JPH1139263A - Method and device for checking contravention of service condition of literary work and storing medium storing program for checking contravention of service condition of literary work - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and device for checking contravention of service condition of literary work by which contravention of the service condition of a literary work, such as the digital picture, animation, etc., sold through an opened network, such as the Internet, etc., can be checked automatically and a recording medium on which a program for checking contravention of service condition of literary work is stored. SOLUTION: On a recording medium, unerasable or indelible openwork information is buried in an original picture which becomes a commodity by using an openwork technique. At least the information on the original picture, the information on the author, the service condition of the original picture, and the URLs of the servers of purchasers are stored in a management data base and the picture information in which the openwork information is buried is transmitted to the server of a purchaser who offers to purchase the original picture. Then, whether or not the purchaser contravenes to the service condition is checked by performing access to the server of the purchaser based on the URL of the server at prescribed or arbitrary timing and, when the purchaser contravenes, contravention processing is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for checking a violation of use conditions of a work, and a storage medium storing a program for checking a violation of use conditions of a work. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for checking violations of use conditions of a work, and a storage medium storing a program for checking violations of use conditions of a work, for checking use conditions required for disclosure or sale through a network such as the above. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when publishing or selling a copyrighted work such as a photograph on the Internet, in order to check whether a purchaser has violated usage conditions such as an expiration date, the seller must purchase the work. Access to the server, search for images sold by human eyes, check whether the terms of use have been violated, and if so, notify the purchaser of the violation, and pay the surcharge Processing such as billing is performed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, since the work is checked manually, there is a problem that errors are likely to occur, time is required, and the cost increases accordingly. is there. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to automatically perform a use condition check or a violation check on a work such as a digital image or a moving image that is sold through an open network such as the Internet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for checking violation of use conditions of a work and a storage medium storing a program for checking violation of use conditions of a work.

[0004]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. The present invention provides digital images,
In the method of checking the usage conditions required for publishing or selling a copyrighted work, including video, over a network including the Internet, the original copyrighted work is watermarked using watermark technology. The watermark information is embedded in a form that cannot be erased or falsified (step 1), and at least the original work, the author information, usage conditions including the expiration date, and usable location information including the URL are stored in the management database (step 2). ), And transmits the copyrighted work information in which the watermark information is embedded to the purchaser server that has made the purchase application (step 3), and
At an arbitrary timing, whether or not the usage conditions are violated is checked by accessing a usable location (step 4).

Further, according to the present invention, watermark information to be embedded is
The work ID, the creator ID, and if purchased, the purchaser ID, and the information stored in the management database is the work ID, the work name, the creator ID, the creator name, and the purchaser if purchased. Use conditions including ID, expiration date, and usable location information including URL. Further, according to the present invention, when checking whether or not the use condition is violated, the use condition is specified, and a candidate which does not match the use condition is extracted from the management database and included in the extracted information. UR
L, access to a usable place or other places, download a work in which watermark information is embedded, extract the embedded watermark information from the downloaded image information, and Read the corresponding information from the management database and check the usage conditions.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The present invention relates to a content management server that publishes a digital image or a work including a moving image via a network including the Internet or sells the work by transmitting the work to a purchaser. A use condition violation checking device 100, a watermark information embedding unit 110 for embedding watermark information in an original work in a form that cannot be erased or falsified by a watermark technique, and at least the original work information, A storage unit 120 for storing usage conditions including a usage period and usable location information including a URL, and a copyrighted work information in which the watermark information is embedded by the watermark information embedding unit 110 is transmitted to a purchaser who has made a purchase application. Transmission means 13
There is a checking means 140 for accessing a usable location or any other location to check whether the usage condition is not violated at 0 or a predetermined or arbitrary timing.

[0007] The watermark information embedding means 110 sets the watermark information to be embedded as the copyrighted work ID and, if purchased, the purchaser ID. The storage means 120 stores the information stored in the management database 10 in a work ID, a work name, a creator ID, a creator name, a purchaser ID, a use condition including an expiration date, and a usable place including a URL. Information.

[0008] The checking means 140 designates a use condition and extracts a candidate which does not match the use condition from the management database, and a usable place included in the information extracted by the extract means. Or an access means for accessing a place other than the above and downloading the copyrighted information in which the watermark information is embedded, and extracting the embedded watermark information from the downloaded copyrighted information, and based on the watermark information, A reading unit for reading the corresponding information from the management database, and a use condition checking unit for checking a use condition of the information read by the reading unit are included.

According to the present invention, the use conditions of a copyrighted work, including digital images and moving images, which are executed by a content management server that sells the work by publishing the work through a network including the Internet or transmitting the work to a purchaser are disclosed. A storage medium storing a use condition violation check program for a work to be checked, wherein a watermark information embedding process for embedding watermark information in a form that cannot be erased or falsified in the original work by a watermark technique; A storage process for storing image information, author information, usage conditions, and available location information, and a transmission process for transmitting copyrighted work information in which watermark information has been embedded by the watermark information embedding process to the purchaser server who made the purchase application And whether or not the usage conditions are violated at a predetermined or arbitrary timing And a checking process for checking access the ability location or elsewhere.

The watermark information embedding process described above includes
As the watermark information to be embedded, the copyrighted work ID is used, and if purchased, the purchaser ID is used. The storage process uses the information stored in the management database as a work ID, a work name, a creator name, a purchaser ID, use conditions, and usable place information.

The check process includes an extraction process for designating a use condition and extracting a candidate that does not match the use condition from a management database, and a usable place included in the information extracted by the extraction process. Alternatively, an access process for accessing a place other than the above and downloading the copyrighted information in which the watermark information is embedded, and extracting the embedded watermark information from the downloaded copyrighted information and managing based on the watermark information Reading the corresponding information from the database.

According to the present invention, by embedding the image ID, the creator ID, and the purchaser ID as watermark information in the copyrighted work information (original image) and transmitting the watermarked information to the purchaser server, the purchaser server obtains these information. Information cannot be altered. In addition, information that may have a violation (for example, if the expiration date has passed, but you continue to use it, there is a possibility that the terms of use have been violated. Is read from the management database, and accesses the purchaser server using the available location information including the URL included in the information of the database to obtain the image information in which the watermark information is embedded. Then, by searching the database based on the watermark information and collating with the use condition, it is possible to check the use condition violation.

[0013]

FIG. 3 shows a system configuration to which the present invention is applied. System in the figure, the content management database 10, the content management server 20, Internet 30, (hereinafter referred to as buyer server) purchaser WWW server consists 40 ₁ to 40 _n.

The content management server 20 embeds an image ID, a creator ID, and a purchaser ID as watermark information in an original image and transmits the purchase information to the purchaser server 40 when a purchase request is received from the purchaser server 40. Further, in addition to the embedded information in the content management database 10, an image name, an author name, usage conditions of the original image (product),
The URL of the purchaser server 40 that has made the purchase application is inserted. Further, the use condition stored in the content management database 10 is compared with the information downloaded from the purchaser server 40 to extract the use condition violation, and the violating purchaser server 40 is processed for the violation. I do.

The content management database 10 stores watermark information embedded in the original image by the content management server 20, an image name, an author name, usage conditions, a URL of the purchaser server 40 used, and the like. Internet 30
Performs communication between the content management server 20 and the purchaser server 40.

The purchaser server 40 purchases and executes a product such as a digital image or a moving image from the content management server 20. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the content management server of the present invention. The content management server 20
Watermark information embedding section 21, database reading section 22,
It comprises a purchaser server access unit 23, a memory 24, a check unit 25, and a violation processing unit 26.

When the watermark information embedding unit 21 receives a purchase application from the purchase server 40, the watermark information embedding unit 21 uses the existing digital watermarking technology (Japanese Patent Application No. 8-305370, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-338869) to convert the original image into an original image. Image ID,
The creator ID and the purchaser ID are embedded, and the embedded information, the image name, the creator name, the usage conditions, and the URL of the purchaser server are written in the content management database 10. As a result, the content management database 10
Information as shown in FIG. 5 is embedded.

The database reading unit 22 reads the contents of the content management database 10 and extracts URLs that may violate usage conditions such as expiration,
It is transferred to the check unit 25 and the purchaser server access unit 23. The purchaser server access unit 23 accesses the purchaser server 40 using the URL acquired from the database reading unit 22 as a key, downloads an image as a product from the purchaser server 40, and writes the image in the memory 24.

The memory 24 stores the downloaded image information. The check unit 25 reads watermark information (image ID, creator ID, purchaser ID) embedded in the image information stored in the memory 24, and is included in the information read from the content management database 10. It checks whether there is a URL that violates the usage condition, and transfers the violated URL to the violation processing unit 26.

The violation processing unit 26 notifies the purchaser server corresponding to the URL determined to be in violation by the check unit 25 of the violation, and performs a surcharge payment request process. FIG. 6 is a sequence chart showing the use condition violation check operation of the present invention.

Step 101) A purchase request for image information is issued from the purchaser server 40 to the content management server 20. Step 102) When the content management server 20 receives the purchase request from the purchaser server 40, the watermark information embedding unit 21 determines the image ID of the prize (image information) corresponding to the purchase request and the author who generated the image information. I
D. The purchaser ID uniquely assigned to each purchaser server 40 is embedded in the original image by a digital watermark technique.

Step 103) The watermark information embedding unit 21 further stores the information embedded in the original image in step 102, the image name, the author name, the usage conditions, and the purchaser server 40 who purchased the product (image information). Is written to the content management database 10. Step 104) Sell an image product in which the watermark information is embedded. The sales method depends on the sales method by the trader, but the purchase server 40 via the Internet 30.
Shall be sent to

Step 105) Database reading unit 2
2 is for inputting a condition item such as a period condition to check whether there is a purchaser server 40 violating the condition at a predetermined cycle or an arbitrary date, and information for hitting the condition item. Is read, the URL of the purchaser server 40 included in the read information is extracted, and transferred to the purchaser server access unit 23.

Step 106) The purchaser server access unit 23 uses the URL acquired from the database read unit 22
To the purchaser server 40 based on the. Step 107) The purchaser server access unit 23 downloads image merchandise information from the purchaser server 40 by accessing, and stores it in the memory 24. Step 108) The checking unit 25 extracts the watermark information from the information stored in the memory 24. The extraction of the watermark information is performed by using the existing digital watermark embedding technology.

Step 109) The checking unit 25 instructs the database reading unit 22 to read information corresponding to the extracted watermark information from the content management database 10. Thereby, the database reading unit 22
Is the content management information corresponding to the watermark information (FIG. 5)
Is read out and passed to the check unit 25. Check part 25
Collates the acquired content management information with the information stored in the memory 24.

Step 110) If the result of the check indicates that there is a purchaser having a violating URL, step 1
The process proceeds to step 11, and if there is no offender, the process ends. Step 111) The violation processing unit 26 notifies the purchaser (the purchaser server 40) of the violation, and performs a request for a surcharge. Step 102
The digital watermark embedding technology described in, is a technology that embeds other information in image information so as not to be perceived by a human, and makes it possible to extract the embedded information when necessary.

The principle of the watermark embedding technique will be described below. The embedding process in the digital watermark embedding technology includes a decomposition process, an orthogonal transformation process, an embedding process, a decomposition process, an inverse orthogonal transformation process, and a reconstruction process. In the decomposition process,
The original image is decomposed into a plurality of blocks each having n pixels × m pixels. In the case of a moving image, it is divided into frames and the like, and each frame is decomposed into a plurality of blocks.

In the orthogonal transformation process, each block decomposed by the decomposition process is subjected to an orthogonal transformation such as a discrete cosine transform (DCT transform) to obtain an n × m frequency component matrix. Prior to embedding the embedding information, the embedding position for deciding where to embed the embedding information in the frequency component matrix obtained by the orthogonal transformation process is determined by a random number, and furthermore, how much the frequency component value is changed at that position Is determined, and the determined embedding position and the determined amount are acquired as key information.

In the embedding process, when embedding information is embedded, it is not necessary to embed all information in the frequency component matrix for one block, but may embed it across the frequency component matrices of a plurality of blocks. By selecting, for example, a low-frequency portion of a frequency component matrix as an embedding position, embedding can be performed so that it cannot be perceived by humans. Also, by changing the change amount, the difference from the original value of the frequency component matrix can be changed, so that the deterioration of the image quality can be controlled. In the embedding process, the value of the frequency component matrix of each block is changed based on the embedding position and the amount of change of the key information, and the embedding information is embedded.

In the inverse orthogonal transformation process, the frequency component matrix of each block in which the embedding information is embedded by the embedding process is inversely orthogonal transformed to obtain a block image of n pixels × m pixels. In the reconstruction process, the block images obtained by the inverse orthogonal transform process are connected to obtain a watermark image in which embedded information is embedded.

Next, the processing for extracting the embedded information in the above step 108 will be described. Extraction of embedded information includes decomposition processing, orthogonal transformation processing, extraction processing, and the like. In the decomposing process, the watermark image is decomposed into a plurality of blocks each including n pixels × m pixels.

In the orthogonal transformation processing, orthogonal transformation is performed on each block decomposed by the decomposition processing to obtain an n × m frequency component matrix. In the extraction process, the embedding position and the amount of change are obtained from the key information used in the embedding process at the time of embedding, and the embedding information is extracted from the frequency component matrix of each block.

As described above, digital watermarking technology
Embedding information cannot be extracted without the key information used at the time of embedding, the embedding information in the key information is not fixed because it is created by random numbers, and it is difficult to decipher the embedding information, and devising the embedding position Therefore, there is a feature that the embedded information is embedded so that a human cannot perceive it, and the degree of image quality deterioration can be controlled by changing the change amount.

[0034]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following example, it is assumed that the check date is July 10, 1997, the use condition is 90 days from the purchase date, and the expiration date is stored in the content management database 10 as the use condition for each purchase application. .

FIG. 7 shows an example of the contents of the content management database according to one embodiment of the present invention. There are currently five purchase applications from the purchase server 40, and for each application, the image ID 11, image name 12, creator ID 13, creator name 14, usage conditions (expiration date) 15, and purchaser server URL are used for content management. It is assumed that it is registered in the database 10.

Also, an image ID, an author ID, and a purchaser ID
Is embedded in each image product to be sold by the watermark embedding technology, and is transmitted from the content management server 20 to the purchaser server 40. The database reading unit 22 of the content management server 20 reads records before the check date (July 10, 1997) from the content management database 10 and reads UR from the records.
L is extracted (step 105). At this time, the record including the read URL is a record whose expiration date has already passed before July 10 of the check date, and is three records of record numbers 1, 2, and 3.

Thus, the purchaser server access unit 23
Is the extracted URL http: // www. xxxx. co. jp / http: // www. yyyy. co. jp / http: // www. zzzz. co. jp / is accessed (step 106). The information of the image product obtained by the access is downloaded to the memory 24 (step 107). Next, the checking unit 25 extracts the watermark information embedded at the time of sale from the content downloaded to the memory 24 (step 108), and based on the watermark information, the content management database 10
Read the corresponding record from. Further, the usage conditions of the read record are extracted, and those whose usage period, which is the usage period, has passed July 10, 1997 are extracted (step 109). The violation processing unit 26 extracts a URL from the extracted record, transmits a violation notification to the URL, and requests a surcharge.

In embedding the watermark information in the original image, the information item serving as the watermark information may be manually input from a keyboard or the like, or may be read from a dedicated information file and embedded. further,
In the above embodiment, the expiration date is used as the use condition. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the use condition may be checked using various use conditions, such as when the payment has not been completed. Is possible.

Although the above embodiment has been described based on the configuration requirements of the content management server 20, the configuration requirements of the content management server 20 are not limited to this example. , And stored in a disk device or the like, and installed on the computer of the content management server 20 as necessary to check for usage condition violations. Furthermore, the built program is stored on a floppy disk or C
It is also possible to store it in a portable storage medium such as a D-ROM and use it versatilely when using such a system.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified and applied within the scope of the claims.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image ID, an author ID,
By embedding the purchaser ID and transmitting it to the purchaser server via an open network such as the Internet, such information cannot be falsified on the purchaser server. Becomes impossible.

Further, in the case where the use is continued even though the expiration date has passed, there is a possibility that the use condition is violated. Therefore, information which is considered to have reached the deadline is managed. It reads from the database, accesses the purchaser server using the URL included in the information of the database, acquires the image information in which the watermark information is embedded, searches the database based on the watermark information, and uses the database. By collating with the condition, the violation of the use condition can be automatically checked without manual intervention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a content management server of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of a content management database of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sequence chart showing a use condition violation check operation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a content management database according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Content Management Database 11 Image ID 12 Image Name 13 Author ID 14 Author Name 15 Buyer ID 16 Terms of Use 17 WWW Server URL 20 Content Management Server 21 Watermark Information Embedding Unit 22 Database Reading Unit 23 Purchaser Server Access Unit 24 Memory 25 Checking unit 26 Violation processing unit 30 Internet 40 Purchaser WWW server 100 Use condition violation checking device for copyrighted work 110 Watermark information embedding unit 120 Storage unit 130 Transmission unit 140 Check unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. To publish a copyrighted work including digital images and moving images via a network including the Internet,
In the method of checking the use conditions of a copyrighted work, which is required to check the use conditions required for sale, embed watermark information in an original work in a form that cannot be erased or falsified by watermark technology, and at least Stores the original work, author information, usage conditions including the expiration date, usable location information including the URL, transmits the copyrighted work information with the embedded watermark information to the purchaser server that made the purchase application, and A method of checking the use condition violation of a copyrighted work, wherein the use condition is checked at any time by checking whether the use condition is violated by accessing a usable place. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the watermark information to be embedded is
D, creator ID, and if purchased, purchaser ID
The information to be stored in the management database is a work ID including a work ID, a work name, a creator ID, a creator name, a purchaser ID if purchased, a use condition including an expiration date, and a usable place including the URL. 2. A method for checking a use condition violation of a copyrighted work according to claim 1, which is information. 3. When checking whether or not the use condition is violated, a use condition is specified, and a candidate that does not match the use condition is extracted from the management database and included in the extracted information. The available location including the URL to be used, or
Accessing the other place, downloading the work in which the watermark information is embedded, extracting the embedded watermark information from the downloaded image information, and corresponding information from the management database based on the watermark information. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the use condition is read by checking the use condition. 4. A work including a digital image and a moving image is disclosed through a network including the Internet,
A device for checking the usage conditions of a copyrighted work in a content management server to be sold by transmitting it to a purchaser. This is a device for checking the usage conditions of the copyrighted work. Watermark information embedding means for embedding watermark information; storage means for storing at least the original work information, author information, use conditions including the expiration date, and usable location information including the URL in a management database; Transmitting means for transmitting the copyrighted work information in which the watermark information is embedded by the incorporation means to the purchaser who has made the purchase application; and Checking means for accessing and checking other places for use of the copyrighted work characterized by having Violation check device. 5. The work condition violation check device according to claim 4, wherein the watermark information embedding means uses the watermark information to be embedded as a work ID and a purchaser ID when purchased. 6. The storage unit stores information stored in the management database as a work ID,
5. The work condition violation check device according to claim 4, wherein the work condition information includes a work name, a creator ID, a creator name, a purchaser ID, a use condition including a use term, and usable location information including the URL. 7. The extraction means for designating a use condition and extracting a candidate that does not match the use condition from the management database, and a usable condition included in the information extracted by the extraction means. Access means for accessing a proper place or another place and downloading the copyrighted information in which the watermark information is embedded; extracting the embedded watermark information from the downloaded copyrighted information; 5. A work condition violation check device according to claim 4, further comprising: a reading unit for reading corresponding information from the management database based on the information, and a use condition checking unit for checking a use condition of the information read by the read unit. . 8. Publication of works including digital images and moving images through a network including the Internet,
A storage medium storing a use condition violation check program for a copyrighted work, which is executed by a content management server to be sold by transmitting it to a purchaser, wherein the original work is deleted or erased by a watermark technique. A watermark information embedding process for embedding watermark information in a form that cannot be falsified; a storage process for storing at least the original image information, author information, use conditions, and available location information in a management database; A transmission process of transmitting the copyrighted information in which the watermark information is embedded by the process to the purchaser server that has made the purchase application; and determining whether the usage conditions have been violated at a predetermined or arbitrary timing in the usable place or other places. And a check process for accessing and checking the location of the A storage medium that stores a program for checking the use conditions of a copyrighted work. 9. A storage medium storing a copyright use condition violation check program according to claim 8, wherein the watermark information embedding process uses a copyright ID and a purchaser ID when the watermark information is embedded. . 10. The storage process according to claim 1, wherein the information stored in the management database is a work ID,
9. A storage medium storing a work use condition violation check program according to claim 8, wherein a work name, an author name, a purchaser ID, use conditions, and usable place information are used. 11. The checking process comprises: specifying a use condition; extracting a candidate that does not match the use condition from the management database; and a usable process included in the information extracted by the extraction process. An access process for accessing a place or another place and downloading the copyrighted information in which the watermark information is embedded; extracting the embedded watermark information from the downloaded copyrighted information; 9. A storage medium storing a use condition violation check program for a copyrighted work according to claim 8, further comprising a reading process of reading corresponding information from the management database.