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EP0717338A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method of protecting copyright

Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1995-12-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-12-01
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Abstract

Abstract A method of protecting proprietary rights in protectable works of authorship, by restricting each copy of the work to a specific device or set of devices. A combination of encryption and bureaucratic mechanisms make it impracticable for anyone to play the work unless authorized to do so.

Inventors

  • 👤 Alexander Gibson Fraser

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 07:38
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/10; G06F2211/00; G06F2211/007; G06F2221/00; G06F2221/21; G06F2221/2129

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 116 words
A method of protecting proprietary rights to selected works of authorship, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a coded work key to a work of authorship; providing a Player to play said work of authorship, said Player provided with an individually assigned Player identification number and a coded Player key; issuing a coded permit to a user for access to said work of authorship, said coded permit including a title for said work of authorship, said coded work key and said Player identification number; utilizing said Player key to decode said coded permit whereby said coded work key is decoded by said Player; and utilizing said decoded work key to access said work of authorship.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the work of authorship is transmitted from Vendor to consumer over a public network.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the Player consists of a group of Players.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the work of authorship is stored on a public network in compressed digital form.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method in accordance with Claim 4, wherein the Perceptual Audio Coding ("PAC") algorithm is used.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the work of authorship and permit are individually encrypted using a predetermined encryption algorithm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method in accordance with Claim 6, wherein the work of authorship and permit are individually encrypted using the Data Encryption Standard.
Claim 8
Independent Claim 70 words
A method of protecting proprietary rights to selected works of authorship, the method comprising the steps of: encrypting a selected work of authorship with a coded work key; generating a permit to access said encrypted selected work of authorship; transmitting said permit to a user desirous of accessing said selected work of authorship; and utilizing said permit to decrypt said selected work of authorship to permit access by said user.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 54 words
A method in accordance with Claim 8, wherein said generating step further includes the steps of: combining a work title with a work key to generate a first signal, and combining a player I.D. with a player key to generate a second signal; and encrypting said first and second signals to generate said permit.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method in accordance with Claim 8, wherein said selected works of authorship are stored on a CD Rom medium.
Claim 11
Independent Claim 124 words
A method of protecting proprietary rights to selected works of authorship, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a work key to a work of authorship; utilizing said work key to encrypt said work of authorship; installing a concealed player key in a player that gives access to said work of authorship; issuing a permit to a user so that said user can have access to said work of authorship, said permit containing said work key encrypted with said player key; utilizing said player key in a player to decrypt said encrypted work key that is contained in said permit, thereby revealing said work key; and utilizing said work key to decrypt said encrypted work of authorship whereby said work of authorship is revealed.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

WO1990002382A1 Cited
EP0561685A2 Cited
EP0613073A1 Cited

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