JPH10228290A - Communication type information provision system, host device, and information providing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the communication type information provision system which can rationally calculate the charge for the use of copyright and actualizes sound system management. SOLUTION: A host computer 51 acquires a subscriber code from a subscriber data base in an information storage device 53 and further acquires an operation log, and stores items required for a totalizing table when both subscriber codes match each other and the log is concerned in the charge for the use of copyright. After the process is carried up to the end of the file, the total amount of the charge is calculated and stored as a file of the corresponding subscriber code in an actual result table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication type information providing system which distributes information to be provided from a host device to an information providing terminal, and the information providing terminal can execute an information providing service to a user using the provided information. The present invention relates to a system, a host device and an information providing terminal effective for use in the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information such as "communication karaoke" is delivered from a host device to an information providing terminal, and the information providing terminal uses the provided information to provide an information providing service (in this case, karaoke). Performances) have been proposed and do exist.

In this communication karaoke, if the music data used for the karaoke performance is a music work, there is a possibility that the consent of the copyright holder or the like is required. In particular,
For example, “Japan Music Copyright Association (JASRA)
C) "and pay a fixed fee.
However, it is not easy to calculate this royalty fee. Prior to the spread of online karaoke, association staff used to go around each karaoke store and collect usage fees based on “performance rights”. However, it is impossible to fully understand what songs are sung and how much. For this reason, for example, in the past, the situation such as which song was sung and how much was sought from the number of users and the area of the site, etc., was conventionally used to calculate the fee for use.

[0004]

However, since the calculation is based on estimation, the collected JASRAC
On the side of the karaoke store, some people think that this store uses more than the calculated result, but there is no evidence to show that it is used. It appears to be less used, but there is no evidence to show it. " As described above, the calculation based on the estimation is unlikely to be a reasonable calculation method that is satisfactory to both parties, and may hinder the sound operation of the system.

[0005] Such a problem is caused not only by the communication karaoke but also by the recent development of digital communication technology.
The same can occur in a system that distributes various contents (contents of information). For example, game software, program software, or video software. In a situation where a communication network is rapidly developing, as represented by the Internet, the information can be easily provided as an information provider (server). A more rational solution is desired for the calculation of the royalty fee when the terminal uses the information providing service.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a communication method in which a host device distributes information for providing a copyrighted work from a host device and uses the information for an information providing service on a terminal side. The purpose of the present invention is to enable a reasonable calculation of a royalty fee in a formula information providing system, and to realize a sound system operation.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host apparatus storing information to be provided, and a service provided by the host apparatus. A communication-type information providing system comprising: an information providing terminal capable of executing an information providing service to a user using information for use and uploading operation result information to a host device. It stores the correspondence between the business information and the royalty fee,
On the basis of the operation result information acquired from the information providing terminal, the total amount of the royalties on the information providing terminal can be calculated by referring to the correspondence.

According to the communication type information providing system, the host device distributes the providing information to the information providing terminal, and the information providing terminal executes the information providing service using the providing information distributed from the host device. be able to. Also,
The information providing terminal can upload the operation result information to the host device. The host device stores a correspondence relationship between the provision information delivered (distributed) to the information providing terminal and the royalties, and based on the operation result information acquired by uploading from the information providing terminal, the correspondence relationship is stored. , It is possible to calculate the total amount of the royalties on the information providing terminal.

[0009] Considering that the present invention is characterized in that the present invention is characterized in that a copyright fee is calculated based on the operation record information, the "act" that is the target of the copyright fee is used as the operation result information. At a minimum, there must be information on the identifiable operation results. In other words, in such a communication-type information providing system, a “copy right” generated by storing the provided information in the information providing terminal, a “cable broadcasting right” generated by transmitting the provided information over a communication network, and If the information to be provided is music performance data, there may be “performance rights” caused by performing the performance as an information providing service on the information providing terminal, and it is necessary to calculate the royalty fee for these. Come.

Therefore, for example, as described in claim 2, the correspondence between the provision information stored in the host device and the work use fee specifying information includes at least the provision information distributed from the host device. By setting a first copyrighted work fee generated by being stored in the information providing terminal and a second copyrighted work fee generated by using the providing information in the information providing terminal for the information providing service, In addition, the operation result information uploaded by the information providing terminal to the host device includes at least operation result information indicating that the information is distributed from the host device and accumulated in the terminal, and the accumulated providing information can be identified, It is conceivable to indicate that the provided service has been executed and to include operation result information that can specify the provided information used for executing the service.

In this way, the first royalties are set as the royalties for the “copying right” and the “cable broadcasting right”, and the second royalties are used as the royalties for the “performance right”. By setting the fee, an appropriate calculation of the royalty fee can be realized based on the "acts" subject to the royalty fee.

[0012] When calculating the copyright usage fee, it is usually necessary to specify and provide the information to be provided. Therefore, as described above, the operating result information to be uploaded from the information providing terminal to the host device is used as the host performance information. Indicates that the information has been distributed from the device and stored in the terminal, and that the stored provision information can be specified, as well as the operation result information that indicates that the information provision service was executed and the provision information that was used to execute the service was specified. Although the limitation of possible operation result information has been added, for example, when it is not necessary to distinguish the provision information and only the "number" of the provision information is a problem, only the number of accumulated provision information and the number of service execution Operation result information may be used.

The information to be provided in the above-mentioned communication-type information providing system may be music performance data used in, for example, a karaoke system. The correspondence between the information for provision and the fee for use of the copyrighted work stored in the system includes the use of the copyrighted work of each song when the medley performance in which the music performance data of a plurality of songs are partially connected is executed as an information providing service. A fee is set, and the operation result information uploaded by the information providing terminal to the host device may include, for example, operation result information indicating all the provision information used for the medley performance. .

This takes into account the fact that, for example, in karaoke even now, a medley performance in which a plurality of music performance data are partially connected may be executed as an information providing service. In other words, for the user, the medley is one song, but the fee for using the copyrighted work is all the plurality of songs used in the medley performance.
Therefore, even in such a case, in order to calculate an appropriate royalty fee, it is preferable to set a royalty fee for each song.

[0015] For example, when a single medley performance is performed by partially connecting four pieces of music performance data, a normal usage fee of 4 for playing all one music with one music performance data is used. One-third may be used as the fee for medley, or a special extra fee may be set. These are determined by a mutual contract and have no relation to the essence of the present invention, and therefore will be omitted. I point out the advantage of being able to respond simply by doing.

The information to be provided is not limited to the karaoke performance information taken as an example, but can also occur in various contents (contents of information) with the development of digital communication technology in recent years. For example, game software, program software, or video software.

Regarding the point of calculating the total amount of the royalties for use at the information providing terminal, the total amount of the royalties for each information providing terminal may be calculated. When a plurality of information providing terminals are installed, the total amount of the royalties for each store where the plurality of information providing terminals are integrated may be calculated. Further, the total amount of the royalty fee for all the information providing terminals connected to the system may be calculated. For these, the calculation target range may be appropriately set depending on the circumstances such as charge collection and terminal management.

As described above, according to the communication type information providing system of the present invention, while providing information for providing a copyrighted work from the host device and using the information for the information providing service on the terminal side, Reasonable calculation of royalties is possible. By making such a reasonable calculation of the royalty fee, it is possible to contribute to the realization of sound system operation.

Further, in the case of the system described above, the total amount of the royalties is calculated based on the operation result information uploaded from the information providing terminal.
This uploading of the operation result information has been proposed and realized for the management of the information providing terminal, so it is sufficient to use it, and upload it only for calculating the total amount of the copyright fee. There is also an advantage that it is not necessary to employ.

Further, in the above-described system, the host device is configured to calculate the total amount of the royalty fee based on the operation result information uploaded from the information providing terminal. There is also a conceivable configuration. In other words, the present invention comprises a host device storing the information for provision and an information providing terminal capable of executing an information providing service to the user using the information for provision distributed from the host device. In a communication-type information providing system, the information providing terminal stores a correspondence relationship between the information to be provided and the royalties, and refers to the correspondence relationship based on the operation result information of the own terminal, and This is a configuration for calculating the total amount of the royalty fee of the copyrighted work.

In this case, the information providing terminal itself stores the correspondence between the information for provision and the fee for use of the copyrighted work, and calculates the total amount of the fee for use of the copyrighted work of the own terminal based on the operation result information. . In this case as well, the royalties can be reasonably calculated, which can contribute to the sound operation of the system.

In this case, when it is desired to update the correspondence between the information for provision and the royalty fee, for example, a new "correspondence" is transmitted from the host device to the information providing terminal and updated and stored. Just do it. If the calculation result is further referred to as to the handling, the information providing terminal stores the calculated total amount of the royalties for the copyright of the terminal itself, and reduces the amount of the royalties for a predetermined period. 7. A result obtained by totaling each time is also stored, or claim 6
As shown in (1), it is conceivable to upload the calculated total amount of the copyright work fee of the terminal to the host device. When the information providing terminal calculates and stores it by itself, for example, a charge collector periodically goes to the location of the terminal and collects the charge or deducts the current electricity bill etc. For example, it is conceivable to acquire only the usage fee data and send an invoice at a later date. Further, when the usage fee is uploaded to the host device, the trouble of going to the terminal installation location described above is eliminated. When uploading to the host device, a configuration for uploading the calculated usage fee to the host device may be newly provided. For example, various requests from the information providing terminal to the host device may be made. Alternatively, if a configuration for uploading operation result information is presupposed, the upload may be performed using the configuration.

The above description has been given as a communication-type information providing system. However, if the above-described host device is used as an effective host device in a system for calculating the total amount of royalties, the present invention is described in claim 7. Storage means for accumulating provision information, distribution means for distributing provision information to the information provision apparatus, and operation result information acquisition means for acquiring operation result information uploaded from the information provision apparatus. A host device that stores information on the correspondence between the information to be provided and the royalties, and provides information by referring to the correspondence based on operation result information acquired from the information providing terminal. A configuration is conceivable in which the terminal is provided with a usage fee calculating means for calculating the total amount of the copyright usage fee at the terminal.

In the host device, the correspondence between the provision information and the copyrighted work specification information stored in the correspondence storage means includes at least the provision information distributed from the host device. A feature is that a copyright fee generated by being stored in the terminal and a copyright fee generated by using the providing information for the information providing service in the information providing terminal are set. Is also good.

On the other hand, when the information providing terminal is used as an effective information providing terminal in the system for calculating the total amount of the royalties, the providing information is stored as claimed in claim 9. Providing an information providing service to a user by using the providing information distributed from the host device, and storing the correspondence between the providing information and the royalties. A configuration is conceivable, comprising a relationship storage unit and a usage fee calculation unit that calculates the total amount of the copyright usage fee of the own terminal by referring to the correspondence based on the operation result information of the own terminal. .

In the information providing terminal, the correspondence between the provision information stored in the correspondence storage means and the copyrighted work specification information includes at least the provision information distributed from the host device. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a copyright usage fee generated by being stored at the providing terminal and a copyright usage fee generated by using the providing information for the information providing service at the information providing terminal are set. it can.

For handling the calculation result by the above-mentioned fee calculating means, the information providing terminal itself stores the total amount of the copyright fee and also stores the result of totaling the fee for each predetermined period. Alternatively, the total amount of the copyright work fee calculated for the terminal itself may be uploaded to the host device.

The effects of the configuration as the host device and the information providing terminal are the same as those in the configuration of the above-described system, and thus will not be described here.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram when the communication-type information providing system of the present embodiment is applied to a communication karaoke system.

In FIG. 1, a host apparatus 1 and a karaoke terminal 10 as an "information providing terminal" are a communication karaoke system, and a public telephone line 5 as a communication line is a telephone company facility. The communication karaoke system shown in FIG. 1 is a minimum configuration example and includes one host device 1 and one karaoke terminal 10. In practice, there may be a plurality of the devices 1 and 10, respectively, and a plurality of karaoke terminals 10 are generally provided for one host device 1. The karaoke terminal 10 can be connected to the host device 1 via a public telephone line 5 by a telephone company.

First, an outline of the configuration and functions of the karaoke terminal 10 will be described. The karaoke terminal 10 includes a central control device 31 as control means for controlling the operation of the entire karaoke terminal according to various control programs, a multipurpose input key 32 as input means, a hard disk 33 as information storage means, a current date and A calendar clock 34 for constantly counting the time and notifying the central controller 31; an audio reproducing circuit 35;
, A communication control device 27, and a display panel 44 as notification means. Further, a mixer amplifier 38 is connected to the audio reproduction circuit 35, and a television monitor 29 as display means is connected to the screen display control device 26, respectively.
Further, a speaker 41 and a microphone 43 are connected to the mixer amplifier 38.

The communication control device 27 is for performing data communication with the host device 1 through the public telephone line 5 which is a facility of the telephone company, demodulates digital data into a voice band, and receives a received voice band signal. To digital data. The communication control device 27 is connected to the public telephone line 5, and the central control device 31 can execute communication with the host device 1 through the communication control device 27 and further through the public telephone line 5. Have been.

The multi-purpose input key 32 includes various keys, and is used for operations such as selecting a karaoke song and connecting to the host device 1. The karaoke terminal 10 receives karaoke song information necessary for performing a karaoke performance from the host device 1 for a fee, and has a built-in hard disk 3.
3 to be stored. At this time, the fact that the karaoke song information has been stored in the hard disk 33 is stored as an operation log described later.

The karaoke song information for one song stored in the hard disk 33 is composed of song number information and entity information as identification information for identifying songs. The entity information therein is M which is information of accompaniment music.
The information includes performance information, lyrics information, timing information for switching lyrics and changing colors, etc., in accordance with the IDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard.
The hard disk 33 also stores background video information. Then, the karaoke song information is read from the hard disk 33 in response to the request of the karaoke user,
It is converted into an audio signal and subtitle display and output.

The karaoke terminal 10 is managed by a karaoke terminal installation company. Then, new song information is supplied from the song information distribution company for a fee, and the hard disk 3
3 is sequentially stored and accumulated to increase the number of tunes that can be played. At the time of karaoke performance, the karaoke song information corresponding to the request of the karaoke user is stored on the hard disk 33.
And converts it into an audio signal and outputs it, and also displays the background video read from the hard disk 33 on the television monitor 29 as the background of the lyrics telop.

More specifically, the central control unit 31
The karaoke performance process is executed in accordance with a predetermined karaoke performance program. The central controller 31 reads karaoke tune information corresponding to the requested tune from the hard disk 33, and stores the karaoke performance information in the audio reproduction circuit 35.
Then, the lyric information is transferred to the screen display control device 26. The performance information output to the audio reproduction circuit 35 is converted into an analog performance signal, and then sent to a mixer amplifier 38 where it is electrically amplified.
The user's singing voice input through is mixed at an appropriate rate. The mixed audio signal is sent to the speaker 41
Is output to the outside as a performance sound.

On the other hand, the lyric information output in synchronization with the performance information is superimposed on the background video information read out from the hard disk 33 and reproduced by the screen display control device 26 and displayed on the television monitor 29. Is done. As a result, on the television monitor 29, the lyric telop is synthesized with the background video. In addition,
The background video is controlled so that a video corresponding to the genre of the requested music is automatically selected.

The status of the operation of the karaoke terminal 10 is stored in the hard disk 33 as operation result information (operation log), and is periodically uploaded to the host device 1. FIG. 2 shows the format of the operation log. The operation log includes the date and time including the date D1 and the hour, minute, and second D2, and an operation content D3. For example, the operation contents include the date and time when the power was turned on and the operation content when the power was turned on, or the operation content when the music was played and the music number of the music number.

Next, the configuration of the host device 1 will be described.
The host device 1 includes a host computer 51 as control means, an information storage device 53, an input device 55, a communication control device 57, a printer 59, and a CRT 61.

The host computer 51 controls the operation of the entire host device in accordance with various control programs, and corresponds to "usage calculation means". The information storage device 53 stores and accumulates karaoke song information (consisting of MIDI performance information and the like as described above) that can be distributed to the karaoke terminal 10. The information storage device 53 can also store the distribution record of the operation result information and the karaoke song information for each karaoke terminal 10 or the totaling result and the charging result of the royalties, which will be described later. Further, the information storage device 53 also has a correspondence table indicating the correspondence between the karaoke song information that can be distributed to the karaoke terminal 10 and the royalties related to the karaoke song information.
Can be stored. Therefore, the information storage device 53 corresponds to “accumulation means” and “correspondence storage means”.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the format of the correspondence table described above. That is, for the song number D11, the first royalties royalty D12 and the second royalties royalty D
13 is set. Further, in the case of the present embodiment, the work is a music work called a karaoke song, and in consideration of the fact that the work is used for a medley performance in the case of karaoke, the second royalty fee D14 for the medley performance is also considered. Is set.

Here, the first copyrighted work fee D12 is set as a royalty fee for “copying right” and “cable broadcasting right”, and the second copyrighted work fee D13 is set for “performance right”. It is set as a royalty. By accumulating the karaoke song information in the karaoke terminal 10, a royalty fee of "copying right" is generated, and by transmitting the karaoke song information through the communication network, a royalty fee of "cable broadcasting right" is generated.
When the karaoke terminal 10 performs the karaoke using the karaoke music information, a royalties of "performance right" is generated. Accordingly, in order to collect the royalty fee based on these royalty fees, the first and second copyright fee D described above are collected.
12, D13 are set.

Also, there is a medley performance as a mode of the karaoke performance, and in this case, a plurality of music pieces are used. Also in this case, a royalty fee of "performance right" is generated, and therefore, a special copyright fee D14 is set for this. For example, if five pieces of karaoke piece information are partially used for one piece of medley performance, it is conceivable to collect a second royalty fee for the five pieces (pertaining to the "permission right"). In that case, the unfairness on the user side increases.
On the other hand, it is conceivable to collect one-fifth for five songs, but in some cases, the copyright holder cannot be satisfied with the amount simply divided by the number of songs used. Therefore, it is important that these are determined by mutual agreement,
For example, a predetermined coefficient (for example, 1.
One or more coefficients such as 2 or 1.3) can be considered. It is conceivable that this coefficient is set as the second royalty fee D14 for medley performance.

FIG. 3 also shows a fee D12 for each song number.
Although D14 to D14 are set, if a flat fee is acceptable, the correspondence relationship between each usage fee D12 to D14 per song is shown. Returning to the description of the configuration of the host device 1, various commands can be input from the input device 55. Printing by the printer 59 or CRT 61
Can be displayed on the screen. Further, the communication control device 57 also functions as a “distribution unit” and an “operation result information acquisition unit”, and performs data communication with the karaoke terminal 10 through the public telephone line 5 which is a facility of the telephone company. The communication control device 57 of the host device 1 and the communication control device 27 of the karaoke terminal 10 perform data communication via the public telephone line 5. The distribution of new song data is performed through this route.

It has been described that the karaoke music information necessary for performing the karaoke performance is supplied from the host device 1 and stored and stored in the hard disk 33 built in the karaoke terminal 10. Songs released in the past are supplied together or are installed on the user side as the karaoke terminal 10 stored in the hard disk 33 in advance, but new songs to be released in the future will be handled by the host device. 1 to public telephone line 5
, And is supplied to the karaoke terminal 10 in sequence through the terminal.

In this case, according to the present embodiment, when it is necessary to distribute a new song, the host device 1 accesses each karaoke terminal 10 sequentially, and when the karaoke terminal 1 can be connected, the karaoke terminal 1
A method of distributing a new song to “0” is adopted. next,
Control processing executed by the central control device 31 of the karaoke terminal 10 and the host computer 51 of the host device 1 will be described with respect to specific processing contents for achieving the above functions.

First, the operation of the karaoke terminal 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the power is turned on, the execution of this main routine is started. First, in the first step S1, initialization of the entire device such as resetting of the communication control device 27 is performed. Next, in S2, it is checked whether or not the karaoke performance mode is specified as the operation specification of the karaoke terminal 10. If the karaoke terminal installation company specifies the karaoke performance mode, the process proceeds to S3, and if not, the process proceeds to S4.

In S3, the music information selected by the multi-purpose input key 32 is read from the hard disk 33, and a predetermined karaoke performance process is performed. Since the specific contents of the karaoke performance process have been described above, they are omitted here. However, when the karaoke performance is executed, the operation log is stored in FIG.
And is stored in the hard disk 33.

In step S3, a request from a user and the execution of a karaoke performance are repeatedly performed until the karaoke performance mode is released. The step of S3 ends when the karaoke terminal installation company designates the release of the karaoke performance mode, and shifts to S4. In S4, it is checked whether or not a connection request from the host device 1 has occurred. If so, the process proceeds to S5; otherwise, the process proceeds to S2.

In S5, a subroutine is called to perform a terminal-corresponding process of receiving the music information distributed from the host device 1 and saving it on the hard disk 33 or transmitting an operation log to the host device 1. This terminal correspondence processing will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

In the first step S11 of the terminal handling process shown in FIG. 5, a connection process is performed in response to a connection request from the host device 1. After the connection is completed, the flow shifts to S12, and it is determined whether or not the karaoke song information is distributed. If the karaoke song information is distributed (S12: YES), the karaoke song information distributed from the host device 1 is received, and the received karaoke song information is saved on the hard disk 33. Even when the received karaoke song information is saved on the hard disk 33, the operation log is created in accordance with the format described with reference to FIG.

After that, the operation log recorded on the hard disk 33 is transmitted to the host device 1. Note that S12
If the judgment is negative, that is, if there is no distribution of song information,
13 is not executed, and only the transmission of the operation log in S14 is executed. Then, after the reception / save of the music information and the transmission processing of the operation log are completed, S
The process proceeds to step S15, and the connection with the host device 1 is released. After the completion of the process, the subroutine is returned, the process returns to the step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, and the processes from S2 are repeated until the power is turned off.

The operation of the karaoke terminal 10 has been described above.
Processing such as karaoke performance processing, reception of newly distributed karaoke song information, and transmission of an operation log are performed. Next, the operation of the host device 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an access process to the karaoke terminal 10, and FIG.
5 is a flowchart of copyrighted work totaling processing executed at a predetermined timing, for example, every month.

First, the access processing (FIG. 6) will be described. After the power is turned on, the host device 1 executes the processing from step S51. In S51, initialization of the entire device such as resetting of the communication control device 57 is performed. Then, the flow shifts to S55, and in S55 to S64, the karaoke terminal 1 is actually
0, and performs processing relating to access processing for distributing karaoke song information and uploading an operation log.

First, in S55, a table number M of an access table in which a predetermined access order is determined is set to 0, and in S56, the table number M is incremented (M = M + 1). Then, in S57, the access time stored in the table of the table number M is read.

Then, in S58, it is determined whether or not the read access time has come. This is because the read access time is determined by the calendar clock 34 (see FIG. 1).
It is determined based on whether or not the current time information obtained from the above matches.
When the access time comes (S58: YE
S), the process proceeds to S59 to connect to the corresponding karaoke terminal 10. If there is a new song to be distributed (S6
0: YES), the process proceeds to S61, and the karaoke song information of the new song is distributed to the karaoke terminal 10, and the karaoke terminal 10 is requested to upload an operation log. on the other hand,
If there is no new song to be distributed (S60: NO), S62
Then, only the upload of the operation log is requested to the karaoke terminal 10. This is because, for example, karaoke song information relating to a new song is not always distributed every day, but it is preferable to upload an operation log every day.

After the processing in S61 or S62, the process proceeds to S63, in which the operation log uploaded from the karaoke terminal 10 is received, the connection with the karaoke terminal 10 is released, and the received operation log is stored in the information storage device 53. Save. Upon completion of the operation log reception / save processing in S63, it is determined in S64 whether the table number M has reached the set maximum value Mmax. If M has not reached the maximum value Mmax (S64: NO), the flow returns to S56, and the table number M is incremented again. Similarly, when the access time to the karaoke terminal 10 comes, the above-described series of processing is performed, and finally When the table number M has reached the maximum value Mmax set (S64: Y
ES), and return to S52.

Next, the copyrighted work totaling process (FIG. 7) will be described. In the copyrighted work totalizing process, first, the number of subscribers counter is cleared in the first step S71, and in the next step S72, the content of a per-subscriber totaling table described later is cleared.

Then, in S73, a subscriber code is obtained from the subscriber database (FIG. 7). This is sequentially obtained in the order of the subscriber code registered in the subscriber database. In subsequent S74, it is determined whether or not the value of the subscriber number counter is equal to or more than the number of registered users in the subscriber database. If the value of the subscriber number counter is equal to or greater than the number of registered users in the subscriber database (S74: YES),
This processing is terminated as it is, but if the value of the subscriber number counter is smaller than the number of registered users in the subscriber database (S7).
4: NO), and execute the processing from S75.

In S75, it is determined whether or not the file currently being referred to is the log file end where the operation log is stored. To get. Note that the log acquisition in S76 is sequentially acquired in the order of the stored operation logs.

At S77, the subscriber code acquired from the subscriber database at S73 is compared with the log subscriber code acquired at S76. If the two subscriber codes match, the process proceeds to S78, but if they do not match, the process returns to S75.

In S78, it is determined whether or not the operation log acquired in S76 is related to the royalties. That is, when the received content of the karaoke song information is stored in the hard disk 33 or the execution of the karaoke performance is stored as the operation content D3 in the operation log format shown in FIG. , It is determined to be related to the royalty fee. The other operation logs include, for example, the power ON / OFF of the karaoke terminal 10 and the execution of a service other than the karaoke performance.

If the operation log is related to the royalties (S78: YES), the process proceeds to S79, where necessary items are stored in an aggregation table (see FIG. 8) provided for each subscriber. It returns to S75. On the other hand, if it is not an operation log related to the copyrighted work usage fee (S78: NO), S7
The process returns to S75 without performing the process of No. 9.

A supplementary description will be given of the storage in the total table for each subscriber in FIG. In this table, a subscriber code is set for each subscriber so as to be distinguished, and includes a song number, a fee type, and a fee. As described in the correspondence table of FIG. 3, in the case of the present embodiment, the first royalties royalty D when the karaoke terminal 10 internally stores the karaoke song information distributed from the host device 1.
12 and a second royalties fee D13 when a karaoke performance is performed by the karaoke terminal 10 using the karaoke song information, and the respective royalties fees are stored. Therefore, after storing the usage fee type as the first work usage fee D12 or the second work usage fee D13, the corresponding usage fee is acquired with reference to the correspondence table of FIG. You do it. In this way, the log corresponding to the subscriber code acquired in S73 is searched, and the tallying process for storing only the royalties related to the royalties in the tallying table is sequentially performed. That is, when the processing is performed up to the log file end, the process proceeds to S80.

In step S80, the contents of the target operation log are summarized based on the subscriber total table stored in step S79, and the total amount of the usage fee is calculated. As the file of the subscriber code to be executed, the contents of the operation log summarized in S80 and the calculated total usage fee are stored. The operation log contents are, for example,
It is also conceivable to store the number of stored songs and the number of played songs, or the number of medley performances among them. Also,
The total usage fee can be calculated from the sum of the usage fee column in FIG.

[0066] Now that the storage of the results of one person has been completed, the processing shifts to the process of totalizing and storing results for the next subscriber. Specifically, the value of the number-of-subscribers counter is incremented in subsequent S82, and the process returns to S72. In S72, the contents of the subscriber-specific aggregation table are cleared, and in S73, the next subscriber code is obtained from the subscriber database. And
The processing after S74 is performed.

When the counting and storing of the results for all the subscriber codes stored in the subscriber database (not shown) are completed in this way, a positive determination is made in S74, and thus the present processing is performed. To end. The data stored in the performance table shown in FIG. 9 is sent to, for example, a financial institution and collected by automatic debit, or printed as an invoice. You will have to go and collect it.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the communication karaoke system of the present embodiment, the information storage device 53 of the host device 1 stores a table indicating the correspondence between the karaoke song information and the royalties. 3) is stored, and based on the operation log acquired by uploading from the karaoke terminal 10, the total amount of the royalty fee at the karaoke terminal 10 can be calculated by referring to the correspondence table. In the case of the above-mentioned communication karaoke system, the first royalties for the “copy right” and the “cable broadcasting right” and the second royalties for the “performance right” are respectively charged. It is set, and it is possible to realize appropriate calculation of the royalty fee based on the "action" subject to the royalty fee.

Also, in the case of karaoke, a medley performance in which a plurality of pieces of karaoke music information are partially connected may be executed as a service. Usage fees are also set, so that more appropriate usage fees can be calculated.

Such a royalty fee is determined by a mutual contract between the copyright holder and the user. In the case of the embodiment, since it is possible to cope only by updating and storing the contents of the correspondence table (FIG. 3) in the host device 1, the convenience is high.

In the present embodiment, as described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, the total amount of the usage fee is calculated for each subscriber. Thus, for example, if a subscriber only has one karaoke terminal 10,
It is the total usage fee for that one karaoke terminal 10,
For example, if a plurality of karaoke terminals 10 are installed in one store, and they are owned by the same subscriber, the usage fees of the plurality of karaoke terminals 10 are collected in units of stores. The total usage fee will be calculated.
Of course, in this case, the calculation may be performed for each karaoke terminal 10 and then for each store. For these, the calculation target range may be appropriately set according to the circumstances such as charge collection and terminal management.

As described above, according to the present communication karaoke system, the host apparatus 1 distributes the karaoke music information containing the copyrighted work to the karaoke terminal 10 and uses it for karaoke performance as an information providing service in the karaoke terminal 10. Even with the system, it is possible to reasonably calculate the royalty fee. By making such a reasonable calculation of the royalty fee, it is possible to contribute to the realization of sound system operation.

Further, in the case of the above-described system, the total amount of the royalties is calculated based on the operation log uploaded from the karaoke terminal 10.
Since the upload of the operation log has been proposed and realized for the management of the karaoke terminal 10, it is sufficient to use the upload, and a configuration is adopted in which the upload is performed only for calculating the total amount of the royalty fee. There is also the advantage that there is no need.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the case of the communication karaoke system of the above embodiment, the host device 1
Is configured to calculate the total amount of the royalty fee based on the operation log uploaded from the karaoke terminal 10, but the karaoke terminal 10 may also calculate the total amount. In this case, the correspondence table as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the hard disk 33 in the karaoke terminal 10, and the total amount of the royalty fee of the terminal 10 is calculated based on the operation log. In this case, the central control device 31 functions as a “fee calculation unit” in the case of claim 9.

In this case as well, a reasonable calculation of the royalty fee can be made, which can contribute to the realization of sound system operation. In this case, when it is desired to update the royalties in the correspondence table of FIG. 3, for example, data indicating a new “correspondence” is transmitted from the host device 1 to the karaoke terminal 10 and updated and stored. It should be done.

Regarding the handling of the calculation result, it is conceivable that the karaoke terminal 10 stores the calculated total amount of the royalties on the hard disk 33 or uploads it to the host device 1. When the karaoke terminal 10 calculates and stores it by itself,
For example, a charge collector periodically goes to the place where the karaoke terminal 10 is installed and collects the charge, or obtains only the usage fee data, such as debiting the current electricity rate, and generates a bill at a later date. It is possible to send it. In addition, when uploading to the host device 1, the trouble of going to the terminal installation location described above is eliminated. In addition, when uploading to the host device 1, if it is assumed that the operation log is originally uploaded as in the above-described embodiment, it may be used.

In the above embodiment, the communication karaoke system is configured, and the karaoke terminal 10 provides karaoke music information as the information to be provided. However, royalties can be generated not only for karaoke song information but also for various contents (contents of information) with the development of digital communication technology in recent years. For example, game software, program software, or video software. Therefore, it is naturally applicable to such an information distribution system in a similar manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication karaoke system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a format of an operation log.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a format of a correspondence table stored in an information storage device of the host device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing main processing in the karaoke terminal of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a terminal corresponding process in the karaoke terminal of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an access process in the host device of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a copyrighted work totaling process in the host device of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a subscriber-based totaling table used in a copyrighted work totalizing process.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a performance table created by a work fee totaling process.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host device 5 ... Public telephone line 10 ... Karaoke terminal 26 ... Screen display control device 27 ... Communication control device 29 ... Television monitor 31 ... Central control device 32 ... Multipurpose input key 33 ... Hard disk 34 ... Calendar clock 35 ... Audio reproduction circuit 38 mixer mixer 41 speaker 43 microphone 51 host computer 53 information storage device 55 input device 57 communication control device 59 printer 61 CRT

Claims (10)

[Claims] An information providing service is provided to a user using a host device storing information to be provided and information provided from the host device, and operation result information is uploaded to the host device. A communication-type information providing system including an information providing terminal adapted to be provided, wherein the host device stores a correspondence relationship between the providing information and a royalties, and from the information providing terminal. A communication-type information providing system, wherein a total amount of a royalties for use in an information providing terminal can be calculated by referring to the correspondence based on the acquired operation result information. 2. The correspondence between the providing information stored in the host device and the royalties includes at least:
A copyright fee generated by accumulating the providing information distributed from the host device at the information providing terminal, and a copyright fee generated by using the providing information for an information providing service at the information providing terminal. The copyright usage fee is set, and the operation result information uploaded by the information providing terminal to the host device indicates at least that the information has been distributed from the host device and accumulated in the terminal, and the accumulated It is characterized by including operation result information capable of specifying the provision information and operation result information capable of specifying the provision information used to execute the service while indicating that the information providing service has been executed. The communication information providing system according to claim 1. 3. The provision information is music performance data, and the correspondence between the provision information and the copyright fee stored in the host device includes a part of the music performance data of a plurality of music pieces. When the medley performance connected to the medley performance is executed as the information providing service, a copyright fee for each song is set, and the operation result information uploaded by the information providing terminal to the host device includes the medley performance. 3. The communication-type information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising operation result information indicating all providing information used at the time of execution. 4. A communication-type information providing system comprising: a host device storing information to be provided; and an information providing terminal capable of executing an information providing service to a user by using the providing information delivered from the host device. In the system, the information providing terminal stores a correspondence relationship between the providing information and the copyright fee, and based on the operation result information of the own terminal, refers to the correspondence relationship, A communication-type information providing system characterized in that the total amount of a royalty fee can be calculated. 5. The information providing terminal is configured to store the calculated total fee for use of the copyrighted work of the terminal itself, and also store the result of totalizing the fee for each predetermined period. The information providing system according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the information providing terminal is configured to be able to upload the calculated total amount of the royalty fee of the terminal to the host device. 7. An accumulating means for accumulating information for provision, a distributing means for distributing the information for provision to an information providing device, and an operation result information acquisition for acquiring operation result information uploaded from the information providing device. And a correspondence storage means for storing a correspondence between the provision information and the royalties, and the correspondence based on the operation result information obtained from the information providing terminal. A host fee calculating means for referring to the relationship and calculating a total fee for use of the copyrighted work at the information providing terminal. 8. A correspondence relationship between the provision information and the copyrighted work usage fee specifying information stored in the correspondence storage unit includes at least the provision information distributed from the host device. A copyright fee generated by being stored in the terminal and a copyright fee generated by using the providing information in the information providing terminal for the information providing service are set. The host device according to claim 7. 9. An information providing terminal capable of executing an information providing service to a user using the providing information distributed from a host device storing the providing information, wherein the providing information and a copyrighted work are used. Correspondence storage means for storing a correspondence relationship with the fee, and usage fee calculation means for calculating the total amount of the copyright usage fee of the own terminal by referring to the correspondence relationship based on the operation result information of the own terminal. An information providing terminal, comprising: 10. The correspondence between the information for provision and the copyrighted work specification information stored in the correspondence storage means includes at least the information for provision distributed from the host device. A copyright fee generated by being stored in the terminal and a copyright fee generated by using the providing information in the information providing terminal for the information providing service are set. The information providing terminal according to claim 9.