JP2006338080A - Content distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism for freely distributing content prepared by an individual user to the other users and a mechanism for integrating the commercial video content of an enterprise in a free form. <P>SOLUTION: A content distribution system restores content prepared by an individual user from individual content raw material data and a content generation parameter at a content distribution server side, and places the content in a directory which can be referenced in a WWW, so that the content can be referenced by the other users. In a process for automatically preparing content from the content raw material data and the content generation parameter, commercial video content corresponding to product information included in the content generation parameter is added to the front roll or end roll section of the content. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a content distribution system, and more particularly to a technique for providing a mechanism that allows a user to freely distribute content such as video content, games, and other application software created by the user.

The video industry and game software industry are a group of creators, and in particular, video content was produced by professionals. Also, in order to produce video content, there is a production lead time between the producer and the orderer (corporate user) such as design consultation, draft creation, user review, proofreading, rework, and recalibration. Time was needed.
Recently, however, a mechanism for adding motion and design to still images based on digital still images (a tool for showing still images as moving images) has been developed, and even individual users can easily create video content themselves. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
Under such circumstances, one of the needs of individual users is to provide a mechanism for freely distributing self-made content to other related users such as friends.
On the other hand, the needs of corporate users are to provide a mechanism for incorporating commercial video content that will serve as corporate user advertisements in a natural way into self-produced content of individual users, which will continue to increase in the future. .

JP 2003-283994 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a content distribution system having a mechanism for freely distributing contents such as self-made video contents of an individual user, games and other application software to other related users.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a content distribution system that has a mechanism for incorporating commercial video content that plays the role of a corporate user's product advertisement in a natural form into content that is created by an individual user.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for charging a corresponding company in accordance with the number of times the personal user's own content including commercial video content that serves as a product advertisement for the corporate user is distributed. It is to provide a content distribution system provided.

As a result of various investigations based on the experience and knowledge of development related to video content for many years, the present inventors have completed a content distribution system having means (steps) described below.
In this specification, the content means a movie / still image, an image, a sound, a character text, or a game or other application software.
From a first aspect of the present invention, in a content distribution system for distributing content from a content distribution server to a client terminal via a communication network,
1) inputting user information from a client terminal and transmitting it to a content distribution server;
2) receiving the user information at a content distribution server and referring to a user master table to determine the presence or absence of registration;
3) transmitting content material data and content generation parameters created by the user from the client terminal to the server;
4) receiving content material data and content generation parameters at the content distribution server;
5) generating a directory that can be referred to on the World Wide Web on the content distribution server;
6) automatically creating content from content material data and content generation parameters received by the content distribution server;
7) storing the content created by the content distribution server in the generated directory and registering it in the user master table;
8) transmitting an address (URL: Uniform ResourceLocater) of the directory from the content distribution server to the client terminal;
9) receiving and displaying the address at the client terminal;
A content distribution system is provided.

By placing content such as video content, games, and other application software created by an individual user in a directory that can be referred to on the WWW from the terminal of the individual user, other users can refer to the content.
Here, the content generation parameter is the number of other content material data (for example, content material data used for the background or high-quality content material data provided to the user) used to complete the content, and those Definition information to animate

The step of transmitting the content material data and content generation parameters created by the user to the server is not to upload the completed content, but by uploading the content material data created by the user and the content generation parameters. This is because the amount of data to be uploaded can be minimized, other content material data can be prevented from being altered / tampered, and various user information can be acquired via the content generation parameters.

  The directory that can be referred to on the WWW may exist in the content distribution server, or may exist in a server different from the content distribution server. Considering communication traffic and server performance, it is meaningful that a directory that can be referred to on the WWW exists on a server different from the content distribution server.

From a second aspect of the present invention, in the content distribution system according to the first aspect, the user inputs an e-mail address of one or a plurality of other notification users from the client terminal and transmits it to the content distribution server; A step of notifying a directory address (URL) where the content registered in the user master table of the user is stored to the e-mail address of the notification user received by the content distribution server. A featured content distribution system is provided.

  As a result, content such as self-made video content of an individual user, game, or other application software can be freely distributed to other related users such as friends. That is, the first user creates a content by notifying the content distribution server of the e-mail address of another user (second user) related to the friend from the individual user (first user) who creates the content himself / herself. The directory address (URL) where the content is stored can be notified from the content distribution server to the e-mail address of the second user. Also, the URL where the content is stored may be notified directly from the first user to the second user. In addition, if the content evaluation of the second user is high, it is conceivable that information spreads in a so-called word-of-mouth manner from the second user to a third user related to a friend or the like.

From the third aspect of the present invention, in the step of automatically creating content from the content material data and the content generation parameter in the content distribution system of the first aspect, the product master table is referred to from the product code included in the content generation parameter Then, the commercial video content corresponding to the product code is acquired, and the commercial video content is added to the front roll and / or end roll portion of the content stream created from the content material data and the content generation parameters. A distribution system is provided.

As a result, commercial video content that serves as a commercial advertisement for corporate users can be incorporated into content such as video content created by individual users and content such as games and other application software.
Here, the commercial video content is a corporate commercial (content composed of a still image or a moving image expressing an image design or a corporate logo, and also includes a content composed of a still image or a moving image for advertising a specific product. Meaning.
The natural form means that an individual user can select commercial video content that matches the image of the content he created, and that the individual user can incorporate commercial video content using the point mechanism described below. It is possible to have an incentive to want.
Here, the product code included in the content generation parameter is an identification code given as an attribute of other content material data used when an individual user creates his own content, for example, other content material data The identification code of the company that provided the Alternatively, the identification code may be uniquely determined when the content creation support tool is installed.

It is also possible to block commercial video content and incorporate it into the content itself of the personal user's own content. The advantages of blocking are as follows. First, when there are a plurality of products of a corporate user, it is possible to expect a more impactful commercial effect by preparing commercial video content by making a block for each product. In addition, commercial video contents of a plurality of companies can be incorporated into user's own contents. Of course, it is a commercial video content that does not damage the image of the content of the personal user's own work, but it is necessary that the commercial video content of a plurality of companies does not damage the image of each other. In this regard, the company attribute data is obtained from the product code, and those that do not impair the image of each other are incorporated.

  According to the content distribution system of the third aspect of the present invention, for example, it is possible to create a mechanism in which an individual user's own video content is broadcast in a movie theater on a network. In other words, the corporate commercial video content is added to the video content placed in a directory that can be referred to from the WWW via the network, in the same way that the corporate advertising video is screened in front of the video film to be screened in an actual movie theater. It is something that can be done.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the content distribution system according to the third aspect, a step of counting the number of accesses to a directory in which video content, a game or other application software content is stored, and the content is added to the content. There is further provided a content distribution system further comprising a step of outputting a bill amount for a corporate user corresponding to the commercial video content.

This makes it possible to charge the corresponding company according to the number of times the personal user's own content incorporating commercial video content that serves as a product advertisement for the corporate user is distributed. That is, a large number of users can access the notified URL by notifying the second user and the third user of the directory address (URL) where the content created by the first user is stored. Many users will see not only the first user's own content but also the added commercial video content.
Therefore, by counting the number of directory accesses and billing the company based on the number of accesses, the objectivity of the billed amount can be ensured, and the company can also grasp the cost effectiveness quantitatively. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the content distribution system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the user information input from the client terminal is composed of the user's e-mail address and password. A content distribution system is provided.

The user's e-mail address is used as the login ID as the user information in the content distribution system according to the present invention, the user's e-mail address is indispensable, and the login ID is not used to input information separately from the login ID. I decided to use it as well.

From the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the content distribution system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a step of transmitting a serial number from the client terminal and a serial number master table from the serial number received by the content distribution server And obtaining the number of points by checking the use authority, and increasing and decreasing the number of points in the user master table based on the number of points obtained by the content distribution server and the content generation parameter. Furthermore, a content distribution system characterized by comprising the above is provided.

This provides a mechanism for license authentication and point billing for the content distribution system according to the present invention.
Here, as a form of acquiring the serial number in the client terminal, it is embedded in the program installation CD of the client terminal, notified via an e-mail address by payment on the network, or purchased at a store One of them.
This serial number is stored in advance as a database in the content distribution server, together with information on the number of points and usage authority corresponding to the serial number.
Using the serial number as a search key, information on the number of points and use authority can be obtained from the database of the content distribution server.

Here, the significance of the number of points will be described below.
When the user acquires the serial number and connects to the content distribution server, the number of points corresponding to the serial number is added to the number of points each user has. In addition, when distributing content created by the user or using other content material data, the number of points is subtracted.
Also, if the user's own content uses corporate material content data or corporate commercial templates (background content or video content with basic operations defined in advance), the reverse The number of points will be increased. This is to provide the user with an incentive to actively take in commercial content and templates.
By adopting such a mechanism, users can increase the number of points without having to acquire a new serial number by actively using corporate commercial content. In addition, the system can be used without any cost burden (increase or decrease the number of points).
Both the incentive to capture content material data for corporate commercials because of its excellent design, and the incentive to distribute self-made video content on the network free of charge, thanks to the point system provided by this system. Content production and distribution will be activated.
As a company, by increasing the points given to the user, the opportunity to be added to the user's own content increases, so an incentive to set the points high is born.
What kind of content material data is included in the user's own content is information in the content generation parameter, and the content distribution server increases or decreases the number of points of each user based on this information.
Further, in the content distribution server, it is possible to aggregate the content material data for corporate commercials, templates, and commercial video content for each enterprise, convert them into points, and charge the enterprise for compensation.
For companies, expenses are incurred as much as they are actually used for advertising, and the distribution of second-user, third-user, ..., advertisements spreads through the distribution of video content created by individual users. We can expect the effect of going. Such a mechanism would provide a new advertisement propagation mechanism, unlike the transmission of corporate advertisements to a large number of unspecified users on the network.

  The usage authority information is the number of times it can be used, the expiration date (date and time), the validity / invalidity flag of the usage authority, and the like are checked to determine the validity of the serial number.

  Examples of what can be acquired using the above points include content material data, content data DVD media, content data recording media, content distribution rights, and template production rights. Here, the recording medium is, for example, a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

Since the content distribution system according to the present invention is composed of the means (steps) as described above, other users such as friends can freely share their own content such as video content and games and other application software. It can be distributed to
In addition, it has an effect that commercial video content that serves as a product advertisement for a corporate user can be incorporated into the self-produced content of an individual user in a natural manner.
In addition, there is an effect that billing can be made to the corresponding company in accordance with the number of times that the personal user's own content incorporating commercial video content that serves as a product advertisement for the corporate user is distributed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The content distribution system according to the present invention is formed of a client terminal, a content distribution server, and a browser terminal. The client terminal 1, content distribution server 2, and browser terminal 3 are connected to each other via a network 4 as shown in FIG. The network 4 is exemplified by the Internet.

  The client terminal 1 is used by a user (first user) who creates video content and provides video content. The client terminal 1 is an information processing device. An example of the information processing device is a personal computer. The browser terminal 3 is an information display terminal that can access the network, and includes a mobile phone.

The client terminal 1 transmits content information (content material data + content generation parameter) to the content distribution server 2 via the network 4 and receives the URL of the video content from the content distribution server 2.

  In the client terminal 1, the URL of the received video content is directly distributed to the second user's browser terminal 3 related to a friend or the like, or the second user's e-mail address is notified to the content distribution server 2. As a result, the URL of the video content is distributed from the content distribution server 2 to the browser terminal 3 of the second user.

  In addition, the second user's browser terminal directly distributes the received video content URL to the third user's browser terminal related to the second user's acquaintance or the like to the content distribution server 2. By notifying the third user's e-mail address, the URL of the video content is distributed from the content distribution server 2 to the third user's browser terminal. Similarly, the URL information of the video content of the first user's own video spreads by the fourth user (not shown), the fifth user (not shown),.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a processing flow until the client terminal 1 transmits content information (content material data + content generation parameter) to the content distribution server 2 and receives the video content URL from the content distribution server 2.
First, user information is input from the client terminal 1 (step S1). The user information to be input is a user ID or a password, but in the content distribution system of the present invention, an e-mail address is used as the user ID.
Next, the user ID (e-mail address) and password are transmitted to the content distribution server (step S2).
The content distribution server 2 receives the user information transmitted from the client terminal 1 (step S3) and refers to the user master table in the database in the content distribution server 2 to determine the presence / absence of user registration (step S4). If not registered, new user registration is performed (step S5).
After the user registration authentication is performed, the content material data and the content generation parameters created by the user are transmitted from the client terminal 1 to the content distribution server 2 (step S6).
The content distribution server 2 receives the content material data and the content generation parameters, and the content distribution server 2 generates a directory that can be referred to on the WWW (step S7).
Also, video content is automatically created from the content material data and content generation parameters received by the content distribution server 2 (step S8).
Then, the video content created by the content distribution server 2 is stored in the generated directory and registered in the user master table (step S9).
The directory address (URL) is transmitted from the content distribution server 2 to the client terminal 1 (step S10), and the directory address received by the client terminal 1 is displayed on the browser (step S11).

Next, FIGS. 3-1 to 3-4 are: (a) the structure of video content created by the user, (b) the structure of video content with commercial video content added, and (c) the commercial video content in the main part. The structure of the video content to which the block is added and the structure of the video content to which (d) a more natural commercial video is added are shown. In the process of automatically creating video content from content material data and content generation parameters (step S8), the commercial video of the company is placed on the front roll and end roll portions of the video content structure created by the user from the content material data and content generation parameters. Content is added.
As a result, commercial video content that serves as a product advertisement for a corporate user is incorporated into the self-produced video content of the individual user, and the URL of the video content is spread to the second user, the third user, etc. The third user can access the URL to charge the corresponding company according to the number of times the video content has been distributed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the commercial video content can be blocked and incorporated into the main body of the video content created by the individual user. For example, as shown in FIG. 3C, a commercial video is inserted between the main part 1, the main part 2, and the main part 3 in the form of CM (commercial). This is because if the main content of the user's own video content includes scenes that change scenes (for example, weddings and receptions), the content can be viewed by incorporating block-commercial video content. Commercial video content can be provided without a sense of incongruity.
By making a block, one commercial video content can be easily produced in a short length, and a degree of freedom can be provided at a place where the commercial video content is incorporated. The user also has more opportunities to increase points by the above-described point mechanism. On the other hand, opportunities for companies to adopt commercial video content will increase.
In addition, by making a block, there is a possibility that commercial video contents of a plurality of companies may be included in one user's own video content. It is also assumed that there will be a difference in commercial video content points due to competition between companies. This is because if the points are high as described above, the possibility of being adopted by the user increases.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3-4, commercial video content may be originally incorporated in the main story 1, the main story 3, and the like. This means that corporate commercials (image designs, logos, etc.) are incorporated into the content material data of the back template used for user-created content as if it were a natural form like a free postcard. It is a case. In this case, in addition to the case where the individual user selects the commercial video content suitable for the image of the self-made video content by the individual user himself / herself, when the individual user creates the self-made video content, (Naturally without being conscious), they are using the commercial video of the company that matches the image of the video content that they created.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a video content production flow.
First, a program for executing the steps on the client terminal side of the video content distribution system according to the present invention is installed. Specifically, an installation CD will be purchased (1). Of course, you may download from a network. Next, an authentication check (2) is performed at the client terminal. As a result, a tool (infrastructure) capable of producing video content is prepared on the client terminal side, and the user can produce self-made video content. More specifically, work such as capturing image data from a digital camera or the like and defining such that it dynamically operates is performed via a tool.
Content material data provided by the system and content material data and templates for corporate commercials are included in the installation CD in advance, but other content material data and content material data for commercials, etc. are templates and images. (3) can be made through the network. In this way, the user can create (4) the video content, store (5) the video content in the external recording medium, and play (6) the self-made video content for personal enjoyment.
Here, the external recording medium serving as the content recording medium or the installation medium is, for example, a CD recording medium or a USB (Universal Serial Bus).
As described above, the video content distribution system according to the present invention uploads video content (7) to a content distribution server from video content that has conventionally existed on a personal PC terminal or personal HP (homepage). It has a mechanism for distributing (8) a browsing URL to a PC terminal or a portable terminal such as a related friend, and also has a point mechanism and a corporate advertisement mechanism as described above.

FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the database in the content distribution server, which is composed of a serial number master table, a user point master table, a point master table, and a product master table.
FIG. 6 shows an example of using the number of points.
Assume that the user uses content materials A to C provided by the system when the user creates self-made video content. Also assume that a template provided by the system is used. When this is distributed from the content distribution server, the content material A requires 10 points, the content material B requires 30 points, the content material C requires 20 points, the content distribution requires 100 points, and the current point of the user point master table is 160 points It is necessary to be above.
However, if, for example, a commercial video content or commercial template of a company is incorporated in the video content created by the user, the commercial video content is -50 points, the commercial template is -30 points, and the current point of the user point master table If it is 80 points or more, it will suffice. Furthermore, if commercial video content of a company is incorporated, content can be distributed without using points.

  There is a possibility that it can be used as a means of advertising on a network by combining video content of a personal user with a commercial video content of a company rather than using it as a hobby.

1 shows a configuration and a schematic processing flow of a content distribution system of the present invention. The processing flow from the time when the client terminal transmits content information (content material data + content generation parameter) to the content distribution server and the reception of the video content URL from the content distribution server is shown. The structure of user-created video content is shown. The structure of video content with commercial video content added is shown. The structure of video content with commercial video content blocks added in the main part is shown. This shows the structure of video content with a more natural form of commercial video. The flow of video content creation is shown. The data structure of the database in a content delivery server is shown. An example of using the number of points is shown.

Explanation of symbols

1 Client terminal
2 Content distribution server
3 browser terminals
4 network

Claims (8)

In a content distribution system for distributing content from a content distribution server to a client terminal via a communication network,
Inputting user information from a client terminal and transmitting it to a content distribution server;
Receiving the user information at a content distribution server and determining the presence or absence of registration with reference to a user master table;
Transmitting content material data and content generation parameters created by a user from a client terminal to a server;
Receiving content material data and content generation parameters at a content distribution server;
Generating a directory that can be referred to on the WWW in the content distribution server;
Automatically creating content from content material data and content generation parameters received at the content distribution server;
Storing the content created by the content distribution server in the generated directory and registering it in the user master table;
Transmitting an address (URL) of the directory from the content distribution server to the client terminal;
A content distribution system comprising: receiving and displaying the address at a client terminal. A user inputs an email address of one or more other notification users from a client terminal and transmits it to a content distribution server;
Notifying the address (URL) of the directory where the content registered in the user master table of the user is stored to the e-mail address of the notification user received by the content distribution server;
The content distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising: In the step of automatically creating content from the content material data and the content generation parameter, referring to the product master table from the product code included in the content generation parameter, the commercial video content corresponding to the product code is acquired, and the content material The content distribution system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein commercial video content is added to a front roll and / or end roll portion of a content stream created from data and content generation parameters. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of counting the number of accesses to a directory in which the content is stored, and a step of outputting a bill amount for a corporate user corresponding to the commercial video content added to the content. The content distribution system described in 1. The content distribution system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the user information input from the client terminal is composed of a user's e-mail address and password. Obtained at the step of transmitting the serial number from the client terminal, the step of searching the serial number master table from the serial number received at the content distribution server, checking the use authority, and obtaining the number of points, and the content distribution server 5. The content distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising a step of increasing or decreasing the number of points in the user master table based on the number of points and the content generation parameter. In the step of transmitting the serial number from the client terminal, the serial number is either embedded in the program installation CD of the client terminal, notified to the e-mail address by online payment, or purchased at the store. The content distribution system according to claim 6, wherein the content distribution system is provided. 7. The content distribution system according to claim 6, wherein what can be acquired using the points is any one of content material data, a DVD medium for content data, a recording medium for content data, and a content distribution right. .