JP3383793B2 - Content copy tracking management system, content copy machine, center device, and their program recording media - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for managing attribute information such as digital content and its copyright by means of a content identifier uniquely assigned to each content, and especially when, where and who copied the digital content. The present invention relates to a content copy tracking management system that enables easy tracking of content.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The distribution of various digital contents such as still images, moving images, music, and text data has been rapidly progressing in recent years. The issue in the distribution of such digital contents is how to establish a mechanism for protecting and managing copyrights and promoting the use of contents.

In order to solve such a problem, the content I which is an identifier unique to each digital content is used.
It has been proposed to build a system in which D is added and the digital content and the attribute information of the content such as information for searching the content and information about copyright are uniformly managed by the content ID.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of the content management system. Content ID management center 100
Is a unique content ID for each digital content
And a function of managing the assigned content ID and the original of the content. The content management database 120 includes the issued content ID 200
And the content master 210 thereof. It should be noted that the content ID 200 and the content original 210 do not necessarily have to be managed by one content management database 120, and management of the content original 210 is sufficient if it can be accessed from the content ID management center 100 by some means. is there.

The content registration device 110 and the content use terminal 130 are information devices such as personal computers connectable to the content ID management center 100 via a network.

A person who has a copyright for digital content, such as a content creator or a content seller, needs to use the content registration device 11 when distributing the content.
A registration request including the original digital content and attribute information necessary for registration of the content is sent from 0 to the content I in advance.
Send to D management center 100. Upon receiving the content registration request, the content ID management center 100 issues a unique content ID for the content and registers the content ID and the content original in the content management database 120. Then, the issued content ID or the digital content to which the content ID is added is returned to the content registration device 110.

[0007] The general user is the content use terminal 130.
Content management center 1 via the network from
A request to search for content can be sent to 00. Upon receiving the search request, the content ID management center 100 searches for the content requested by the attribute information associated with the content ID, and if the use of the corresponding content is permitted, the content ID is electronically added to the original content. The content with ID embedded by a watermark or the like is transmitted to the content use terminal 130. Even for a content purchase request from the content use terminal 130, necessary charge processing is performed in the content ID management center 100.
Then, the ID-added content is transmitted to the request source content use terminal 130.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the data structure of the content ID in the content management system. Content ID
Reference numeral 200 is uniquely assigned to each digital content, and is related to an ID center management number including a center number and an in-center number, copyright attributes such as content genre, title, and media type, and copyright. It consists of a group of information on distribution attributes such as usage agreement condition attributes, distribution history attributes, royalty distribution information, and system control attributes for digital signatures, digital watermark information, and the like.

The content ID 200 is managed by the content management database 120 or the like in the content ID management center 100, and the content I
The D200 or a part thereof is added to the content copied from the content original 210 in the form of a digital header, or embedded in the content by a digital watermark or the like.

Of the content ID 200 shown in FIG. 9,
The part that actually has a unique value for each content is
Since this is the part of the ID center management number, and the content original 210 can be specified by the ID center management number, hereinafter, only this ID center management number will be simply referred to as a content ID. In this case, the entire content ID 200 shown in FIG. 9 is called content attribute information.

Particularly, the ID for the content original 210
In the case of embedding with a digital watermark or the like, only the portion of the ID center management number (content ID in this specification) is embedded in order to reduce the amount of embedded information. When adding to the content in the form of a digital header (or it may be inserted in the tail or in the middle), for example, XML (Exte
nsible Markup Language) Content attribute information is added in document format.

In the distribution of digital contents in the system as described above, the digital contents are always distributed in a form in which the content ID is embedded in the original content of the digital watermark or the like. Therefore, by reading the content ID from the distributed copy of the digital content, it is possible to easily specify from which content original the copy was obtained.

However, in the conventional technique, the content ID
Even if there is content embedded with, its ID
It is not possible to check when, where and by whom the attached content is copied from the content original managed by the content ID management center.

If the digital content with the content ID is, for example, an image, by printing it out on a printing paper, it is possible to easily generate a large number of duplicates converted into analog information. Further, the duplicate can be copied by a conventional optical copier. It is not possible to know from which ID-added content such a copy was first copied by the content ID.

Known techniques related to the present invention include, for example, JP-A-6-22119 and JP-A-2000-322.
There is an "image processing device" described in Japanese Patent No. 53.
In order to prevent illegal leakage due to copying, digital additional information for identifying the original document and the user is embedded in the image portion of the original document so that it can be read. However, with this technique, it is necessary to be able to embed additional information in a document by a method of multiple watermarks that can be overwritten many times, and therefore it is not possible to embed additional information in a document using a normal digital watermark technique. This is because in the case of a normal digital watermark, a new watermark ID cannot be additionally written or overwritten on a document in which the watermark ID has already been embedded. Further, in this known technique, the content of the additional information is directly embedded in the original in the form of raw data, and the entire additional information is not ID-coded and embedded in the original. There are problems such as large restrictions, difficulty in centralized management of additional information in the center, and difficulty in copying related contents and changing the copy authority later.

Further, as a known technique related to the present invention,
There is a "digital content management system using a digital watermark" described in JP-A-11-7241. This is because the content monitoring program is made resident in the microkernel in the terminal, and the individual user ID of each user is embedded with an invisible watermark in the official user for the raw content distributed by broadcasting etc. The visible watermark (user name) is displayed to the user. Furthermore, this is combined with the public key method.

Further, "information embedding device for digital image" described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-191025.
This is illegal by embedding the personal ID of the person who executed the scramble descrambling device and the digital watermark embedding device in an inseparable structure, and embedding the personal ID of the person who executed the scramble in the digital watermark. The origin of the copy is recognized.

Further, in the "confidential document management device" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-184069, information such as the person who made a hard copy, the purpose, the date and time is embedded in the confidential document so that it can be stored later. I am trying to decipher it.

However, these JP-A-11-7241, JP-A-10-191025, and JP-A 7-1.
Since the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 84069 embeds watermark information so that the origin of the copy can be traced only when the original copy of the original content is made for the first time, it is said that another copy is made from a copy of a certain content. In such a case, it is not possible to track who took where and when the second and subsequent copies were made, and from which copy was taken. Further, for example, when the content is a book, it is not possible to make a copy of another page from a copy of that page.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems and provides a chain of history information (log information) about who made a copy and when of a digital content and from which copy the digital content was copied. The purpose is to centrally manage the information, including information, and to enable tracing of copies even when copying is repeated multiple times. Another object of the present invention is to enable copying of the entire content or copying of other parts of the content from a part of the content, and centrally managing the history information thereof.

[0021]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a content copying machine reads a content ID from a copy original of a content in which the content ID is embedded, and the read content ID and information of a copy event attribute relating to the copy status are networked. There is provided means for transmitting to the content ID management center via the, and receiving and outputting the ID-added content in which the new content ID is embedded in the original content from the content ID management center.

Further, the content ID management center acquires the original of the content or the content related thereto from the content ID received from the content copying machine, and gives a new content ID to the original of the acquired content. , Its content ID and copy event attribute information, or the content I received in them
The information added with D is recorded and managed as history information in a content ID management table or the like, and the newly assigned content ID is embedded in the original of the acquired content, and the content is copied to the content copy machine that issued the copy request. A means for sending is provided.

Thus, when it is desired to know the origin of a copy of a content, the content ID embedded in the content is collated with the information such as the copy event attribute recorded by the content ID management center, whereby the content is identified. You can keep track of which content copier and when it was copied. The ID-added content copied according to the present invention can be considered as if it were a content with a fingerprint.
Further, when the content is copied by the content copying machine according to the present invention, the copy is made not from the original copy of the read content but from the original content managed by the content ID management center. The content does not deteriorate.

Further, when the content is composed of a moving picture and a plurality of pages, and the copy original is one scene or one page of the moving picture, the content copying machine can display the content such as the scene number and the page number. A means for identifying the position information in the whole and transmitting the position information and the information designating the portion to be copied to the content ID management center is provided.

As a result, it is possible to take out and copy the entire content original from a copy original of a part of the content, or take out and copy an arbitrary page of the original from a copy original of a certain page. A new content ID is added to the copied content, and history information is recorded and saved in the content ID management center along with the copy event attribute, so that the copy history can be traced.

Copy permission information for permitting or prohibiting copying based on the information of the copy event attribute such as the copy machine ID transmitted from the content copy machine is referred to as the content I.
By providing the D management center, copy prohibition control for security protection is performed, in which copying is permitted only for a copy request from a specific content copy machine, and copy requests from other content copy machines are rejected. It is also possible.

Further, by providing the content ID management center with copy permission information for permitting or prohibiting copying according to the production time and version of the content indicated by the content ID, the content created before a certain date (old version It is possible to realize a process such as prohibiting copying of the contents).

Content copy machine or content ID
The program for realizing the above processing means by a computer in the management center can be stored in an appropriate recording medium such as a computer-readable portable medium memory, a semiconductor memory, or a hard disk.

[0029]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of the present invention. The content ID management center 10, the content registration device 30, and the content copy machine 20 are connected via a network. Content registration device 30
The content copying machine 20 is composed of an information device such as a personal computer having a communication function.
The content copy machine 20 may be in the form of a copy machine installed in a convenience store, for example.

The content ID management center 10 assigns a content ID to a transmission / reception unit 11 for communication via a network, a content management unit 12 for processing / controlling management of digital contents, a content original and a copy event attribute. Content ID issuing unit 13, content registration unit 1 for registering content originals
4, a content original search unit 15 that searches and retrieves a content original, a content ID embedding unit 16 that embeds a content ID in the content original with a digital watermark, and a content ID management table 1 for managing the content ID 1.
7. It has a content original document storage unit 18 for storing and saving content original documents.

The content ID management center 10 only needs to be able to access the registered content originals, and does not necessarily need to directly hold the content originals. Therefore, the content original storage unit 18 can be provided in an external device. .

The content copy machine 20 uses the content I
An image reading unit 22 that reads a copy document 21 of a content in which D is embedded (hereinafter referred to as ID-added content) with a scanner, a content ID detection unit 23 that detects a content ID from the read image, a copy event attribute (user ID, A copy event attribute acquisition unit 24 for acquiring the organization name, copy machine ID, copy date, requested copy quality, etc. of the copy executor, a copy portion specification unit 25 for specifying a copy portion of the requested content original,
It has a transmission / reception unit 26 that communicates with the content ID management center 10, an output data generation unit 27 that generates output data from the received information from the content ID management center 10, and an image output unit 28 that prints out the generated output data.

The copy original 21 is the ID of the side to be copied.
The attached content is printed out on paper. Further, it may be a copy of it by an ordinary copying machine. The output content 29 is the ID-added content of the copy result.

Next, the operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 shows an example of copying the entire content, and FIG. 3 shows an example of copying a part of the content.

In FIG. 2, a content creator or distributor issues a content original device 40 registration request from the content registration device 30. The content original 40 is original digital content in which no content ID is embedded. In response to the registration request, the raw data of the content original 40 and the content attribute information are sent from the content registration device 30 to the content ID management center 10. The content attribute information is information such as the user ID of the producer or distributor, the organization name of the registration executor, the device ID of the content registration device 30, the registration date, the quality of the registered content, and the like.

In the content ID management center 10, when the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the registration request, the content management unit 12 receives a user ID or device ID as required.
Etc., and whether or not the content original 40 can be registered is checked. If registration is possible, content ID issuing unit 1
3, a content ID that has not been issued so far, such as a center number and a serial number in the center, is generated, and the content registration unit 14 generates a content original 4
The raw data of 0 is stored in the content original storage unit 18, and the content I is stored in the content ID management table 17.
Content attribute information including D is registered. Here, it is assumed that the issued content ID is “0001”.

The content management section 12 determines the content ID.
The embedding unit 16 embeds the content ID “0001” in the raw data of the content original 40 by a digital watermark, and sends the ID-added content 41 back to the content registration device 30. The embedding of the content ID may be performed by using a barcode or a mark of a special pattern instead of the electronic watermark.

A user A who has obtained the ID-added content 41 or a copy of the ID-added content 41 '.
Suppose that the content is copied by the content copying machine 20A. The content 41 'with the ID of the copy manuscript is
The content 41 of the content is converted into analog information by printing out the ID-added content 41 on paper.

The user A sets the ID-added content 41 ′ of the copy document on the scanner section of the content copy machine 20 A and reads it by the image reading section 22. It can be considered that the method of using the content copying machine 20A is the same as that of a normal monochrome or color copying machine. The content ID detection unit 23 reads the content ID embedded with the digital watermark from the read image. Since the technique of reading the information embedded with the digital watermark from the image data in the bitmap format is a generally known technique, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

The copy event attribute acquisition unit 24 obtains the copy event attributes such as the copy machine ID of the content copy machine 20A and the user ID of the user A from the content copy machine 2
It is acquired by setting information of 0A or user input, and the transmitting / receiving unit 2
6 transmits the information of the content ID = 0001 read from the ID-added content 41 ′ and the acquired copy event attribute to the content ID management center 10 as the parameter 42 of the copy request.

In the content ID management center 10, when the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the copy request from the content copy machine 20A, the content management unit 12 searches the content ID management table 17 using the received content ID = 0001 as a key. To do. If the corresponding content ID is registered in the content ID management table 17 and it is recorded as the content attribute information that the received copy event attribute is within the copy permission range, the content ID
The issuing unit 13 issues a content ID (assumed to be 0002) that has not been issued so far in response to the copy event of this time, and additionally writes the content ID together with the copy event attribute in the content ID management table 17. Also,
The content ID = 0001 of the copy source document is described.

The content original data retrieval unit 15 reads the raw data of the received content original corresponding to the content ID = 0001 from the content original data storage unit 18, and the content ID embedding unit 16 reads the raw data of the content original data. New content ID issued by the content ID issuing unit 13 for the copy event = 0002
Is embedded with a digital watermark. The resulting ID-added content 43 is returned to the content copying machine 20A together with content attribute information and output control information as necessary.

In the content copying machine 20A, when the transmitting / receiving section 26 receives the ID-added content 43, the output data generating section 27 generates the output data of the ID-added content 43, and the image output section 28 prints it out. As a result, the ID-added content 44 in which the content ID = 0002 is embedded is obtained.

The ID-added content 44 is a copy of the ID-added content 41 'and has the same appearance, but the content ID embedded by a digital watermark in a form invisible to humans is 0001, 00
It is different from 02. Also, the content with ID 41 '
However, for example, even if the image quality is deteriorated due to repeated analog copying, the ID-added content 43 transmitted from the content ID management center 10 is created from the original content, so the ID-added content 44 of the copy result is obtained. Indicates that there is no deterioration in image quality.

Further, the user B obtains the ID-added content 44 or the ID-added content 44 ′ obtained by analog copy of the ID-added content 44, and the user B acquires the ID-added content 4 ′.
4'is copied by the content copying machine 20B.

User B sets the ID-attached content 44 'of the copy document on the scanner section of the content copying machine 20B and presses the copy button of the apparatus. by this,
Similar to the case of the content copy machine 20A, the content ID = 0002 and the copy event attributes such as the copy machine ID and the user ID are transmitted to the content ID management center 10 as the parameter 45 of the copy request.

The content ID management center 10 receives the copy request and receives the received content ID = 000.
The content ID management table 17 is searched using 2 as a key. If it is within the copy permission range, the content ID (00
03) is issued and the content ID thereof is additionally described in the content ID management table 17 together with the copy event attribute. The content ID of the copy source manuscript is 0002, and the information thereof is also described in the content ID management table 17.

Also, the received content ID = 0002
From this, it is known that the content ID of the original is “0001”, and a new content ID = 0003 is embedded in the raw data of the original of the content with a digital watermark. The resulting ID-added content 46 is copied to the content copy machine 2
Return to 0B.

In the content copy machine 20B, as in the case of the content copy machine 20A, the output data generation unit 2
7, output data is generated, and the image output unit 28 outputs the ID-added content 47 in which the content ID = 0003 is embedded.

In the content ID management table 17, since a record of a copy event of who copied which content original by which content copy machine for each content ID is left, when there is an ID-added content whose origin is unknown. Also, by extracting the content ID and comparing it with the recording data of the content ID management center 10, it is possible to know who copied the content with the ID by which content copying machine.

Next, FIG. 3 shows an example in which an arbitrary page of the content is taken out from one copy document of the original of the content composed of a plurality of pages such as a book and is copied. An example will be described.

It is assumed that the content original 50 is a book composed of a plurality of pages. The process of sending the content original 50 from the content registration device 30 to the content ID management center 10 and registering it is the same as the example shown in FIG. Here, the content ID is “00
10 ”is given. This content ID is I
It is embedded in all pages of the D-attached content 51.

Here, it is assumed that a user obtains the ID-added content 51 or the ID-added content 51 'of a copy thereof and copies it by the content copying machine 20A. Content 51 'with copy manuscript ID
Indicates that the content of the content is converted into analog information by printing out the ID-added content 51 on paper.

The user A sets the ID-added content 51 'of the copy document on the scanner section of the content copying machine 20A and reads it by the image reading section 22. In this example, the fifth copy of the ID-added content 51 ′ is used as the copy original
Suppose you have set the third page.

The content copying machine 20A scans the set copy original by an optical method, and embeds the content I embedded with a digital watermark from the read image.
Read D. Further, the information (page number in this example) indicating the position of the copy original in the entire content is detected by character recognition or some other means. From the result, read content ID = 0010 and page =
The information of the event attribute including the information of 53 is used as the parameter 52 of the copy request as the content ID management center 10
Send to.

Upon receiving the copy request from the content copying machine 20A, the content ID management center 10 searches the content ID management table 17 using the received content ID = 0010 as a key. If the corresponding content ID is registered in the content ID management table 17 and it is recorded as the content attribute information that the received copy event attribute is within the copy permission range, the previous copy event has been recorded. A content ID (0011) which has not been issued is issued and the content ID is additionally described in the content ID management table 17 together with the copy event attribute and the content ID = 0010 of the copy source document.

The content original data retrieval unit 15 retrieves the raw data of 53 pages specified by the parameter from the received content original data corresponding to the content ID = 0010. The content ID embedding unit 16 embeds a new content ID = 0011 in the raw data of the original 53 pages of the content with a digital watermark. The resulting ID-added content 53 is copied to the content copy machine 20.
Return to A.

The content copying machine 20A receives the ID-added content 53 and prints it out.
As a result, I in which the content ID = 0011 is embedded
Content 54 with D is obtained. This is a copy of only the 53rd page of the original content 50 in this format.

In this way, in the content copying machine 20A, the content ID and the partial information such as the page number are detected, and the information is detected.
By sending it to, it is possible to obtain a content in which another content ID is embedded. Furthermore, from some pages of the content, any other page can be taken out to obtain a copy thereof.

For example, when it is desired to obtain a copy of the content of the next page from the ID-added content 54 of only 53 pages or the ID-added content 54 'obtained by further analog copying the content, the ID-added content 54' is first copied to the content copy machine 20B. Set it on the scanner part of and press the copy button on the device. As a result, the content copy machine 20B detects the content ID = 0011. When the user gives a copy request for the next page from the operation panel or menu, the content I
A copy request having D = 0011 and the next page request information as parameters 55 is transmitted to the content ID management center 10.

The content ID management center 10 receives the copy request and receives the received content ID = 001.
The content ID management table 17 is searched using 1 as a key. From the content ID management table 17, content ID = 0
011 knows that it is 53 pages of the content original with the content ID = 0010, and since the next page is requested, a new content ID = 0012 is given to page 54 of the content original, and The copy event attribute information and the copy source content ID = 0011 are recorded in the content ID management table 17. The content ID = 0012 is embedded in the 54-page raw data of the content original with a digital watermark. The resulting ID-added content 56 is returned to the content copying machine 20B.

The content copying machine 20B receives the ID-added content 56 and prints it out.
As a result, I in which the content ID = 0012 is embedded
The D-attached content 57 is obtained. This is a copy of only the 54th page of the original content 50 in this format.

From a part of the ID-added content obtained by copying the content original, another part of the content can be taken out, and a new content ID can be given to the taken out part. Since the information of the copy event is recorded and managed in the content ID management table 17, the copy history can be easily tracked. Similarly, from the content with ID that digitalized this month's issue of periodicals such as magazines,
Copying of the related content such as copying the content of the last month can also be realized by the designation of the copy part designation unit 25 in the content copying machine 20.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the content registration device 30 and the content ID management center 10 when registering the content original.

The content registration device 30 gives the original content of the digital content to be registered and its attributes (for example, user ID, organization name of registration executor, registration device ID, registration date, registered content quality, etc.) to the content ID. Send to the management center 10 (step S1), and wait for a reply of the registration result from the content ID management center 10 (step S).
2).

The content ID management center 10 waits for a request from the content registration device 30 side (step S3). When the request is received, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the raw data of the content original sent from the content registration device 30 is converted into the content I.
The content is stored in the content original storage 18 in the D management center 10 (or may be an external database management device).
Next, a content ID that has not been issued so far is generated, and the content ID is embedded in the raw data of the content original with a digital watermark (step S5). The content ID and the content attribute information together with the content I
It is additionally described in the D management table 17 (step S6). The ID-added content in which the content ID is embedded by the electronic watermark is sent back to the content registration device 30 that is the source of the registration request (step S7), and the registration processing is ended.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart when the content copying machine 20 copies a content. The content copying machine 20 scans the ID-added content set in the scanner as a copy document (step S1).
0). A digital watermark is detected from the read data and the content ID of the copy original is read (step S1).
1). After reading the content ID, the scanning data is discarded.

Next, the copy event attributes such as the user ID, the organization name of the copy executor, the copy machine ID, the copy date, the requested copy quality, etc. are acquired by user input or the like. In addition, the position information such as the page number in the requested content is read as necessary. If the user wants to copy a specific part of the content or related content, he / she inputs the designation information via the user Internet such as a menu (step S).
12).

The content ID of the copy original and the acquired copy event attribute are stored in the content ID management center 10
(Step S13), and waits for the reply of the result from the content ID management center 10 (step S14). If there is a reply from the content ID management center 10,
It is determined whether or not the ID-added content has been sent (step S15), and if it has been sent, its ID
Print out the attached content (step S1)
6). When a message indicating that copying is impossible is sent from the content ID management center 10, copying is stopped, the user is notified of this, and the processing ends (step S17).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart when the content ID management center 10 copies a content. The content ID management center 10 waits for a request from the content copy machine 20 (step S20), and when the copy request is received, the notified content ID of the original copy original.
Is searched from the content ID management table 17 (step S21).

Whether or not the corresponding content ID exists in the content ID management table 17 and the original of the content (or the original of the related content when a copy of the related content is designated) is registered. If it is registered, it is checked whether the copy event attribute received from the content attribute information is within the permitted range (step S22). If the original content is not registered or is not within the permission range, a copy-disabled message is transmitted to the content copying machine 20 (step S23).

If the original content registration information of the received content ID exists in the content ID management table 17 and the copy event attribute is within the permitted range, new content that has not been issued so far for the current copy event. An ID is generated, and the content ID is embedded in the raw data of the corresponding content original with a digital watermark (step S24). The content ID, along with the copy event attribute and the content ID of the copy source manuscript,
The content is additionally described in association with the content ID of the original (step S25), and the ID-added content in which the content ID is embedded by the digital watermark is sent back to the content copying machine 20 (step S26).

FIG. 7 shows an example of the structure of the content ID management table 17. The content ID management table 17 includes a content ID, a classification of a content ID assigned to an original or a content ID assigned to a copy event (also referred to as a copy event ID), information about a copy execution attribute, and a copy original. Attributes, copy permission attributes, etc. are stored.

As the information regarding the copy execution attribute, the user ID of the registrant or the copy executor, the name of the organization to which the registrant or the copy executor belongs, the copy machine ID indicating the copied device, the copy execution date and time, the resolution and the number of colors, etc. The copy quality information, the position in the copied content original such as the page number in the case of a copy event, and the content ID of the copy source document are described. The content ID of the copy source manuscript is the content ID sent from the content copying machine 20, which may be the content ID of the content original (when copying from the original for the first time). It may be the attached content ID, that is, the copy event ID (in the case other than copying from the original). By recording the content ID of the copy source document, the copy chain can be traced from this information.

Further, as the information regarding the attribute of the copy original, the content I of the content original as the copy source is used.
D, information such as the version of the original copy or the date of creation is described. As the information regarding the copy permission attribute, the copy permission condition regarding the range of the user, the department, the copying machine, the copy execution date and time, the copy quality, and the like who permit the copy is described.

The process of registration of the registration information of the content ID management table 17 shown in FIG. 7 and an example of processing for a copy request will be described. First, the general affairs department user ID = 032
The user 1 registered the original of 100 pages from the copier (terminal) of "General Affairs 01" on March 3, 2000, and permitted copying only within the company. The content ID = 001 is assigned to this original.

On the other hand, there was a copy request from a content copying machine outside the company, but the original copy was not sent due to the judgment of the copy permission condition.

After that, on March 4, the user of the development department (user ID = 0431) has an ID of content ID = 0001.
A monochrome copy of only 53 pages was requested from the content with D. Content I to the request copy event
D = 002 is added, and 53 pages of the original content are converted into monochrome, and the content ID is 0 by digital watermark.
02 was embedded and sent to the requesting "development D4" copy machine.

On March 22, a user of the sales department (user I
D = 041) made a copy request for the next page from the 53-page copy original in which the content ID = 002 was embedded, and obtained a full-color copy of 54 pages. The content ID = 003 was given to the copy.

For the copy event with the content ID = 004, the user of the manufacturing department (user ID = 0481) can copy the original with the content ID = 001 from the copy original of 54 pages in which the content ID = 003 is embedded on April 3. This is a full page copy of.

On April 6, the original (content ID = 00
The user who registered 1) registered a new version of the original with 20 pages added, and instructed to replace the original. In the new version of the original, the content I
D = 010 was given.

After April 6, the sales department user performed the same operation as the copy on March 22 based on the 53-page copy manuscript in which the content ID = 002 was embedded. (Content ID = 001) has already been replaced with the new version of the original (Content ID = 010), and the original with Content ID = 010 cannot be copied because it is only permitted to be copied by the copy machine in the manufacturing department. It was

On May 3, the manufacturing department user (user ID
= 0481), the same copy operation as on April 3 was performed based on the 54-page copy original in which the content ID = 003 was embedded, and the original original (content ID = 001) Since the original of the new version (content ID = 010) was registered, a copy of the original of the new version (content ID = 010) was obtained. However, the new version of the original (content ID = 0
Since the copy permission condition of 10) was only monochrome copy, the output was monochrome copy. Content ID = 011 is assigned to this copy event.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By centrally managing historical information such as who made a copy, when, where, and from which copy of a certain manuscript, the ID can be obtained.
Content ID obtained by reading the source of the attached content or its copy (including grandchild copy)
Can be specified by. Further, by making it possible to trace the copy chain by using the history information managed by the center, it is possible to identify the outflow route when an illegal copy appears, and prevent the outflow thereafter.

In addition, according to one aspect of the present invention, for a content original that is originally composed of a plurality of pages like a book, an arbitrary page of the content original is extracted from one copy of the original. It is possible to take out a copy of related contents.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, since the confidential level of the copy original can be managed by the center,
The center can determine permission / non-permission of copying based on the copy identifier or the user identifier obtained from the copy event attribute, and prohibit copying by a specific copying machine or a specific user for each content original.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, since the time (document version) at which the copy manuscript is created can be managed by the center, it is possible to save the document (old version document) created before a certain time. Copying can be prohibited at once. That is, revocation of documents can be easily realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of copying the entire content.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of copying a part of content.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a content registration device and a content ID management center when registering a content original.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for copying content in the content copying machine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of copying content by the content ID management center.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content ID management table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of a background art of the present invention.

9 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a content ID in the system shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Content ID Management Center 11 Transmitter / receiver 12 Content Management Department 13 Content ID issuing department 14 Content registration section 15 Content Original Search Section 16 Content ID embedding section 17 Content ID management table 18 Content original storage 20 Content Copier 21 Copy manuscript 22 Image reader 23 Content ID detector 24 Copy event attribute acquisition unit 25 Copy Part Designation Section 26 Transmitter / receiver 27 Output data generator 28 Image output section 29 Output contents 30 content registration device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G06F 17/60 142 G06T 1/00 500B G06T 1/00 500 B41J 29/00 Z (72) Inventor Sachiko Irie Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo 2-3-1, Machi Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-11-345261 (JP, A) JP-A-8-88756 (JP, A) JP-A-11-167596 (JP, A) ) JP 2000-113066 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/60 142 H04N 1/387 G06T 1/00 500

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A center having means for managing an original of each content and a content identifier for uniquely identifying each content, and means for embedding the content identifier in the original of each content, and a center for the center via a network. A system comprising a content copy machine that is connected and copies the content in which the content identifier is embedded, wherein the content copy machine reads the content identifier from all or part of the copy target content, and reads the content. The content copy includes: a content identifier and a copy event attribute information regarding a copy status including a user identifier or a copy machine identifier; and a unit that outputs the content received from the center. From the machine A means for acquiring the content or the original of the related content from the received content identifier, a new content identifier is added to the acquired original of the content, and at least the content identifier and the information of the copy event attribute are given , Original content identification
Means for recording and managing in association with the child, means for embedding the newly added content identifier in the original of the acquired content, and means for transmitting the content with the new content identifier embedded therein to the content copying machine A content copy tracking management system comprising: 2. The content copy tracking management system according to claim 1, wherein the means for recording and managing the content identifier and the information on the copy event attribute further includes the content of the copy source content received from the terminal device. A content copy tracking management system characterized by recording and managing an identifier. 3. The content copy tracking management system according to claim 1, wherein when the content set as a copy target is a part of one content, the content copy machine is configured to And a means for inputting a designation of which portion of the entire content is to be copied, and a means for transmitting the location information and information designating a portion to be copied to the center. The content copy tracking management system, wherein the center comprises means for embedding a new content identifier in a content portion designated as a portion to be copied in the original of the content and transmitting the new content identifier to the content copying machine. 4. The content copy tracking management system according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, wherein the center permits or prohibits copying based on information of a copy event attribute transmitted from the content copying machine. Storing the copy permission / prohibition information, and transmitting the information indicating the prohibition to the content copy machine when the copy permission / prohibition information is copy prohibition, and the content copy machine indicates the prohibition information. A content copy tracking management system characterized in that it does not copy when it receives. 5. The content copy tracking management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the center permits or prohibits copying according to a production time or a version of each content. And a means for transmitting information indicating prohibition to the content copy machine when the copy permission / prohibition information is copy prohibition, and the content copy machine receives the information indicating prohibition. A content copy tracking management system characterized in that copying is not performed on the. 6. The content copy tracking management system according to claim 1, wherein the content identifier is embedded in the original of the content by a digital watermark. Tracking management system. 7. A content copy machine for copying content in which a content identifier for uniquely identifying each content is embedded, wherein the content identifier is read from all or part of the copy target content, and the read content identifier. And means for transmitting, via the network, the copy event attribute information relating to the copy status including the user identifier or the copy machine identifier to the center that manages the content originals and the content identifiers, and a new means for the originals of the content to be copied. Content copying machine, comprising means for receiving from the center and outputting the content in which various content identifiers are embedded. 8. A center device comprising means for managing an original of each content and a content identifier for uniquely identifying each content, and means for embedding the content identifier in the original of each content via a network. Means for receiving, from a connected content copying machine, a content identifier read from all or part of the content to be copied by the content copying machine, and information on a copy event attribute relating to the copy status including the user identifier or the copying machine identifier; A means for acquiring the content corresponding to the received content identifier or an original of the related content, a new content identifier is added to the acquired original of the content, and at least the content identifier and the information of the copy event attribute are provided. ， Original content identification
Means for recording and managing in association with the child, means for embedding the newly assigned content identifier in the original copy of the content to be copied, and means for transmitting the content with the new content identifier embedded therein to the content copying machine. A center device provided with. 9. A recording medium having recorded therein a program for copying content in which a content identifier for uniquely identifying each content is recorded, wherein the content identifier is read and read from all or part of the copy target content. Information of the copy event attribute relating to the copy status including the content identifier and the user identifier or the copy machine identifier is transmitted to the center that manages the content original and the content identifier via the network, and the original of the copy target content is newly updated. A program recording medium for a content copying machine, characterized in that a program for causing a computer to execute a process of receiving and outputting a content in which a unique content identifier is embedded from the center is recorded. 10. A program executed in a center device comprising: means for managing an original of each content and a content identifier for uniquely identifying each content; and means for embedding the content identifier in the original of each content. The recording status of the recorded recording medium, which includes the content identifier read from all or part of the content to be copied by the content copying machine connected via the network and the user identifier or the copying machine identifier. Information of the copy event attribute related to the received content identifier, the content corresponding to the received content identifier or the original of the related content is acquired, a new content identifier is attached to the acquired original of the content, and at least the content identifier When Information on the copy event attribute is used to identify the content of the original.
Record and manage the content in association with another child, embed the newly added content identifier in the original copy target content, and execute the processing of transmitting the content with the new content identifier embedded to the content copying machine to the computer. A program recording medium for a center device, characterized in that a program for executing the program is recorded.