JPH10154185A - Literary work transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a mere reproduction process or a process where its on literary work is duplicated and used and to perform the proper charging processing in response to the selection by reproducing a literary work after execution of a reproduction program, duplicating the literary work to store it in a storage medium as necessary, and settling the fee according to the reproduction or duplication information. SOLUTION: A literary work read/reproduction device 10 uses the literary work data received from a literary work management device 1 as the processing data to reproduce a literary work in a reproduction processing program area 12f of a program memory 12. A literary work duplication program 12e duplicates the literary work data stored in a data memory 14 based on a reproduction program stored in the area 12f and stores the duplicated data in an external storage 21 in a reproducible state. Then the information showing that the literary work is reproduced or the information showing that the literary work is duplicated is sent to the device 1. The device 1 receives the reproduction or duplication information on the literary work from the device 10 and settles the fee.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copyrighted work transmission system, and more particularly, to a billing processing system for multimedia information capable of appropriately charging a use of a copyrighted work on a network in accordance with the state of use. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when purchasing programs such as game software and computer software, there are many cases where the contents must be purchased without being able to confirm the contents sufficiently. So, to avoid such a thing,
Among computer software, demonstration software for which some functions cannot be used is made available from a CD-ROM or a network. This makes it possible to check the basic functions before purchasing to see if they are suitable for your purpose.

On the other hand, some copyrighted materials, such as music, videos, books, etc., have been purchased but are used only once. Regardless of the frequency of use of such works, a certain amount of money must be paid to purchase these works. If it is possible to pay the fee according to the usage situation, it is no better than that, but if you purchase a photo book, CD, book, etc. However, they can read and listen to them, and they can lend them to others. They are physically hurt depending on how they are handled, so they cannot be charged according to the frequency of use.

[0004]

It has been proposed to convert various copyrighted materials, such as programs, into digital data and sell them by download on a network, and some of them have been realized. In such a case, the information does not have the above-described problem as in the case of a copyrighted work as a visual medium, but how to charge the information is an issue.
That is, in the method of charging when the information of a specific copyrighted work is downloaded from the network to the user's computer, unless the demonstration software is prepared as described above, the contents must be purchased without confirming the contents. No. Therefore, a method of charging each time a user reads information from a network has been considered. In this way, the fee for one use may be paid once. Charges can be made according to the usage frequency. However, since the communication speed of a network is generally slow, a process that requires an execution speed cannot be practically used. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the related art, and to provide a copyrighted work transmission system that can appropriately charge for use of a copyrighted work.

[0005]

A feature of the copyrighted work transmission system of the present invention for achieving the above object is that it has a storage device for storing various copyrighted works as information and is connected to a network. A copyrighted work that retrieves information of a copyrighted work in response to a request from a copyrighted work browsing / reproduction device connected to the storage device, transmits the information, and exchanges data with the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction device. In a copyrighted work transmission system including a management device and a work browsing / reproducing device, the work management device transmits either information indicating that the work has been reproduced from the work browsing / reproducing device or information indicating that the work has been copied. The copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus includes a payment processing means for receiving and performing payment, and a work browsing / reproducing apparatus stores a processor, a memory, and data of a copyrighted work stored in the memory and transmitted from the copyrighted work management apparatus. A reproduction program for reproducing the work transmitted by the processor as execution data, execution control means for causing the processor to execute the reproduction program, and data of the work transmitted by the control of the execution control means. Duplication processing means for duplicating the data in a predetermined storage medium in a state that can be reproduced by a reproduction program
And transmitting means for transmitting to the copyrighted work management device either information indicating that the copyrighted work has been reproduced or information indicating that the copyrighted work has been copied under the control of the execution control means.

[0006]

As described above, a reproduction program is executed to reproduce a copyrighted work once or each time, and further, a duplication processing means is specially provided so that duplication can be performed as necessary. The user can select whether the data of the copyrighted work transmitted from the copyrighted work management apparatus is reproduced by the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction apparatus and used only once, or copied as his / her own copyrighted work and used later. In response to this selection, the copyrighted work management device can perform a charging process according to simple reproduction and duplication. As a result, in a multimedia information system, a copyrighted work can be used only once, and the copyrighted work can be loaded into a memory from a storage medium on which the copyrighted work has been copied without using a network. Can be used freely and at high speed.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a work browsing / reproducing system according to an embodiment to which a work transmission system according to the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a network such as the Internet, 1 denotes a work management device connected to the network 100 via a connection device 101, and 10 denotes a work management device connected to the network 100 via a connection device 102. This is a copyrighted work browsing / playing device. The work management device 1 is a so-called work server, and stores a work searched for in response to a request from a viewing subscriber on a network 10.
Deliver through 0. The work management device 1 includes a microprocessor (MPU) 2 therein, a program memory 3 for storing various programs executed by the MPU, a communication port 4, a transmission data memory 5, a work management table 6a,
It has a browsing management table 6b, an external storage device 7, an interface 8 for connecting the copyrighted work management device 1, and a work memory (not shown). These are interconnected by a bus 9.

The program memory 3 includes a main program 3a, a copyrighted work search program 3b, a scramble processing program 3c, a communication control program 3d, and
A billing settlement program 3e and the like are stored. In addition, the external storage device 7 stores respective reproduction programs 7a to 7n for the information of each copyrighted work, and the reproduction programs 7a to 7n.
Each of the copyrighted work data 7m to 7x provided corresponding to
And are stored. On the other hand, the work browsing / playback apparatus 10
Is a reproduction terminal of a work provided on a so-called browsing subscriber side.
Is connected to the copyrighted work management device 1 via the network 100, and receives a reproduction program and copyrighted work data of the copyrighted work searched under predetermined conditions and reproduces the copyrighted work.

The work browsing / playback apparatus 10 includes a microprocessor (MPU) 11, a program memory 12 for storing various programs executed by the MPU 11, a communication port 13, and a data memory 1 for storing work data.
4. Working memory 15 for storing reproduced copyrighted work data, etc., C
RT display device (CRT) 16, audio playback device 17 including speakers, printer 18, external storage device 2
1 has an interface 20 and the like for connecting the copyrighted work browsing apparatus 10, and these are mutually connected by a bus 19. The program memory 12 has a main program 12
a, a communication control program 12b, a transmission data separation / storage program 12c, a time management program 12d, a copyrighted work duplication program 12e, and the like, and have a reproduction processing program area 12f. Note that two or more copyrighted work browsing management apparatuses 1 may be connected to the network 100, and a large number of the copyrighted work browsing and reproducing apparatuses 10 are connected to the network.

Here, the copyrighted work information retrieved from the copyrighted work browsing management apparatus 1 by the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 is a video,
In the case of an image or the like, it is displayed on the CRT 16 by executing the transmitted reproduction program. When the copyrighted work information is voice, music, or the like, the copyrighted information is output to the speaker or the like via the audio playback device 17 by executing the transmitted playback program. Then, the respective reproduction times are transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1. When the transmitted work is a game or the like, the work is displayed on the CRT 16 and the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time are transmitted to the work browsing management device 1 to calculate the use time. The number of times of reproduction and the usage time are the basis for calculating the charge in the copyrighted work browsing management device 1.

First, the processing contents of each program of the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 will be described. Work browsing management device 1
The main program 3a calls various programs and causes the MPU 2 to sequentially execute the programs. However, a download request from the copyrighted work browsing / playback apparatus 10 (a download command is inserted in the command column of the transmission data in FIG. 7). ), First, the copyrighted work search program 3b
Call. In accordance with the electronic mail of the downloaded work shown in FIG. 7 transmitted from the electronic work browsing and reproducing apparatus 10, the copyrighted work search program 3b of the electronic work browsing management apparatus 1 obtains the copyrighted work management table of FIG. 6a
To obtain the address of the copyrighted work data requested to be downloaded and the name of the reproduction program (identification information) for reproducing this copyrighted data, and search the external storage device 7 to obtain the address. The data is transferred to the transmission data memory 5. Then, the scramble processing program 3c is called. The scramble processing program 3c scrambles the reproduction program and the copyrighted work data stored in the transmission data memory 5 according to a predetermined rule, and stores them again in the transmission data memory 5. Thereby, the reproduction program and the copyrighted work data are integrated. Then, the communication control program 3d is called.

The copyright management table 6a includes a copyright ID column 60, a title column 61, a copyright owner column 62, a keyword column 63, a storage address column 64, a reproduction program name column 65, a viewing fee column 66a, and a copy. The fee column 66b is a table provided in the order of the description, and stores data corresponding to each column. Further, the format of the transmission data shown in FIG. 7 includes fields of header information for communication, a command, a work viewer ID, a work ID, and an end mark indicating the end of communication. In the above case, the command of the download request is entered in the command column.

The communication control program 3d stores the contents of the transmission data memory 5 in a message of a predetermined format (substantially the same as the transmission formats shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10; ), The destination address corresponding to the work viewer ID is added to the header, and the integrated reproduction program and work data are sent out onto the network 100. Further, when receiving the electronic message shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10, etc. from the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10, the data is passed to the main program 12a or each program.

The charge settlement program 3e receives from the communication control program 3d the transmission data of FIG. 8 transmitted by the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 at the start of reproduction, and receives the copyrighted work viewer ID of the browsing management table 6b shown in FIG. The corresponding data is extracted from the received data and stored in the column 67, the work ID column 68, and the start time column 69. The browsing management table 6b is a table that stores data related to browsing of the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing device 10, and corresponds to the transmission data of FIG. This is a work viewer ID column 67 for storing a work viewer ID, and a work I
D (corresponding to the work ID in the work ID column 60), a work ID column 68, a start time column 69 for recording a start time, an end time column 70 for recording an end time, and a usage fee. A fee column 71 is provided. In the browsing management table 6b, each time the transmission information shown in FIG. 8 is received from the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10, the line is sequentially updated, and the received data is sequentially registered in the next recorded line.

The charge settlement program 3e receives from the communication control program 3d the transmission data of FIG. 9 or FIG. The data of the object ID is extracted, and the browsing management table 6b is searched, and the received browsing end time is written in the end time column 70 of the row where these two data match. Further, by referring to the copyrighted work management table 6a shown in FIG. 5 using the copyrighted work ID data as a key, when the browsing of the line where the copyrighted work ID is completed (telegram shown in FIG. 9), the data in the fee column 66a is read out. When the copying is completed (the message shown in FIG. 10), the data in the charge column 66b of that row is read.

Further, when the charge settlement program 3e receives the message shown in FIG. 9 with the value of "02" as the field of the browsing end mark, if the data in the charge field 66a is the time calculation data, The difference between the start time and the end time in the earlier matched row of the table 6b is calculated as the usage time, and the usage fee is calculated from the fee data read from the copyrighted work management table 6a. At the same time, the data of the usage fee is stored in the transmission data memory 5, and the communication control program 3d is called. In this way, the usage fee is transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 and notified. In addition, accounting settlement program 3e
When the telegram shown in FIG. 9 is received, if the fee column 66a indicates the number of times of reproduction, the number of times of reproduction of the response information is read instead of the usage time information, the usage fee is calculated and stored in the fee column 71. Then, the communication control program 3d is called by performing the same processing as described above, and the usage fee is transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction apparatus 10 to be notified.

Further, when the charge settlement program 3e receives the message shown in FIG. 10 with a value of "03" as the column of the copyrighted work copy mark, it is determined that the copyrighted work has been copied and the usage fee in the charge column 66b is used. Is stored in the fee column 71, the same processing as described above is performed, the communication control program 3d is called, and the usage fee is transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 for notification. The format of the transmission data in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 is as follows: header information, browsing start mark = 01, browsing end mark = 02, copyrighted copy mark = 03 (command column), copyrighted viewer Each column includes an ID, a copyrighted work ID, a browsing start date and time or a browsing end date and time, and FIG. In addition,
The command column here is a browsing start mark, a browsing end mark, or a copyrighted work copy mark.

Next, the processing contents of each program of the work browsing and reproducing apparatus 10 will be described. The main program 12a of the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 calls various programs and causes the MPU 11 to execute the programs sequentially.
Call b. The communication control program 12b manages whether or not it is connected to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1, and when connected to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1, adds a connection request or the like as a source address and browses the destination address to the copyrighted work. The management device 1 performs various transmission and reception processes described later. As the source address and the destination address in the work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10, the work viewer ID may be used as it is. Further, the communication control program 12b transmits a command message of a browsing request to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1, receives browsing data of the copyrighted work information, and displays it. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, data on the searched work ID is transmitted to the work browsing management device 1 as a download request. Further, the communication control program 12b
The integrated work data and the reproduction program corresponding to the searched work ID are received from the work browsing management device 1, and the process is returned to the main program 12a. Further, when the communication control program 12b is called from the main program 12a after the reproduction program is executed,
The electronic message shown in FIG. 8 is created and sent to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1, and when the execution of the reproduction program is completed, the electronic message shown in FIG. It is sent to the work browsing management device 1.

When the integrated copyrighted work data and reproduction program are received as transmission data, the main program 12a calls the transmission data separation and storage program 12c. The transmission data separation and storage program 12c descrambles the reproduction program and the copyrighted data received from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 and stores the reproduction program in the reproduction processing program area 12f, and stores the copyrighted data in the data memory 14. And the main program 12a
Return to processing. The main program 12a calls the time management program 12d to obtain the time information, and uses the time information as the reproduction start time to call and pass the communication control program 12b to the communication control program 12b to create the message shown in FIG. 1 The response from which it was received is obtained from the communication control program 12b. Further, the main program 12a next calls the playback program stored in the playback processing program area 12f, and causes the MPU 11 to execute the playback program. Apart from the above processing, when a certain work stored in the external storage device 21 is designated, the main program 12a transfers the reproduction program thereof to the reproduction processing program area 12f, and also stores the work data. The data is transferred to the data memory 14 and normal reproduction processing is performed. Such a process is performed on a copyrighted work copied by the end of copying, which will be described later.

When the reproduction program is executed and the reproduction program is for a copyrighted work whose reproduction number is managed, when the processing of the reproduction program is completed, the reproduction program sets the reproduction number to the main program 12a.
Pass to. The main program 12a passes the information on the number of times of reproduction to the communication control program 12b and inserts the information in the column of the number of times of reproduction of the message. When the processing of the reproduction program is completed, the main program 12a next calls the time management program 12d to obtain time information, and sets the time information as the reproduction end time, calls the communication control program 12b and passes it to the communication control program 12b. At the end of the process, the electronic document shown in FIG. When the duplication is completed (see step 304a in FIG. 3), the message shown in FIG.
To be sent. Then, a response from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 indicating that it has been received is transmitted to the communication control program 1.
Obtained from 2b. Next, the communication control program 12b creates a message to the work browsing management device 1 for a cutoff request, and upon receiving a termination command response from the work browsing management device 1, establishes a connection with the work browsing management device 1. Cut off.

The copyrighted work copy program 12e is executed by the MPU 11 when called from the main program 12a, and copies the reproduced program stored in the reproduction processing program area 12f and the copyrighted work data stored in the data memory 14, respectively. Is stored in the external storage device 21 together with the name of the copyrighted work, and the process returns to the main program 12a. When the main program 12a calls the copyrighted work duplication program 12e, the duplication is completed, for example, the status flag is set and managed, and when the processing is completed, the communication control program 12b creates the message shown in FIG.

The specific processing of the main program 12a of the copyrighted work browsing / playback apparatus 10 performed by calling various programs will be described with reference to FIG. First, the main program 12a calls the communication control program 12b and manages whether or not a connection with the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 can be established. First, in step 201, a predetermined message is created, a connection request is issued to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1, and in step 202, it is determined whether or not a connection command has been received. At times, a waiting loop is formed to return to step 201. If YES in step 202, the connection between the work browsing management device 1 and the work browsing / playback device 10 is possible.

Therefore, a process is performed to connect the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 to the copyrighted work browsing management apparatus 1 in accordance with a predetermined communication procedure (step 203). Then, it waits for a response from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 and starts to determine whether or not the connection has been established (step 204). When not connected (NO
), It is determined whether or not a retry is to be performed (step 204a). Usually, the retry is performed several times, so the determination here depends on whether the number exceeds a predetermined number.
If the number has not exceeded the predetermined number, the result is YES, and the process returns to step 203. If it exceeds the predetermined number, the process returns to step 201. When connected, the process enters a waiting loop for determining whether a command has been input from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 (step 205). When a command has been input (when YES), whether the input command is a disconnection command or not is determined. Is determined (step 206). In the case of a disconnection command, the line with the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 is disconnected (step 206a), and the process returns to step 201.

If the input command is not a disconnection command, it is determined whether it is a data transmission or reception command (transmission / reception command) (step 207). If not, the process returns to step 205. When a data transmission or reception command is input, processing for exchanging data with the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 is started in accordance with the command (step 209). Here, the process first proceeds to step 209, where a request for a list of copyrighted works to be browsed (browsing request) is received, and a list of copyrighted works to be browsed is received (step 210). The target work is searched from the work list sent from the work browsing management device 1 and the desired work is selected (step 211). Then, a message shown in FIG. 7 is created and a download request for the copyrighted work is transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 (step 21).
2). Next, it is determined whether or not a copyrighted work has been received (step 213). At this time, the received work is scrambled and integrated with the work data and the reproduction program.

If no copyrighted work has been received for a certain period of time, the answer is NO here and the routine returns to step 205. When a copyrighted work is received, the main program 12a
Calls the transmission data separation and storage program 12c, descrambles the received data and separates it into a reproduction program and copyrighted data, stores the reproduced program in the reproduction processing program area 12f, and It is stored in the memory 14 (step 214). next,
The main program 12a is a time management program 12d
To obtain the time information, and the communication control program 12
b, the message shown in FIG. 8 is created, and the reproduction start time is transmitted (step 215). Then, it waits for a reception response from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 and disconnects it from the line (step 216). Next, the main program 12a calls the playback program stored in the playback processing program area 12f and causes the MPU 11 to execute the playback program (step 21).
7). When the processing of the reproduction program ends, the main program 12a calls the time management program 12d to obtain time information, calls the communication control program 12b, and returns to step 201. And step 20
8, the process proceeds to step 218, where the message shown in FIG. 9 or 10 is created and the reproduction end time is transmitted. Then, an electronic message is sent to the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 to transmit a cutoff request (step 219), and the process of ending the cutoff is performed according to the response to the request (step 2).
20).

Here, if the reproduction program among the reproduction programs 7a to 7n manages the number of reproductions of the copyrighted work, the processing shown in FIG. 3 is performed. That is, in response to step 217, the reproduction program is started (step 301), and the variable N of the number of reproductions of the copyrighted work is set to N = 1 (step 302). The reproduction is performed (step 303). Then, the reproduction of the work is performed, and when the browsing is completed, it is determined whether or not the browsing end key is input (step 304). When the browsing end key is input, the transferred work is determined. It is determined whether or not to copy (step 304a). When the end key is simply input, the determination is NO. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the copyrighted work data is to be discarded (step 305). When the copyrighted work is discarded, the copyrighted work data is cleared (step 306), the number of times of reproduction N is passed to the main program 12 (step 307), and the processing of the reproduction program ends. If it is determined in step 305 that the copyrighted work is not discarded, the process waits for input of a browse start key (step 308). Next, when the browsing start key is input, the number of reproductions N is incremented to N = N + 1 (step 309), and the process returns to step 303. In addition,
When another key is input in step 308, a process corresponding to the input key is performed (step 313).

If the determination in step 304 is NO, the process proceeds to step 310. In step 310, it is determined whether or not there is the next copyrighted work.
When it becomes O, the process returns to step 303, and the same copyrighted work is reproduced. On the other hand, if YES, the search for the next copyrighted work is started (step 311). Here, if there are a plurality of works in the transmitted work data, one of the plurality of works is searched. When the selection of the copyrighted work to be reproduced next is completed, the number of reproductions N is incremented to N = N + 1 (step 312), and the process returns to step 303. When a plurality of copyrighted works are successively selected and reproduced in step 311, the number of reproductions N in step 312 is added by the selected number. In this case, in the reproduction in step 303 after step 312, the reproduction of the selected literary work is sequentially performed after the reproduction of the selected literary work, such as the next literary work. Will be.

If a duplicate key is input in the determination of the previous step 304a, the result is YES. In this case, step 3
Move to 14. In step 314, the work copy program 12e is executed, and the work is copied to the external storage device 21 as a program and data in a form in which the work is reproduced.
Then, the process proceeds to processing step 306. Note that, in the case of a playback program in which billing is performed by using time, in the above-described process, only the process of counting the number of times of playback is eliminated, and the details thereof will be omitted. The determination of step 304a and the step 314 relating to the duplication processing are provided as common processing even in the case of a reproduction program for time use.

Next, the specific processing of the main program 3a of the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 corresponding to the above will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The main program 3a monitors a connection request from the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction device 10. First, in step 401, the process enters a waiting loop for determining whether or not there is a connection request from the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction device 10. If the answer is YES, the requested work browsing / playing device 1
A connection command is sent to the copyrighted work browsing management apparatus 1 and the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 is connected in accordance with a predetermined communication procedure (step 402). Then, a response from the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 is waited, and it is determined whether or not a connection has been established (step 403). When not connected (N
In the case of O), the process returns to step 401.

When the connection is established, data reception processing is performed, and the received content is determined (step 40).
4) whether it is a browsing request, browsing end or copyrighted work
One of the other processes is selected. In addition,
This determination is made as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10.
In the transmission format, the command of the browsing request is inserted into a command column (such as a browsing end mark column) next to the header information. At other times, a corresponding command is inserted. The connection cutoff request from the copyrighted work browsing management device 10 described above is one of these other commands. However, the download command and the browsing start mark are excluded from other commands here.

In this determination, when there is a browsing request, a work selection list is transmitted to the work browsing management device 10 (step 405). Then, the process enters a search result waiting loop (step 406). When the search result data is transmitted from the work browsing management device 10, it is determined whether or not the download request specifies a specific work (step 407). When the command is a download command, the copyrighted work search program 3b is called to convert the requested reproduction program and the copyrighted work data from the data received from the copyrighted work browsing management device 10 into data in the external storage device 7. Search (step 408), read them out, perform scramble processing, set them in the transmission data memory 5 (step 409), call the communication control program 3d, and retrieve the requested reproduction program and copyrighted work data. Is transmitted (step 410). Then, the process enters a loop of waiting for a response to start browsing of the copyrighted work browsing / reproduction device 10 (step 411). When the literary work browsing management device 1 receives the response signal in the transmission information shown in FIG. 8, it extracts each data received in the next row of the browsing management table 6b which has already been stored and registers the data in each column. (Step 41
2) The connection of the copyrighted work browsing management device 10 to the line is disconnected (step 413), and the process returns to step 401.

If it is determined in step 407 that the command is not a download command, the flow proceeds to command processing corresponding to the command, for example, line disconnection processing (step 417). Also, in the determination of the previous step 404,
If it is a browsing end response or the end of the copyrighted work,
In step 414, the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 responds to the response with the transmission information shown in FIG. In response to the response (when the copyrighted work is completed), the end time is registered in the browsing management table 6b, the usage fee is calculated for each (step 415), and the usage fee is registered in the browsing management table 6b to use The fee is transmitted to the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing device 10, and the process is terminated (step 416). The usage fee is, for example, counted one month later and is deducted from the bank account corresponding to the copyrighted work viewer ID. Further, in the determination of the previous step 404, if there is any other processing, the processing shifts to processing according to the command in the command column (step 417).

In the above processing, the integrated reproduction program and the copyrighted work data are transmitted and responded to, and other data is exchanged between the copyrighted work browsing management device 1 and the copyrighted work browsing and reproducing device 10. In, a retry is performed until the data transfer is normally performed, and if the retry fails, the data transfer is stopped. When the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 searches for a copyrighted work, the copyrighted work may be added to the copyrighted work and transmitted, or each member may be notified in advance by mail or the like.

As described above, various reproduction programs may be stored in the work browsing / playback apparatus 10 from the beginning without being transmitted from the work browsing management apparatus 1. In such a case, the work browsing management device 1 sends information on which reproduction program to use to the work browsing and reproducing device 10.
Further, in the case where the copyrighted work copy program in the embodiment copies the copyrighted work data and its reproduction program to another storage medium, the copyrighted work data may be copied to a dedicated storage area on the memory. Further, the storage medium (external storage device) may be an optical disk, a hard disk, a flexible disk, or the like. Furthermore, when stored in these storage media, the program may be copied as a program reconstructed into a program that can be used by a general computer, instead of the relationship between the copyrighted work data and its reproduction program. However, doing so increases the possibility of unauthorized duplication of the work.

The contents of the information transmitted from the work browsing / reproducing device 10 to the work browsing management device 1 shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are merely examples. Also, the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time as these transmission data do not include the time information from the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing device 10 and simply receive response information. Time management may be performed. Further, the work browsing management device 1 can manage the work browsing ID and the work ID. The information required as the response information of the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus 10 includes, as a minimum, a transmission source address, for example, a copyrighted work viewer ID, whether or not the reproduction program has been executed, whether or not the reproduction has been completed, It is only necessary or not. Further, when managing the number of times of reproduction, it is sufficient that the number of times be added to them. Further, the integration of the transmission program and the copyrighted work data is not always necessary in the present invention. Further, the configuration diagram shown here is only an embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the network 101
May be the Internet or a completely original network.

[0036]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the reproduction program is executed to copy the copyrighted work into one.
The work browsing / playback apparatus plays back the work data transmitted from the work management apparatus by reproducing the work at each time or each time, and further providing a special copy processing means so that the work can be copied as necessary. You can choose to use it only once or copy it as your own work and use it later. In response to this selection, the copyrighted work management device can perform a charging process according to simple reproduction and duplication. As a result, in a multimedia information system, a copyrighted work can be used only once, and the copyrighted work can be loaded into a memory from a storage medium on which the copyrighted work has been copied without using a network. Can be used freely and at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a copyrighted work browsing system according to an embodiment to which a copyrighted work transmission system according to the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a specific process of a main program of the work browsing / playing device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing of a reproduction program for managing the number of reproductions of a copyrighted work;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a specific process of a main program of the copyrighted work browsing management device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a copyrighted work management table.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a browsing management table.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of response information of the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus for the copyrighted work to be downloaded;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of response information of the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing apparatus at the start of browsing;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of response information of the copyrighted work browsing / playing device at the end of browsing;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of response information of the copyrighted work browsing / playback apparatus at the end of the copyrighted work copy;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copyright management device, 2, 11 ... Microprocessor (MPU), 3, 12 ... Program memory, 3a ... Main program, 3b ... Copyright search program, 3c ... Scramble processing program, 3d ... Communication control program, 3e ... Charge settlement program, 4, 13 communication port, 5 transmission data memory, 6a copyrighted work management table, 6b transmission browsing management table, 7, 21 external storage device, 7a-7n reproduction program, 7m-7x ... Each work data, 8, 20 interface, 9, 19 bus, 10 work browsing / playback device, 12a main program, 12b communication control program, 12c transmission data separation and storage program, 12d time management program,
12e: copyrighted work copy program, 12f: reproduction processing program area, 15: working memory, 16: CRT display device (CRT), 17: audio reproduction device, 18: printer, 100: network, 101, 102: connection device.

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Shirai 1-88 Ushitora, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A storage device which stores various works as information and is connected to a network and stores the information of the work in response to a request from a work browsing / playback apparatus connected to the network. In a copyrighted work transmission system comprising a copyrighted work management device and a copyrighted work browsing / reproducing device which retrieves and sends out the information and transmits / receives data to / from the copyrighted work browsing / reproducing device, The management device has fee settlement means for receiving one of the information indicating that the work has been reproduced and the information indicating that the work has been duplicated from the work browsing / reproducing device, and adjusting the fee. The object browsing / playing device includes a processor, a memory,
A reproduction program that reproduces the copyrighted work transmitted by the processor by using the data of the copyrighted work stored in the memory and transmitted from the copyrighted work management device as processing data; Execution control means for executing the data of the copyrighted work on a predetermined storage medium which can be reproduced by the reproduction program under the control of the execution control means; and the execution control means A transmission means for transmitting either the information indicating that the copyrighted work has been reproduced or the information indicating that the copyrighted work has been duplicated to the copyrighted work management device under the control of the copyrighted work. 2. The work management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said work management apparatus sends said work together with said work data, and said work browsing / playback apparatus stores said sent play program in said memory. Copyrighted material transmission system. 3. The copyrighted work transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said copy processing means stores the transmitted data of the copyrighted work and the reproduction program thereof in the storage medium. 4. The information indicating that the reproduction program has been executed includes identification information of a copyright requester and information on the number of times of reproduction to be transmitted to the copyright management apparatus when the reproduction / viewing / reproduction apparatus ends the reproduction. The copyrighted work transmission system according to claim 1. 5. The reproduction program according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said reproduction programs are provided in accordance with the type of said copyrighted work to be reproduced, and at least one of said plurality of reproduction programs is settled according to a reproduction time. A program, wherein the execution control means adds information on the reproduction time of the work to information indicating that the time-use reproduction program has been executed, and sends the information to the work browsing / playback apparatus. 2. The copyrighted work transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the payment means performs payment of the fee in accordance with the reproduction time information in the information indicating that the reproduction program has been executed. 6. The information indicating that the time-use reproduction program has been executed includes identification information of a copyright requester, a reproduction start time transmitted to the copyright management apparatus when the reproduction browsing / reproduction apparatus starts reproduction, and 6. The copyrighted work transmission system according to claim 5, wherein the copyrighted work transmission system includes a reproduction end time to be sent to the copyrighted work management device at the end of reproduction and information indicating that the reproduction has been made.