Royalty collection method and system for use of copyrighted digital materials on the internet
US6282653A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 28, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/329
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method, system and computer program product to facilitate royalty collection with respect to online distribution of electronically published material over a computer network. In one embodiment, a method for managing use of a digital file (that includes content subject to copyright protection on behalf of some content provider) begins by establishing a count of a number of permitted copies of the digital file. In response to a given protocol, a copy of the digital file is then selectively transferred from a source to a target. Thus, for example, the source and target may be located on the same computer with the source being a disk storage device and the target being a rendering device (e.g., a printer, a display, a sound card or the like). The method logs an indication each time the digital file is transferred from the source to a target rendering device, and the count is decremented upon each transfer. When the count reaches a given value (e.g., zero), the file is destroyed or otherwise prevented from being transferred from the source device. The indications logged are transferred to a management server to facilitate payment of royalties to the content provider.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.