no further data transfer is performed.

  If the result of the bit determination is 11, the process proceeds to step S6 and no transfer is performed.

  The playback device is also configured to transfer the copyright protection information when transferring data to another device. As a result, the device that has received the transfer of the data and the copyright protection information can appropriately handle the transferred data based on the copyright protection information. In the example of FIG. 4, the device that has received the data transfer, such as the set top box 202, must not copy the transferred data or convert the video format, Do not transfer to PDA 203. However, the transferred data can be viewed any number of times.

  Further, the reproduction apparatus is configured not to perform copying or conversion by the copyright protection information 408 even when it has a data copy function and a video format conversion function.

  Further, when the capacity of the optical disk 110 is large, for example, a plurality of movie contents may be recorded on one disk. In such a case, it is preferable that the copyright protection information recorded in the BCA area has information for clarifying which movie content corresponds to the movie content.

  As described above, copyright protection information is recorded in the BCA area of the disc, and the playback apparatus is configured to handle image / audio data recorded on the disc based on the copyright protection information. Thus, copyright can be protected.

  In this example, the copyright protection information is written in the BCA area. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the copyright protection information is used regardless of the area where the copyright protection information is written and the encryption technology. I can do it. For example, it may be written in a predetermined sector on the disk, or may be written as a file on the disk. Further, in order to protect copyright, it is desirable that the copyright protection information is not easily released. For example, using digital watermark technology, so-called digital watermark, the copyright protection information is added to the content itself. May be embedded.

  Note that the above-described copyright protection information, bit data definition, and the like are merely examples, and are not limited thereto. For example, various modifications are possible, such as setting the data length to 4 bits or 8 bits and having more detailed copyright protection information. However, since the reading side of copyright protection information such as a playback device also needs to be changed in accordance with the change, it is desirable to unify the format of the copyright protection information.

  Also, as a variation of the copyright protection function of the above-described playback device, other information recorded on the recording medium or the content itself can be used for copyright protection. Here, the sale date information 403 in FIG. 4 will be described as an example. The details of the release date information 403 indicate that the disc was released on 200331231, that is, on December 31, 2003, as indicated by 406, for example.

  Further, here, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, it is assumed that the content corresponding to the release date information 403 cannot be copied, transferred, or converted, and is only viewed.

  Here, the reproduction apparatus having the copyright protection function reads the copyright protection information. Here, in particular, the details 406 of the release date information are used.

  The system control unit 101 of the playback apparatus has a system timer and can accurately grasp the date and time. Therefore, the read release date information is compared with the date and time. For example, if the date and time has passed one year or more from the date of sale, the copy, transfer, and conversion can be performed. That is, when data or content is handled, the copyright can be protected according to the date by making a determination based on the release date information 406. Here, an example has been shown in which copying, transfer, conversion, etc. are possible when one year or more has passed since the release date, but is not limited to this, for example, 6 months, 2 years, etc. depending on the intention of the copyright holder Variations are possible at various deadlines. In this case, it is configured to have information indicating when copy, transfer, conversion, etc. are permitted.

  As described above, the copyright protection function based on the information of the disc and the content can be realized by the example described above.

  In addition, the first viewing time is recorded in the RAM 102, and it is a condition that a certain period has passed since that time, a condition that the number of times of viewing has exceeded a certain number of times, or a history of viewing a certain content. Various modifications such as addition to conditions are possible.

  Furthermore, it is possible to connect to a site managed by the copyright holder by utilizing the fact that it can be connected to the network, and download software for removing protection such as copy, transfer, conversion, and the like. In this case, for example, the address of the site is recorded as hidden information on a disc or content, and the hidden information can be browsed and protected from the address of the site only when conditions such as time and the number of times of viewing are satisfied. Applications such as downloading software to remove

  The procedure for reading and determining the copyright protection information in the above description is as described above, and the description is omitted.

Block diagram of playback device or server device The figure which shows the structure at the time of connecting a reproducing | regenerating apparatus and another apparatus via a network Optical disk outline drawing Diagram showing details and details of information recorded on the disc or content Bits and handling information correspondence table Flowchart showing processing of copyright protection function of playback device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... System control part, 102 ... RAM, 103 ... Separation part, 104 ... Image expansion part, 105 ... Image output terminal, 106 ... Audio expansion part, 107 ... Audio output terminal, 108 ... Drive control part, 109 ... DVD drive, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Optical disk, 111 ... Network control part, 112 ... Network I / F, 113 ... Network, 201 ... Playback apparatus, 202 ... Set top box, 203 ... PDA, 204 ... Notebook computer, 301 ... BCA recording part, 401 ... Manufacturer Information 402: Title information 403 Release date information 404 Serial number 405 Copyright protection information 406 Release date detailed information 407 Copyright protection information content 408 Copyright protection bit data , S1 ... start step, S2 ... copyright protection information reading step, S3 ... bit Determination step, S4 ... transfer process execution step, S5 ... copyright information updating process step, S6 ... transfer process non-execution step

Claims (9)

A playback device for playing back a recording medium on which image / audio data is recorded,
Copyright protection information detecting means for detecting copyright protection information recorded on the recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating copyright protection information detected by the copyright protection information detecting means;
Reproducing means for reproducing image / audio data from a recording medium;
And a data output means for outputting the image / sound data reproduced by the reproduction means. The playback apparatus according to claim 1,
The playback device has connection means for connecting to a network,
The connection means forms a network with the client device,
A playback device having a function of a server device that provides a service to the client device via the network. The playback device according to claim 2,
The reproduction apparatus includes a storage unit, and stores the detected copyright protection information in the storage unit. The playback apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The playback apparatus is configured such that processing branches based on a result of determination by a determination unit that determines the copyright protection information. The playback apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The playback apparatus is capable of reading copyright protection information stored in the storage means. The playback device according to claim 5, wherein
The playback apparatus is capable of rewriting copyright protection information stored in the storage means and copyright protection information recorded on the recording medium. The playback apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
The playback apparatus notifies the copyright protection information to the client device via the network. The playback device according to claim 7, wherein
The playback device includes current time acquisition means for acquiring current time;
Current time collating means for collating the acquired current time with the copyright protection information;
Based on the verification result by the verification means,
A playback apparatus characterized in that the processing is branched. In a recording medium that records image / audio data, auxiliary data associated with the image / audio data, and a reproduction method for reproducing the image / audio data,
The recording medium records copyright protection information of the image / audio data.

Images