JP4780066B2 - Digital content processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital content processing apparatus capable of recording or reproducing digital content with a limited number of times of copying, and more particularly, to a technique useful for editing / processing digital content with the number of possible copying times set to a plurality of times. .

  In recent years, recording equipment such as a D-VHS video deck (digital high-definition video) and an HDD recorder can digitally record high-definition programs received by a digital tuner. At this time, in order to protect the copyright of digital content (a set of digital video and audio data) provided by a broadcasting station, copy restrictions are set for most programs, and there is a restriction on recording digital content. It has been.

  For example, in terrestrial / BS digital broadcasting, a copy restriction information (CCI: Copy Control Information) signal called “copy once” is added to a broadcast wave. Digital content to which this CCI signal is added can be copied only once to a storage medium such as a hard disk or DVD (recording of the content provided by the broadcast station is counted as one time), and thereafter the content is copied. You can't do that. For example, when the content recorded on the hard disk is transferred to a DVD or the like, only the so-called “move” operation is possible in which the original content data in the hard disk is erased after the transfer is completed.

  Here, the copy restriction information includes information indicating the number of times content can be copied. For example, in the case of copy-once broadcasting, the number of times that the content provided from the broadcast station can be copied is set to one, and when this content is recorded, the number of times that the recorded content can be copied is changed to zero. As a result, the content recorded from the copy-once broadcast cannot be copied, and only the move can be performed.

  In the future, copy restrictions on digital contents are likely to be relaxed. For example, it is possible to copy a plurality of times (for example, 9 times) to a DVD or the like while leaving the original contents on the hard disk. Proposed. In this case, the number of possible copies included in the copy restriction information is set to a plurality of times.

  On the other hand, a user can obtain not only digital contents provided by digital broadcasting but also digital contents through a portable storage medium such as the Internet, a DVD, or a flash memory. In the case of such digital contents, generally, the copy restriction (setting of the number of times that copying is possible) is left to the author. Therefore, the number of times digital content can be copied may be set to a different number depending on the content.

  In this way, when the number of copies that can be made in digital content is set to multiple times, the original content data remains after copying, unlike moves, so editing and processing can be performed relatively easily. It becomes. However, since the edited content includes all or part of the original content, the edited content should also be subjected to copy restrictions equivalent to or higher than the original content.

For example, the following prior arts can be cited as techniques for appropriately protecting copyright when copying / moving / editing digital content with a limited number of times of copying.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151620 discloses a technique that enables a copyright protection function to be added to content that has been edited when the content that has been copyright-protected is edited.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for easily extracting and copying only copy-permitted content when copying an AV file in which copy-permitted / copy-prohibited content is mixed to another recording medium.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a technique for performing appropriate control when copying or moving content.
Patent Document 4 discloses a technique for managing content usage conditions using a server on the Internet.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-302112 JP 2003-134461 A JP 2001-125833 A JP 2001-273263 A

By the way, the conventional copy restriction technique mainly assumes that digital content is copied to another storage medium. For example, there is a case where digital content is directly copied from a hard disk to a DVD, or a case where digital content (edited content) edited based on the digital content (material content) recorded on the hard disk is recorded on the DVD.
In such a case, the copyright protection can be appropriately performed by subtracting the number of times that the original material content can be copied and making the edited content non-copyable.

  However, there is only one digital content (for example, digital content recorded on a DVD) after editing the original digital content, and it cannot be copied to another storage medium. It's not easy to use.

The present invention is to appropriately hold the copyright protection of the digital content to be knitted Atsumarimoto (material content or edit content), digital contents processing apparatus which can improve the convenience of the digital content after editing (edited content) The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1
A digital content formed by editing an identification information ID for identifying the digital content, a copyable number N1 of the digital content, a data body of the digital content, and one or more material contents. A digital content processing apparatus for handling digital content comprising overall information Ia relating to the entire digital content, partial information Ip relating to the constituent parts of the digital content, and editing content comprising the data body of the digital content,
A copy count management means in correspondence with the limits of the permitted number of copies of the material content has to manage the permitted number of copies of the material contents and editing content,
Based on the copyable count N1 of the material contents managed by the copy count management means, and editing control means for generating as the edited content to the digital content edited by editing the digital content editing source
Editing source content determination means for determining whether the editing source digital content is material content or editing content;
Extraction part setting means for specifying a part to be extracted from the digital content of the editing source;
An editability determination unit that determines whether the edit control unit can edit, based on whether or not the number of copies of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion specified by the extraction part setting unit is one or more;
With
The entire edited content information Ia includes an identification information ID for identifying the edited content, the number of copies N3 of the entire edited content, and the number NC of material contents constituting the edited content.
The partial information Ip of the edited content is information for each material content constituting the edited content. The material content identification information ID, the number of times that the material content can be copied N4, and the starting point Ts of the material content And the end point Te of the material content,
The copy count management unit, when editing of the digital contents performed by the editing control unit, while changing the number of copiable times de I digital content knitting Atsumarimoto, the number of copies available times after the change based on the generated set the number of copies available times digital content after the editing, and management in association with the digital content after the editing,
The editing control means, when the editability determination means determines that editing is possible, the determination result of the editing source content determination means, the information specified by the extraction part setting means, the edit set by the copyable number management means based on the number of copiable times digital content after, and generates a digital content edited as to edit the digital content after the editing has the data structure of the edited content.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the digital contents processing apparatus according to claim 1,
When the edited digital content is composed of a plurality of material contents, the copyable number management means sets the copyable number N4 by associating the changed copyable number N1 for each component part. In addition, a minimum one of the plurality of possible copy times N4 is set as the possible copy number N3,
It said editing control means, the copy count for the overall edit based on the permitted number of copies N3, for the components of the digital content after the editing corresponding to each component of the digital content after the editing and wherein the edit to isosamples based on the N4.

The invention described in claim 3 is the digital content processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The copy count management means, if the edit as the original digital content after the editing by said editing control means is performed, among the copyable times the number associated with the digital content after the editing, the extraction with changing the copy count N4 of material content corresponding to the extracted part based on specific information of the partial setting means, the material content associated with editing the original content that is the source of the digital content after the editing It is characterized in that the number of times N1 can be copied is changed.

The invention according to claim 4
A digital content formed by editing an identification information ID for identifying the digital content, a copyable number N1 of the digital content, a data body of the digital content, and one or more material contents. A digital content processing apparatus for handling digital content comprising overall information Ia relating to the entire digital content, partial information Ip relating to the constituent parts of the digital content, and editing content comprising the data body of the digital content,
A copy count management means in correspondence with the limits of the permitted number of copies of the material content has to manage the permitted number of copies of the material contents and editing content,
Based on the copyable count N1 of the material contents managed by the copy count management means, and editing control means for generating as the edited content to the digital content edited by editing the digital content editing source
Editing source content determination means for determining whether the editing source digital content is material content or editing content;
Extraction part setting means for specifying a part to be extracted from the digital content of the editing source;
An editability determination unit that determines whether the edit control unit can edit, based on whether or not the number of copies of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion specified by the extraction part setting unit is one or more;
With
The entire edited content information Ia includes an identification information ID for identifying the edited content, the number of copies N3 of the entire edited content, and the number NC of material contents constituting the edited content.
The partial information Ip of the edited content is information for each material content constituting the edited content. The material content identification information ID, the number of times that the material content can be copied N4, and the starting point Ts of the material content And the end point Te of the material content,
The copy count management means, when the editing of the digital contents performed by the editing control unit,
If the digital content after editing is composed of a plurality of the material contents is as well as change the copy count N1 editing source material content, in correspondence with each component of the copyable count N1 of the changed the Set as the number of possible copies N4 , and set the minimum of the plurality of possible copies N4 as the number of possible copies N3,
If editing as based on the editing content is performed by said editing control means, of the number of possible copies associated with the editing contents times, corresponding to the extracted part based on specific information of the extracted part setting section The copyable number N4 of the material content to be changed, and the copyable number N1 associated with the material content that is the source of the edited digital content is changed,
It said editing control means, the copy count for the overall edit based on the permitted number of copies N3, for the components of the digital content after the editing corresponding to each component of the digital content after the editing and wherein the edit to isosamples based on the N4.

According to the present invention, a copy when you edit digital content that is limited to the permitted number of copies, the original digital content (material content or edit content), both in the digital content after editing (edited content) Since the restriction information is managed, the convenience of the edited content can be improved while appropriately maintaining the copyright protection function of the material content.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out a digital content processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the digital content processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a DVD / HDD recorder.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a DVD / HDD recorder according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the DVD / HDD recorder 1 of this embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, an input unit 104, a communication unit 105, A tuner unit 106, a decoding unit 107, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 108, a disk drive 109, an output unit 110, and an antenna 111 are configured. Although omitted in FIG. 1, it may be configured such that a video / audio signal from an external AV device such as a DVD player can be input.

The CPU 101 controls the entire DVD / HDD recorder 1 by, for example, reading a processing program or the like stored in the ROM 103, developing it in the RAM 102, and executing it.
The RAM 102 develops a processing program executed by the CPU 101 in a program storage area in the RAM 102, and stores input data and a processing result generated when the processing program is executed in the data storage area.
The ROM 103 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor memory and stores a processing program, data, and the like in advance. The ROM 103 stores, for example, an editing program for editing or copying digital content recorded in the HDD 108 described later.

  The input unit 104 is, for example, a remote control device having a plurality of operation buttons or an operation panel provided in the main body, and outputs an operation signal based on a user operation to the CPU 101. That is, based on the input signal from the input unit 104, channel change, volume adjustment, and digital content editing processing are executed.

  The communication unit 105 performs, for example, protocol processing for transmitting and receiving information via a communication network such as the Internet. For example, digital content can be acquired (purchased) from a content provider on the Internet via the communication unit 105. The acquired digital content is stored in the HDD 108.

  The tuner unit 106 includes, for example, an RF unit (not shown), an A / D conversion unit (not shown), a demodulation unit (not shown), and the like. The RF unit converts and amplifies a television broadcast signal (for example, terrestrial digital broadcast, BS digital broadcast, CS digital broadcast) input from the antenna 111 into a baseband signal of a channel desired by the user and outputs the baseband signal. The A / D converter converts an analog signal into a digital (baseband) signal. The demodulator demodulates the baseband signal and outputs a stream signal. Digital video / audio data included in the stream signal is recorded in the HDD 108 as digital content.

  For example, the decoding unit 107 decodes digital content (for example, MPEG2 data) stored in the HDD 108 and outputs a digital video signal or a digital audio signal.

  The HDD 108 includes, for example, a magnetic recording medium and stores digital content output from the communication unit 105 and the tuner unit 106. At this time, when copy restriction information is added to the digital content acquired by the tuner unit 106 or the communication unit 105, main data of the digital content and copy restriction information corresponding to the digital content are stored. Here, the copy restriction information includes, for example, information indicating the number of times digital content can be copied. The data structure of the digital content stored in the HDD 108 will be described later.

In the following description, digital content provided from a content provider, i.e., a digital content to be protected copyright acquired by the communication unit 105 or the tuner 106 is referred to as a material content, edit this material content based on the digital content generated is referred to as edited content. In addition, it is also editing content digital content generated by editing based on editorial content.

  The disk drive 109 is for reading data from a disk-shaped storage medium M such as a DVD or writing data to the disk-shaped storage medium M. For example, the digital content stored in the HDD 108 can be copied to the disk-shaped storage medium M as long as the number of copies that can be made is one or more. If the number of times digital content can be copied is 0, copying cannot be performed, but the content can be moved (the digital content in the HDD 108 is erased).

  The output unit 110 converts the digital video signal or digital audio signal output from the decoding unit 107 into an analog video signal or analog audio signal and outputs the analog video signal or analog audio signal. The analog video signal output from the output unit 110 is input to a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and an image based on the analog video signal is displayed. Further, the analog audio signal output from the output unit 110 is input to an audio output unit such as a speaker, for example, and audio based on the analog audio signal is output.

  2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing the data structure of the digital content stored in the HDD 108. FIG. 2A shows the data structure of the material content, and FIG. 2B shows the data structure of the edited content.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the material content includes an identification information ID for identifying the content, the number N1 of the material content that can be copied, and a data body (digital video / audio data) D of the material content. Composed.
In FIG. 2A, the material content A indicates that the content ID (IDa) is “A” and the number of possible copies N1a is “1”. In addition, the material content B indicates that the content ID (IDb) is “B” and the number of possible copies N1b is “4”.

  When editing or copying based on the material content A or B, the copyable times N1a and N1b of each material content are referred to, and when the copyable times N1a and N1b are 1 or more, editing or copying is possible. It becomes. In FIG. 2, both the material contents A and B have the number of possible copies N1a and N1b of 1 or more, and can be edited or copied based on these material contents.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the edited content includes overall information Ia relating to the entire content, partial information Ip relating to the constituent parts of the content, and a data body (digital video / audio data) D of the edited content. The
The overall information Ia includes an identification information ID for identifying content, the number of copies N3 of the entire edited content, and the number of combinations of material content (the number of material contents constituting the edited content) NC.

The partial information Ip is information for each material content constituting the edited content. The material content identification information ID, the material content copy count N4, the material content start point Ts, and the material content end point Te ,including.
In other words, the editable content copy count N2 can be expressed by the entire edit content copy count N3 and the edit content partial copy count N4.

  In the present embodiment, when the edited content is composed of a plurality of material contents, the smallest copyable number N4 (for example, N4a, N4b) corresponding to each component is set to the smallest possible number of copies N3 of the entire edited content. And This is because the copyright protection function of the material content having the smallest number of times of copying among the material content constituting the edited content is retained.

  Further, the number N4 (for example, N4a, N4b) of the material content included in the partial information Ip and the number N1 (for example, N1a, N1b) of the material content itself can be copied. That is, when the copyable number N4 of one (for example, the component part of the edited content) is changed, the copyable number N1 of the other (the material content including the component part) is also changed. As a result, the copyright protection function can be appropriately retained in both the material content and the edited content.

  In FIG. 2B, the edited content C has a content ID (IDc) of “C”, the total number of copies N3c is “1”, and the number of combinations of material content NCc is “2” (material content A and material content. B). In addition, for the portion constituted by the material content A, the portion constituted by the material content B, where the number of possible copies N4a is “1”, the content start point Tsa is “t0”, and the content end point Tea is “t1”. Indicates that the possible number of copies N4b is “4”, the content start point Tsb is “t1”, and the content end point Teb is “t2”.

  When copying based on the edited content C, the copyable number of times N3c corresponding to the entire edited content is referred to, and when this copyable number of times N3c is 1 or more, copying is possible. Further, when editing (partial extraction) based on the editing content C, the copyable number N4 corresponding to the component part related to editing is referred to, and when this copyable number N4 is 1 or more, editing or copying is performed. It becomes possible. In other words, even if the number of copies that can be made for the entire edited content is 0 (copying is not possible), the number of copies that can be made is partially 1 or more. Follow as many times as possible.

  In FIG. 2 (b), the number of possible copies N4a and N4b of the material contents A and B constituting the edited content C is 1 or more, so that editing or copying can be performed based on the edited content C. Note that when copying based on the edited content C, it is only necessary to refer to only the copyable number N3c of the entire edited content (partial copy is handled as editing).

In the DVD / HDD recorder 1 of the present embodiment, the CPU 101 functions as a copyable number management unit that stores and manages the copyable number of digital contents in the HDD 108 in association with the digital content whose copyable number of times is limited. To do.
Further, it functions as edit control means for editing or copying material content to generate edited content based on the number of times that copying is possible corresponding to digital content (material content, edited content).

Next, editing processing executed in the DVD / HDD recorder 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the edited content newly generated by the editing process is stored in the HDD 108 in the same manner as the material content.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing an example of editing processing executed in the DVD / HDD recorder 1. This editing process is realized by the CPU 101 executing the editing program in the ROM 103. For example, this is processing executed when an editing instruction signal based on a user operation is output from the input unit 104.

5 to 8 are explanatory diagrams showing editing modes of editing processing executed in the DVD / HDD recorder 1. 5 to 8, the content ID and the number of times that copying is possible are described as “content ID (number of times that copying is possible)”. For example, in FIG. 5, “A (2)” indicates that the material content A and the number of possible copies is two.
9 to 12 are explanatory diagrams showing data structures before and after editing in the HDD 108 corresponding to the editing modes of FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, in the present embodiment, as editing processing, a combination editing (FIGS. 5 and 6) for generating a single edited content by concatenating a plurality of digital contents, and a partial from one digital content. The partial extraction editing (FIGS. 7 and 8) that generates the edited content by extracting (including the case of extracting a plurality of portions) is handled.
It is assumed that only the material content can be based on the connected editing, and both the material content and the editing content can be based on the partial extraction editing. This is because by managing effective copy restriction information for both the material content and the edited content, the copyright protection function of the material content is appropriately retained.

  Specifically, FIG. 5 and FIG. 9 show a case where the edited content C is generated by connecting the material content A with the number of times of copying 2 and the material content B with the number of times of copying of 5. In the generated edited content C, simple linked editing in which the end point t1 of the material content A and the start point t1 of the material content B match.

  FIG. 6 and FIG. 10 show a case where the edited content D is generated by linking the material content A with the permitted number of copies 2 and the material content B with the permitted number of copies 5. In the generated edited content D, the starting point t1 of the material content B is set earlier than the ending point t2 of the material content A, and the overlapping portion t1 to t2 is subjected to the composition process.

  FIG. 7 and FIG. 11 show a case where the edited content E is generated by extracting the material content A partially (A1, A2) based on the material content A with the number of times of copying 2 possible.

  8 and 12 generate the edited content F by partially extracting (A3) from the material content A constituting the edited content D based on the edited content D generated by the linked editing shown in FIG. Shows when to do. When partial extraction editing is performed on the basis of the editing content D, the copyable number N4 of the component (material content A) related to editing is referred to.

Hereinafter, the editing mode described above will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
In FIG. 3, in step S <b> 101, it is determined whether the editing process to be executed is linked editing or partial extraction editing. That is, it is determined whether the editing shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 or the editing shown in FIGS.
For example, when an editing instruction signal for executing an editing process is output from the input unit 104, an editing initial screen is displayed on an external display device connected to the output unit 110, and on this screen, the combined editing and partial Select which one of the extraction editing is executed. Then, based on the selection instruction signal from the input unit 104, it is determined which editing process is to be executed.
If it is determined in step S101 that linked editing has been selected, the process proceeds to step S102. If it is determined that partial extraction editing has been selected, the process proceeds to step S110 in FIG.

  In step S102, the material content that is the source of the editing process is selected. For example, the material content stored in the HDD 108 is displayed on the display device, and the material content to be linked on this screen is selected. Based on the selection instruction signal from the input unit 104, the material content that is the source of the editing process is selected. 5 and 6 show a case where material contents A and B are selected as material contents that are the source of editing processing.

In step S103, it is determined whether the number N1 of possible copies of the selected material content is 1 or more. Then, if it is determined that the number of possible copies N1 is 1 or more for all the selected material contents, the process proceeds to step S104, and if it is determined that the number of possible copies N1 is 0 for at least one material content, editing is performed. The process ends.
In FIGS. 5 and 6, the selected material contents A and B can be linked and edited because the number of possible copies N1a and N1b is 1 or more, respectively.

  In step S102, step S103 may be omitted by displaying on the selection screen only material content having a copy count of 1 or more. If it is determined that the number of times that copying is possible is zero for at least one material content, the process may proceed to step S102 and the original material content may be selected again.

  In step S104, the start point and end point of each selected material content are set. If the starting point of the selected material content is determined, the size of the material content has been determined, so the end point is determined automatically. At this time, the start point of the material content to be reproduced later may be set earlier than the end point of the material content to be reproduced first. In such a case, a reproduction process is performed by performing a composition process.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the start point t0 and the end point t1 are set for the material content A, and the start point t1 and the end point t2 are set for the material content B.
FIG. 6 shows a case where the start point t0 and the end point t2 are set for the material content A, and the start point t1 (<t2) and the end point t3 are set for the material content B.

  In step S105, it is determined whether there is an overlapping portion in the material content. For example, there is an overlapping portion when the starting point of material content to be reproduced later is set earlier than the end point of material content to be reproduced first. When it is determined that there is an overlapping part (for example, FIG. 6), the process proceeds to step S106, and when it is determined that there is no overlapping part (for example, FIG. 5), the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S106, a synthesis method in the overlapping portion is set. This composition method includes, for example, crossfade in which one material content fades out and the other material content overlaps and fades in.

  In step S107, a plurality of selected contents are connected (combining processing is performed as necessary) to generate edited contents. At this time, information other than the permitted number of copies such as the edited content ID, the number of content combinations, the material content ID, the content start point, and the content end point is set. In the editing shown in FIG. 5, edited content C is generated, and in the editing shown in FIG. 6, edited content D is generated.

  In step S108, 1 is subtracted from the number N1 of times that the original material content can be copied. When the material content is used for editing, it can be considered that the material content has been copied once, so the copyable count is subtracted by 1 in order to retain the copyright protection function of the original material content.

In the case of editing shown in FIG. 5, the copyable number N1a is subtracted from 2 to 1 for the material content A, and the copyable number N1b is subtracted from 5 to 4 for the material content B (the material shown in FIG. 9B). Content A, B).
Similarly, in the case of the editing shown in FIG. 6, the copyable number N1a is subtracted from 2 to 1 for the material content A, and the copyable number N1b is subtracted from 5 to 4 for the material content B (FIG. 10B). ) Material content A, B).

  In step S109, the editable copy times N3 and N4 are set. Specifically, the possible copy number N4 is set by associating the possible copy number N1 after the change of the material content constituting the edited content for each component part. The smallest copyable number N4 for each component is set as the copyable number N3 of the entire edited content.

In the case of the editing shown in FIG. 5, 1 is set as the permitted copy number N4a for the part of the material content A constituting the edited content C, and 4 is set as the allowed copy number N4b for the part of the material content B. Then, the smaller of the possible copy times N4a and N4b, that is, 1 is set as the possible copy number N3c of the edited content C as a whole.
In the case of editing shown in FIG. 6, 1 is set as the permitted number of copies N4a for the portion of the material content A constituting the edited content D, and 4 is set as the permitted number of copies N4b for the portion of the material content B. Then, the smaller copy number N4a and N4b, that is, 1 is set as the copyable number N3c of the entire edited content D. Further, in the edited content D, the material content A and B are mixed in the t1 to t2 section, but this portion may be matched to the one having a smaller number of times of copying.

  In this way, linked editing is performed by the processing of steps S101 to S109 in FIG. In the case of concatenated editing, the data structure before and after editing is as shown in FIGS.

  If it is determined in step S101 in FIG. 3 that partial extraction editing has been selected, the process proceeds to step S110 in FIG.

In step S110, the digital content that is the source of the editing process is selected. For example, the material content and the edited content stored in the HDD 108 are displayed on the display device, and the content to be partially extracted on this screen is selected. Then, based on the selection instruction signal from the input unit 104, the content that is the source of the editing process is selected. FIG. 7 shows a case where material content A is selected as the content that is the basis of the editing process. FIG. 8 shows a case where edited content D is selected as the digital content that is the source of the editing process.

  In step S111, it is determined whether the selected content is a material content or an edited content. When it is determined that the selected content is material content (for example, FIG. 7), the process proceeds to step S112. When it is determined that the selected content is editing content (for example, FIG. 8), the process proceeds to step S117.

  In step S112, a portion to be extracted is set in the selected material content. FIG. 7 shows a case where the A1 part and the A2 part are set as the extraction part. The part to be extracted may be plural or single. When the entire material content A is set as an extraction part, the material content A is copied.

In step S113, it is determined whether the number N1 of times that the selected material content can be copied is 1 or more. Then, if it is determined that the copyable number N1 of the selected material content is 1 or more, the process proceeds to step S114. If it is determined that the copyable number N1 is 0, the editing process ends.
In FIG. 7, the material content A can be partially extracted and edited because the number of possible copies N1a is 1 or more.

  In step S110, step S113 may be omitted by displaying on the selection screen only the content having a copy count of 1 or more (in the case of edited content, the total copy count N3 is 1 or more). . If it is determined that the number of copies that can be made for the selected material content is 0, the process may proceed to step S110 and the original material content may be selected again.

  In step S114, the set content is extracted to generate edited content. At this time, information other than the permitted number of copies such as the edited content ID, the number of content combinations, the material content ID, the content start point, and the content end point is set. In the editing shown in FIG. 7, edited content E is generated.

In step S115, 1 is subtracted from the number of times N1 of the original material content that can be copied. In the case of the editing shown in FIG. 7, for the material content A, the number of possible copies N1a is subtracted from 2 to 1. (Material content A in FIG. 11B).
In step S116, the editable copy times N3 and N4 are set. Since partial extraction is performed from one material content, the number of possible copies N1 after changing the material content becomes the number of possible copies N3 and N4 of the edited content as they are.

  In the case of editing shown in FIG. 7, since the edited content E is composed of a part of the material content A, 1 is set as the number of possible copies N4a, and 1 is similarly set as the number of possible copies N3e of the entire edited content E. Is done.

  In this way, partial extraction editing from the material content is performed by the processing of steps S110 to S116 in FIG. In the case of partial extraction editing from material content, the data structure before and after editing is as shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step S111 that the selected content is an edited content (for example, FIG. 8), the process proceeds to step S117.
In step S117, a portion to be extracted is set in the selected edited content. FIG. 8 shows a case where the A3 portion of the material content A is set as the extraction portion. The part to be extracted may be plural or single. When the entire edited content D is set as an extraction part, the edited content D is copied.

  In step S118, it is determined whether each copyable number N4 of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion is 1 or more. If it is determined that the copyable number N4 of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion is 1 or more, the process proceeds to step S119. If it is determined that the copyable number N4 is 0, the editing process ends.

In FIG. 8, since the number of copies N4a of the material content A corresponding to the extracted portion is 1 or more, partial extraction editing is possible. Here, when partial extraction is performed from the edited content D composed of a plurality of material contents as shown in FIG. 8, the number of copies of one material content is 0 and the number of copies of the other material content is 0. It may be 1 or more. In this case, the number of copies N3d of the entire edited content D is 0, but it is possible to perform partial extraction from the material content whose copy count is 1 or more.
Note that the section t1-t2 in which the material content A and the material content B are combined cannot be set as an extraction part.

  In step S119, the set content is extracted to generate edited content. At this time, information other than the permitted number of copies such as the edited content ID, the number of content combinations, the material content ID, the content start point, and the content end point is set. In the editing shown in FIG. 8, edited content F is generated.

  In step S120, 1 is subtracted from the number N1 of copyable material contents corresponding to the extracted portion. In the case of the editing shown in FIG. 8, for the material content A, the number of possible copies N1a is subtracted from 1 to 0. (Material content A in FIG. 12B).

  In step S121, the number of copies N3 and N4 of the original edited content is changed. In the case of the editing shown in FIG. 8, since the partial extraction of the material content A is performed for the editing content D, the copyable number N4a of the material content A is decremented by 1 and becomes 1 to 0. The total number of copies N3d of the edited content D is 0 because it is the smallest copy number N4 of the material content.

  In step S122, the newly generated editable copy times N3 and N4 are set. In the case of editing shown in FIG. 8, since the edited content F is composed of a part of the material content A, 0 is set as the number of possible copies N4a, and 0 is set for the number of possible copies N3f of the entire edited content E as well. Is done.

  In this way, partial extraction editing from edited content is performed by the processing of steps S117 to S122 in FIG. In the case of partial extraction editing from edited content, the data structure before and after editing is as shown in FIG.

As described above, in the DVD / HDD recorder 1 of the present embodiment, when the edited content is composed of a plurality of material contents, the copyable number N1 after the material content is changed is made to correspond to each component of the edited content. The number of times that can be copied N4 is set, and the minimum number of times that can be copied N4 is set as the number of times that can be copied N3 of the entire edited content.
Then, the edited content as a whole is edited or copied based on the number of possible copies N3, and the components of the edited content are edited or copied based on the number of possible copies N4 corresponding to each component.

  In addition, when editing or copying is performed based on the edited content, the number of possible copies N2 (N3, N4) associated with the edited content is changed as necessary and is the source of the edited content. The number of possible copies N1 associated with the material content is changed. That is, when editing or copying is performed based on the edited content, not only the number of times the original edited content can be copied but also the number of times the material content that is the original of the edited content can be copied is changed.

  Accordingly, since appropriate copy restriction information (number of times that copying is possible) is also given to the edited content, the copyright protection function can be maintained and the edited content can be copied and edited within the set copy restrictions. Convenience is improved for the user.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment, the embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. .

For example, when the component part of the edited content is composed of a plurality of material contents, the smallest copy number N1 after the change of the material content included in this component part is the smallest copyable number N4 of the component part. As a result, it is possible to edit or copy the composite part while maintaining the copyright protection function.
The digital content stored in the HDD 108 may be copied to a disk-shaped storage medium M attached to the disk drive 109. In this case, the number of times that copying is possible may be appropriately changed and recorded, or the number of times that copying is possible is set to 0 (copying is not possible), and the copyright protection function of the material content may be securely held.

The present invention can be applied not only to a DVD / HDD recorder but also to a digital content processing apparatus having a digital content editing function.
The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the DVD / HDD recorder 1 which concerns on this embodiment. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of digital content stored in an HDD. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of editing processing (concatenated editing) executed in the DVD / HDD recorder 1; 5 is a flowchart showing an example of editing processing (partial extraction editing) executed in the DVD / HDD recorder 1; It is explanatory drawing shown about an example (simple connection) of the edit mode performed in the DVD / HDD recorder. It is explanatory drawing shown about an example (composite connection) of the edit mode performed in the DVD / HDD recorder. It is explanatory drawing shown about an example (partial extraction from material content) performed in the DVD / HDD recorder. It is explanatory drawing shown about an example (partial extraction from edit content) performed in the DVD / HDD recorder. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure before and behind the edit in HDD108 corresponding to the edit mode shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure before and behind the edit in HDD108 corresponding to the edit mode shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure before and behind the edit in HDD108 corresponding to the edit mode shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure before and behind the edit in HDD108 corresponding to the edit aspect shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 DVD / HDD recorder 101 CPU
102 RAM
103 ROM
104 Input unit 105 Communication unit 106 Tuner unit 107 Decoding unit 108 HDD
109 disk drive 110 output unit M disk storage medium

Claims (4)

A digital content formed by editing an identification information ID for identifying the digital content, a copyable number N1 of the digital content, a data body of the digital content, and one or more material contents. A digital content processing apparatus for handling digital content comprising overall information Ia relating to the entire digital content, partial information Ip relating to the constituent parts of the digital content, and editing content comprising the data body of the digital content,
A copy count management means in correspondence with the limits of the permitted number of copies of the material content has to manage the permitted number of copies of the material contents and editing content,
Based on the copyable count N1 of the material contents managed by the copy count management means, and editing control means for generating as the edited content to the digital content edited by editing the digital content editing source
Editing source content determination means for determining whether the editing source digital content is material content or editing content;
Extraction part setting means for specifying a part to be extracted from the digital content of the editing source;
An editability determination unit that determines whether the edit control unit can edit, based on whether or not the number of copies of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion specified by the extraction part setting unit is one or more;
With
The entire edited content information Ia includes an identification information ID for identifying the edited content, the number of copies N3 of the entire edited content, and the number NC of material contents constituting the edited content.
The partial information Ip of the edited content is information for each material content constituting the edited content. The material content identification information ID, the number of times that the material content can be copied N4, and the starting point Ts of the material content And the end point Te of the material content,
The copy count management unit, when editing of the digital contents performed by the editing control unit, while changing the number of copiable times de I digital content knitting Atsumarimoto, the number of copies available times after the change based on the generated set the number of copies available times digital content after the editing, and management in association with the digital content after the editing,
The editing control means, when the editability determination means determines that editing is possible, the determination result of the editing source content determination means, the information specified by the extraction part setting means, the edit set by the copyable number management means after based on the number of copiable times digital content, the digital content processing apparatus and generates a digital content edited so as to have a data structure of the edited content to edit the digital content after the editing . When the edited digital content is composed of a plurality of material contents, the copyable number management means sets the copyable number N4 by associating the changed copyable number N1 for each component part. In addition, a minimum one of the plurality of possible copy times N4 is set as the possible copy number N3,
It said editing control means, the copy count for the overall edit based on the permitted number of copies N3, for the components of the digital content after the editing corresponding to each component of the digital content after the editing digital contents processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the edit to isosamples based on N4. The copy count management means, if the edit as the original digital content after the editing by said editing control means is performed, among the copyable times the number associated with the digital content after the editing, the extraction with changing the copy count N4 of material content corresponding to the extracted part based on specific information of the partial setting means, the material content associated with editing the original content that is the source of the digital content after the editing 3. The digital content processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of times of copying N1 is changed. A digital content formed by editing an identification information ID for identifying the digital content, a copyable number N1 of the digital content, a data body of the digital content, and one or more material contents. A digital content processing apparatus for handling digital content comprising overall information Ia relating to the entire digital content, partial information Ip relating to the constituent parts of the digital content, and editing content comprising the data body of the digital content,
A copy count management means in correspondence with the limits of the permitted number of copies of the material content has to manage the permitted number of copies of the material contents and editing content,
Based on the copyable count N1 of the material contents managed by the copy count management means, and editing control means for generating as the edited content to the digital content edited by editing the digital content editing source
Editing source content determination means for determining whether the editing source digital content is material content or editing content;
Extraction part setting means for specifying a part to be extracted from the digital content of the editing source;
An editability determination unit that determines whether the edit control unit can edit, based on whether or not the number of copies of the material content corresponding to the extracted portion specified by the extraction part setting unit is one or more;
With
The entire edited content information Ia includes an identification information ID for identifying the edited content, the number of copies N3 of the entire edited content, and the number NC of material contents constituting the edited content.
The partial information Ip of the edited content is information for each material content constituting the edited content. The material content identification information ID, the number of times that the material content can be copied N4, and the starting point Ts of the material content And the end point Te of the material content,
The copy count management means, when the editing of the digital contents performed by the editing control unit,
If the digital content after editing is composed of a plurality of the material contents is as well as change the copy count N1 editing source material content, in correspondence with each component of the copyable count N1 of the changed the Set as the number of possible copies N4 , and set the minimum of the plurality of possible copies N4 as the number of possible copies N3,
If editing as based on the editing content is performed by said editing control means, of the number of possible copies associated with the editing contents times, corresponding to the extracted part based on specific information of the extracted part setting section The copyable number N4 of the material content to be changed, and the copyable number N1 associated with the material content that is the source of the edited digital content is changed,
It said editing control means, the copy count for the overall edit based on the permitted number of copies N3, for the components of the digital content after the editing corresponding to each component of the digital content after the editing digital contents processing apparatus according to claim edit to isosamples based on N4.

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