JPH064996A - Control system of frequency and duration of reproduction of digitized music and video or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the unauthorized copy of a work by introducing the product which reproduces recorded digitized music and video and controls the frequency of viewings or duration and varying the price of the product in accordance with the number of reproduction or duration. CONSTITUTION:A bit string 2 which represents the number of allowable reproductions or the allowable duration of the reproduction is added to bit trains 1 which are digitized signals of a music or a video work. A reproducing device reduces the number of allowable reproductions and the allowable duration of the reproduction whenever the work is reproduced and if they become zero, no reproduction is made.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for limiting the number of times of reproduction or the time of reproduction when music, images, etc. are recorded as digital signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is widely practiced to convert music into a digital signal and record it for sale, using a compact disc, a digital audio tape or the like as a medium. Once purchased, these can be reproduced any number of times, so it is necessary to pay the same fee regardless of whether they are used once or 100 times. Moreover, since the purchaser has virtually no right to audition before purchase, and once the product is purchased, it is not allowed to be returned. Therefore, it was often discouraged after purchasing and using the product. Also, it is only necessary to play a certain music piece a limited number of times and watch it, and since the right to play it further is unnecessary,
In some cases, we would like to lower the purchase price, but this was not possible with the conventional technology. Furthermore, since these media can be copied indefinitely, they are often illegally copied by purchasers. Therefore, a mechanism for limiting the number of times of duplication has been proposed, which is generally used widely under the name of serial copy management system. However, this mechanism only restricts further duplication from the duplicate of the purchased product, and the duplicate from the purchased product can be repeated any number of times. Also, the number of reproductions from the original product is not limited.

[0003]

An object of the present invention is to reproduce a work such as music or video recorded as a digital signal, and to reproduce the work by introducing a product in which the number of viewings or the time is limited. Depending on the number of times or playback time,
To fluctuate the price of the product and to prevent illegal reproduction of the work.

[0004]

When music or video is recorded as a digital signal, these become data represented by a string of bits. To the data representing the work itself, a number indicating how many times the work may be reproduced or the length of time during which the work may be reproduced is added as a bit string. When selling a work, the data of the work itself and the number of playbacks, or
One product is a combination of data that limits the playback time. Every time the device that plays back the original music or video from the bit string reads the bit string that limits the number of times that the work can be played, the number is set to 1
Reduce and write it back to its original position. By this operation, the product is played once, and the number limiting the number of plays is reduced each time it is viewed. When it reaches 0,
After that, playback will not be possible. Further, when the purchaser duplicates the purchased work, the number of times of reproduction of the original work is reduced by the number of times of reproduction added to the copied work. Therefore,
Even if you make a copy, you cannot play back more times than originally purchased. For example, if a product that can be reproduced 10 times is purchased and then copied to another medium so that it can be reproduced 3 times, the original product can be reproduced only 7 times thereafter.

[0005]

By selling music and video works according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to realize a system in which the purchaser only has to pay the fee for the number of times of reproduction or the time of reproduction.
Further, even if the copy is made, it is not possible to increase the number of times of reproduction or the purchase time that has been purchased, so that illegal copying can be prevented.

[0006]

[First Embodiment] First, an example in which a music work is converted into a 16-bit digital signal will be described. At the beginning of a bit string in which music is converted into a digital signal with a 16-bit width, one 16-bit string defining the number of times of reproduction is added. When all 16 bits of the number of times of reproduction are 1, it is defined that an infinite number of times of reproduction is added. In other cases, reproduction is permitted for the number of times represented by a 16-bit binary number. The reproducing apparatus recognizes that the bit in the first column at the beginning of each product is the number of times of reproduction, and when reproducing, first reads this bit sequence, subtracts 1 from this bit sequence, and writes it back to the medium. Then, the playback operation starts. However, if an infinite number of times of reproduction is added, 1 is not subtracted. next,
An example of converting a video work into a 24-bit digital signal is shown below. This video is a work like a painting, and is not a video but a still image. In the case of a painting work, it is more natural to limit it by the reproduction time, because the reproduction and exhibition time is more valuable than the number of reproduction times. At the beginning of a bit string in which a picture is converted into a digital signal with a width of 24 bits, one row of 24 bits that defines the reproduction time is added. When all 24 bits of the reproduction time are 1, it is defined that an infinite reproduction time is added. In all other cases, the number represented by the least significant 6-bit binary number indicates the number of seconds and the next 6
Bits are fractions, next 6 bits are hours, top 6
Each bit represents the number of days, and the reproduction time is defined as days, hours, minutes, and seconds with all 24 bits. The playback device recognizes that the first bit in the first column of each product is this playback time, and when starting playback, first reads this bit sequence and subtracts the specified time, Write it back to the product. After that, the reproduction operation is started, and the work is reproduced and displayed for the instructed time. However, when an infinite playback time is added, the designated time is not reduced.

[0007]

The present invention has no effect because the compact disc currently sold for music cannot be written. For digital audio tapes,
Since it is writable, according to the present invention, it is possible to set the charge based on the number of times of reproduction, and it is possible to prevent illegal duplication. By making it possible to set the charge based on the number of times of playback, it is possible to sell a product for trial listening, which has a low number of times of playback, in particular, although the number of times of playback is one. However, in order to realize this, it is indispensable that the playback device has a function that cannot copy the entire product including bits that limit the number of playbacks. Furthermore, if high-speed digital public lines become popular, digitally recorded music will not be recorded and sold on media such as compact discs and digital audio tapes, but on sale.
It will be transferred directly to the storage device in the purchaser's playback device through the digital public line. In such a case, the purchaser pays the charge not to the medium but to the digital signalized bit string itself.
Therefore, it is expected that the present invention will be widely used based on the idea that the right to play music and enjoy the music, not the medium, is purchased in units of the number of times played. Currently, the products recorded on the compact discs on sale are temporarily stored in a readable / writable storage device in the device on the seller side, and after adding a bit to limit the number of playbacks, as a product, The present invention can be applied to a work recorded on a compact disc by transferring it to a purchaser via a public line. In video, digitally recorded products have not yet become widespread, and at the present time, the effect of the present invention is small, but if it becomes widespread, the same effect as a musical work can be obtained. For paintings drawn on a computer, so-called computer graphics, the original data is digital signals, so when selling this for the purpose of exhibiting, the method according to the present invention may be applied to limit the exhibition time. it can. According to the present invention, both the dissatisfaction on the purchaser's side that an audio or video product cannot be auditioned and the dissatisfaction on the seller's side that illegal copying does not end can be solved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bit string of a product in which the present invention is applied to a music work converted into a digital signal with a 16-bit width, and the number of times of reproduction is limited to 10 times. Only a part of the bit string in which the work is converted into a digital signal is posted.

FIG. 2 is a bit string of a product in which the present invention is applied to a still image work converted into a digital signal with a width of 24 bits and the reproduction time is limited to 10 seconds. Only a part of the bit string in which the work is converted into a digital signal is posted.

[Explanation of sign]

1 is a bit string of a music work converted into a digital signal with a 16-bit width. 2 is a bit string that defines the number of times of reproduction. 3 is a bit string of a still image work converted into a digital signal with a width of 24 bits. 4 is a bit string that defines the playback time.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of limiting the number of times of reproduction or the time of reproduction of data in which music, video, etc. are recorded as digital signals.