JP2003036326A - Copyright management server, copyright management method, copyright management system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a copyright management server capable of obtaining a copyright fee even from a buyer in reselling an electronic work. A copyright management server connected to a merchandise management server for reselling a digital work inputs a digital work created by a copyright holder and information on the copyright holder, and inputs the digital work. And converts the digital work to obtain a converted digital work, associates the identifier with the converted digital work, and sends it to the product management server. Thereafter, when the product is resold by the product management server 1, copyright fee information is input.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copyright management server which manages to resell digital copyrighted works such as commercially available programs and digital contents, that is, to collect copyright fees incurred when used. , Copyright management methods, copyright management systems, and programs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic works such as software, digital music and digital images are increasing. As one form of buying and selling electronic works like this,
Some are sold over the Internet.

[0003] In such Internet sales, since the copyrighted material is generally passed from the distributor of the copyrighted material to the purchaser and the price for the copyrighted material is received, the copyright holder is the distributor. Receives part of the consideration as a copyright fee.

However, resale also exists as another form of selling via the Internet. In addition,
Resale may be considered as second-hand sale here, but unlike second-hand resale of ordinary articles, second-hand goods of electronic works have no deterioration or little deterioration. Therefore, it is worth new or equivalent.

In the case of resale performed via the Internet, the resold work is often done without the permission of the author.

[0006]

The resale carried out over the Internet has a problem that the copyright holder generally cannot receive the copyright fee because the copyright holder does not intervene. In particular, electronic copyrighted works are distributed at a new level, and after a certain amount of products are distributed to the market by sales, the amount of products handled as resale increases,
There was a problem that sales decreased significantly and it became impossible to obtain copyright fees that should be obtained from many users.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a copyright management server, a copyright management method, and a copyright management server which can obtain a copyright fee from a buyer in resale of an electronic copyrighted material. The purpose is to provide a rights management system and program.

[0008]

A copyright management server according to the present invention is a copyright management server connected to a product management server that resells digital copyrighted materials, and is a digital copyrighted material created by a copyright holder. And an input means for inputting information about the copyright holder, an identifier generation means for generating a single identifier for the digital work input by the input means, and the digital work by a predetermined method. In the product management server, a digital work conversion unit for converting the product to obtain a converted digital work, a transmission unit that associates the identifier with the converted digital work, and sends the product to the product management server. A copyright fee information input means for inputting copyright fee information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale sent from the product management server when resold. It was.

More preferably, the digital work converting means separates a part of the digital work, and also generates a composite program for restoring the part of the separated digital work and separates them. In addition, a digital work excluding a part and a combination of the composite program are obtained as a converted digital work.

More preferably, further, when the copyright fee information is input by the copyright fee information input means, an output for sending the separated part of the digital copyrighted work to the commodity management server. The output means for

The copyright management system according to the present invention includes a copyright holder computer for transmitting a digital work created by the copyright holder and information about the copyright holder, and the copyright holder computer transmitted by the copyright holder computer. A digital work and information about the copyright holder are received, a single identifier is generated for the digital work, and the digital work is converted by a predetermined method to convert the digital work. A copyright management server for transmitting the identifier and the converted digital copyrighted material in association with each other, the associated identifier transmitted from the copyright management server, and the converted digital copyrighted material. After receiving and storing and, when reselling the digital work, the copyright fee information for collecting the copyright fee associated with the resale is added to the copyright information. And a product management server to be sent to the management server.

Thus, the copyright holder can collect the copyright fee from the purchaser due to the resale even if the digital work created by the copyright holder is resold.

It should be noted that the present invention relating to the apparatus also holds true as an invention relating to a method and a program.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the entire system according to the present embodiment.

The product management server 1, the copyright management server 2,
The copyright holder computer 3, the seller computer 4, and the buyer computer 5 are connected to the network 6.

The merchandise management server 1 sells and manages used software that has been requested to be resold by the seller computer 4, and provides it to the buyer computer 5 requested to purchase. Further, the product management server 1 manages the copyright for the information that enables the copyright holder of the used software to obtain the copyright fee associated with the sale when the sale of the used software requested for resale is completed. The server 2 is notified.

The copyright management server 2 manages the software of the registered author by the registration request from the copyright computer 3. Further, the copyright management server 2 requests the product management server 1 to register the registered software.

The copyright holder computer 3 is used by the copyright holder in order to perform registration processing when the author approves the distribution of used software by second-hand sales.

The seller computer 4 carries out a procedure for the seller to resell the used software that is no longer needed to the product management server 1.

The buyer computer 5 is for purchasing desired software from the used software registered in the product management server 1. When the predetermined procedure is completed, the software is transferred from the product management server 1 to the buyer computer 5. Sent.

FIG. 2 shows a block configuration of the product management server 1.

The commodity management server 1 can be realized by an ordinary computer, and includes a communication section 11 for communicating with the copyright management server 2, the seller computer 4, the buyer computer 5 and the like via the network 6, and the entire server 1. It controls the control and executes a software program, and includes a control unit 12 realized by a microprocessor or the like,
A memory 13 which is a volatile storage medium in which a program executed by the control unit 12 and data accompanying it are temporarily stored, and various software programs including an OS and various data are stored. And a storage unit 14 formed of a non-volatile storage medium.

The storage unit 14 stores software for selling second-hand software, software D for storing the software ID, inventory, resale price, etc. in association with each other.
B 141, a seller information DB 142 that stores information about the seller of used software, and a buyer information DB 143 that stores information about the buyer of used software. Further, it is provided with a seller correspondence program 144 for performing a series of processing related to a resale request of used software from a seller, and a buyer correspondence program 145 for performing a series of processing related to a purchase request of used software from a buyer.

In addition to the above-mentioned configuration, the product management server 1 has an input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various information from the owner of the product management server 1 and the owner of the product management server 1. It goes without saying that an output unit such as a display or a printer for presenting various information may be provided.

FIG. 3 shows a block configuration of the copyright management server 2.

The copyright management server 2 is also the product management server 1
Similarly, it can be realized by an ordinary computer, and the product management server 1, the copyright holder computer 3, etc. and the network 6
A control unit 22 that controls the entire server 2 and executes a software program, which is realized by a microprocessor or the like.
The memory 23 which is a volatile storage medium in which the software executed by the control unit 22 and the data accompanying it are temporarily stored, and various software programs including the OS and various data are stored. The storage unit 24 is composed of a non-volatile storage medium.

The storage unit 24 stores the name of the copyright holder, the ID of the software that is the copyrighted work of the copyright holder, and operable information (hereinafter referred to as operation ticket) for enabling the software. A software management DB 241 stored in association with each other, a copyright fee DB 242 stored in association with the software ID and a copyright fee generated by the sale of used software, and information relating to the copyright holder, For example, an email address for sending an email to the copyright holder, a transfer destination account for transferring the copyright fee, and a copyright holder DB 243 for storing the amount transferred to the copyright holder and the like.

The storage unit 24 also supports copyright registration, which is a series of processes for performing registration processing when the copyright holder computer 3 authorizes the copyrighted software to sell the software that is the copyrighted material by second-hand sales. Program 244
And an operation instruction corresponding program 245 that performs a series of processes from the product management server 2 for issuing an operation ticket in exchange for information that allows the collection of a copyright fee when reselling software.
With.

The copyright management server 2 is the product management server 1
Similarly to the above, in addition to this, an input unit including a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various information from the owner of the copyright management server 2 or the like, and various information for presenting to the owner of the copyright management server 1 or the like Of course, an output unit such as a display and a printer may be provided.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the copyright holder computer 3,
FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a seller computer 4 and a buyer computer 5. Each of the computers 3 to 5 is generally realized by a personal computer having a WWW browser function.

A communication section 31 for communicating via the network 6.
And controls the entire of each of the computers 3 to 5 and executes a software program. The control unit 32 is realized by a microprocessor or the like, software executed by the control unit, data accompanying it, and the like. The memory 33, which is a volatile storage medium that temporarily stores the data, the various software programs including the OS, the storage unit 34, which is a non-volatile storage medium in which various data are stored, and various information. An input unit 35 including a keyboard and a mouse for inputting, a display unit 36 including a display for presenting various information to the owner of the product management server 1, and the like are provided.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the WWW browsers of the computers 3 to 5 access the home page of the server 1 or 2 and perform various procedures. That is, the copyright holder computer 3 is the copyright management server 2
This is realized by accessing the home page of the product management server 1, the seller computer 4 accessing the home page of the product management server 1 for the seller procedure, and the buyer computer 5 accessing the home page of the product management server 1 for the buyer procedure.

In the present embodiment having such a configuration,
The individual operations will be described below.

First, with respect to the registration processing in the case where the copyright holder gives a permission for pre-sale to the software created and distributed by the copyright holder, which is mainly processed by the copyright registration supporting program 244, This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The copyright holder accesses the copyright management server 2 on the copyright holder computer 3 to start the copyright registration processing (S101). Here, the WWW browser of the copyright holder computer 3 downloads the homepage generation information (HTML document or the like) of the copyright management server 2, and this is displayed as a copyrighted material registration screen on the WWW browser. An example of this screen is shown in FIG.

The copyright holder inputs copyright holder information according to the contents of the screen (S102). Here, it is assumed that the user's name, e-mail address, address, and account number to which the copyright fee is transferred are input as copyright holder information. Also, specify the location (path) of the software, which is the copyrighted work to be registered. Then, the execution process of the registration procedure
For example, the execution is started by clicking the execution button on the display screen (S103). When the execution process of the registration procedure is started, the copyright holder information attached with the designated software is transmitted to the copyright management server 2.

The copyright management server 2, which has received the copyright holder information to which the software is attached by this execution processing, stores the copyright holder information in the copyright holder DB 243 (S104).
The copyright holder DB 243 stores copyright holder information in a table format as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The attached software is temporarily stored in the empty space of the storage unit 24.

Next, the copyright management server 2 uses the software ID for uniquely identifying the attached software.
Is generated (S105).

Further, the copyright management server 2 converts the attached software into software that cannot be executed as it is (hereinafter referred to as modified software) by a predetermined method. The conversion processing to the modified software in this embodiment is as follows.

First, a part of the software is cut out (S1
06, Fig. 8 (a)). Next, this cut out portion (Fig. 8)
(B)) Most of the extracted software (Fig. 8)
(C)) and a simple synthesis program (Fig. 8 (d)) for returning to the original operable software are generated (S1
07). This synthesizing program is added to most of the cut out software, and modified software (Fig.
(E)) is generated (S108). Steps S106-S1 above
08 is the conversion processing to the modified software in this embodiment.

On the other hand, a part (FIG. 8B) cut out from the software is used as an operation ticket for enabling the modified software to operate, and the generated software ID, copyright holder name, and operation ticket. And are stored in the software management DB 241 in association with each other (S1
09). The software management DB 241 is stored in a table format as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

It should be noted that the conversion processing to the changed software in this embodiment is performed by using the above method, but the software cannot be executed unless some information is obtained from the copyright management server 2. Any method may be used as long as it is converted, and for example, encryption may be performed. In this case, the key for decryption corresponds to the above operation ticket.

The copyright management server 2 associates the generated software ID with the changed software and sends them to the product management server 1 (S110).

The commodity management server 1 receives this and stores it in the software DB 141 (S111).

Next, the operation of the second-hand sales registration processing will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

The seller having the software to be resold accesses the product information management server 1 by the seller computer 4 and reads the resale status information such as the stock status and resale price of the software to be resold (S201).
This reading process is also realized by downloading and displaying a home page with a WWW browser here. An example of this screen is shown in FIG.

The seller who confirms the display screen and decides to resell the registration screen for reselling the software (FIG. 12).
The necessary seller information, for example, the software ID, and the resale information such as the transfer account number when the sale is successful are input (S202). After entering the resale information, execute the registration procedure
For example, it is started by clicking the execution button on the display screen (S203). When the execution process of the registration procedure is started, it is transmitted to the product management server 1.

The merchandise management server 1 extracts the software ID from the received resale information and determines whether or not the requested work is resaleable (S204). Specifically, it is checked whether or not it matches one of the software IDs registered in the software DB 141. As a result, if it is determined that resale is not possible, a notice to that effect is sent to the seller (S205).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the software can be resold, the seller computer 4 is requested to transmit the software (S206). Upon receipt of the software transmission request from the product information management server 1, the seller computer 4 instructs the seller to transmit the software and transmits the software (S207). The product management server 1
The transmitted software is received and temporarily stored in the storage unit 14 (S208).

Next, the software DB is searched by the software ID, and the matching changed software is retrieved (S209).

Then, the authenticity of the transferred software is verified based on the software temporarily stored in step S208 and the changed software retrieved in step S209 (S210). The authenticity of this software is verified because the received software is not always the correct software. This verification of authenticity is performed by comparing the two. In this embodiment, since the software registered in the software DB has a part of the free area for generating the operation ticket, these free parts are excluded and compared. The empty area is grasped by the information included in the composition program.

When it is determined in step S210 that the software is different as a result of authenticity verification, it is determined that this software should not be resold, and the software temporarily stored in the storage unit 14 is transmitted (returned) to the seller computer. ) Do (S2
11).

On the other hand, when it is determined that they are the same, it is determined that this software can be resold, information about the seller is registered from the resale information in the seller information DB (S212), and the resale of the corresponding software ID in the software DB 141 is possible The number is incremented by 1 and this seller is registered in the resale queue (S213).

The merchandise management server 1 sends a notification to the seller computer 4 that the product has been registered. It also deletes (or invalidates) the temporarily stored software (S2
14).

Next, a series of procedures concerning purchase from the buyer computer will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

The buyer who wants to purchase the software accesses the product management server 1 by the buyer computer 5 and reads the resale product information such as the stock status of the software, the resale price, etc. (S301). This reading process is also performed by the WWW browser of the buyer computer 5, for example.
This can be achieved by downloading and displaying the website. The display screen at this time is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It may be similar to the above, and a new illustration is omitted.

When the buyer finds the software he / she wants to purchase, he / she applies for the purchase (S302). That is, on the purchase application screen, your name, email address,
Enter buyer information such as the software ID you want to purchase, the transfer account number, etc., and execute the application. By this execution, the buyer information is transmitted to the product management server 1. The input screen at this time may be similar to that shown in FIG. 12, for example, and a new illustration is omitted.

The product management server 1 that has accepted the buyer information
Stores the buyer information in the buyer information DB 143 (S3
03). The buyer information DB 143 stores the buyer information in a table format as shown in FIG. 14, for example.

Next, the product management server 1 confirms the validity of the buyer account number by a predetermined method (S304). If it is confirmed to be valid, the product management server 1 gives a predetermined transfer procedure instruction excluding the copyright fee (S305). Here, only giving instructions in a predetermined method, the actual transfer procedure is
Transfers may be executed each time, or only registration may be performed so that transfers are performed once a month.

Further, the merchandise management server 1 transmits information indicating that the resale application request has been accepted to the copyright management server 2 (S306). This information includes the software ID and the transfer account number determined to be valid.

Upon receipt of this information, the copyright management server 2 retrieves and extracts the transfer destination account number from the copyright holder information based on the software ID received from the copyright holder DB 243 (S307). A transfer instruction of a predetermined copyright fee is given (S308). This transfer procedure instruction may be the same as the above step S304. Here, the fact may be notified to the mail address of the copyright holder.

The copyright management server 2 searches the software management DB 241, retrieves the operation ticket corresponding to the software ID (S309), and the product management server 1
(S310).

The merchandise management server 1 obtains this operation ticket, extracts the changed software registered in the software DB 141, and executes the synthesizing program included therein. As a result, operable software is generated (combined) (S311).

The synthesized software is transmitted to the buyer computer 5 of the purchase source (S312). The buyer computer 5 receives this and obtains the desired software.

The product management server 1 has a seller information DB 14
Based on 2, the seller computer 4 of the resold software is notified of the sale (S313). Then, the procedure is instructed to pay the purchase price to the seller's account obtained from the seller information. This procedure instruction also applies to step S3 above.
The same processing as 04 and S308 is sufficient.

The transaction price is generally the product management server 1 excluding the commission.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the copyright holder can collect the copyright fee from the purchaser by resale even if the software created by the copyright holder is resold. It became possible.

In the above embodiment, the object of resale has been described as software, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a digital work obtained by digitizing a still image, a moving image, music or the like. It may be.

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention, the copyright holder can collect the copyright fee from the purchaser by resale even if the digital work created by the copyright holder is resold. It has become possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a product management server 1 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a copyright management server 2 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram of a copyright holder computer 3, a seller computer 4, and a buyer computer 5.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart when the copyright holder gives permission for pre-sale to the software.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a copyright registration processing screen.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a copyright holder DB 243.

FIG. 8 is a software conversion process transition diagram according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a software management DB 241.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of registration processing for second-hand sales.

FIG. 11 is a screen example of resale status information.

FIG. 12 is an example of a registration screen for requesting resale of software.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart regarding purchase from a buyer computer.

FIG. 14 is an example of a buyer information DB 143.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Merchandise management server 2 ... Copyright management server 3 ... Copyright holder computer 4 ... Seller computer 5 ... Buyer computer 11, 21, 31 ... Communication unit 12, 22, 32 ... Control unit 13, 23, 33 ... Memory 14, 24, 34 ... Storage unit 35 ... Input unit 36 ... Display unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A copyright management server connected to a product management server for reselling digital copyrighted material, comprising input means for inputting a digital copyrighted material created by the copyright holder and information about the copyright holder. Identifier generating means for generating a single identifier for the digital work input by the input means, and converting the digital work by a predetermined method,
A digital work converting means for obtaining a converted digital work, a transmitting means for associating the identifier with the converted digital work and transmitting the converted digital work to the product management server; and when resold by the product management server. A copyright management server, comprising: a copyright fee information input means for inputting copyright fee information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale sent from the product management server. 2. The digital work converting means separates a part of the digital work and generates a composite program for restoring the part of the separated digital work,
2. The copyright management server according to claim 1, wherein a combination of the separated digital work excluding a part and the composition program is obtained as a converted digital work. 3. An output for outputting the separated part of the digital work to be sent to the product management server when the copyright charge information is input by the copyright charge information input means. The copyright management server according to claim 2, further comprising means. 4. A copyright management method for obtaining information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale of a digital work from a product management server that resells a digital work, which is created by a copyright holder. A digital work and information about the copyright holder are input, a single identifier is generated for the input digital work, and the digital work is converted and converted by a predetermined method. Obtaining a digital work, associating the generated identifier with the obtained converted digital work, transmitting the product to the product management server, and selling the product when the product is sold by the product management server. A copyright management method characterized by inputting copyright fee information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale sent from a management server. 5. A digital work created by a copyright holder,
A copyright holder computer that transmits information about the copyright holder, the digital work transmitted from the copyright computer, and the information about the copyright holder, and receives a single While generating an identifier, the digital work is converted by a predetermined method to obtain a converted digital work, and these identifiers and
After receiving and storing a copyright management server that transmits the converted digital copyrighted work in association with each other, the associated identifier transmitted from the copyright management server, and the converted digital copyrighted work, When reselling the digital work, a copyright is provided with a product management server that transmits copyright fee information for collecting a copyright fee associated with the resale to the copyright management server. Management system. 6. A computer-implemented program for obtaining information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale of a digital work from a product management server that resells a digital work. A function of receiving input of a digital work created by a copyright holder and information about the copyright holder, a function of generating a single identifier for the digital work, and a digital work of a predetermined method. Is converted to
A function of obtaining a converted digital copyrighted work, a function of associating the generated identifier with the obtained converted digital copyrighted work, and transmitting it to the product management server; and resale by the product management server. At this time, a program for causing a computer to realize a function of receiving copyright fee information for collecting a copyright fee associated with resale sent from the product management server.