System and method for controlling copying of documents

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one output rule is selected from a group consisting of an output limitation rule, the notification rule, a copyright rule, the authorization rule, an archiving rule, the block rule, a copy number rule, a purchase order rule, a copy order rule, and a fair-use rule.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: modifying a portion of the document in response to the determining of the content output for the recognized object.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 , wherein said modifying the portion of the document further comprises: obfuscating visual information from said portion of the document.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein said modifying the portion of the document further comprises: adding visual information to the document selected from a group consisting of a watermark, an embedded emblem, one or more words, and steganographic content.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: sending an unauthorized copy alert in response to the determining of the content output for the recognized object.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising: providing a third prompt following the first prompt inquiring whether the document is being copied for fair use, and providing a fourth prompt inquiring whether the user is aware of a potential violation of rules, laws or guidelines against copying the document.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 , wherein the second prompt warns that a portion of the document is subject to being blacked out, the method further comprising: displaying a proposed area of the document to be blacked out and prompting for a user input concerning the proposed area.

Claim 10

The method of claim 1 , wherein the output rule database comprises at least a first output rule based on said recognized object being a symbol associated with a first copying limitation, and a second output rule based on said recognized object being predefined content associated with a second copying limitation.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 , wherein said first output rule is based on the symbol being one of a group of symbols consisting of a watermark, a logo, a “DO NOT COPY” label, and a barcode; and wherein said second output rule is based on the predefined content being one of a group of contents consisting of predefined content text, capitalization patterns, formatting, and white space usage.

Claim 12

A computer program product for controlling copying of a document, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program upon being executed on a computer causes the computer to perform activities comprising: optically capturing contents of the document to produce a captured document; performing optical object recognition on the captured document in an attempt to find a recognized object of the captured document; providing a first prompt if said optical object recognition does not recognize any object, said first prompt inquiring whether the document is copyrighted; providing a second prompt if said optical object recognition results in finding said recognized object, said second prompt warning that the document is subject to limitations concerning copying; comparing the recognized object to objects in an object database if said optical object recognition results in finding said recognized object, wherein each of the objects of said object database is associated with at least one output rule from an output rule database comprising at least three output rules including an authorization rule, a block rule, and a notification rule; determining a content output for the recognized object based on said at least one output rule associated with the recognized object; and providing the content output based on said at least one output rule.

Claim 13

A computer program product for controlling copying of a document, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program upon being executed on a computer causes the computer to perform activities comprising: optically capturing contents of the document to produce a captured document; performing optical object recognition on the captured document in an attempt to find a recognized object of the captured document; providing a first prompt if said optical object recognition does not recognize any object, said first prompt inquiring whether the document is copyrighted; providing a second prompt if said optical object recognition results in finding said recognized object, said second prompt warning that the document is subject to limitations concerning copying; comparing the recognized object to objects in an object database if said optical object recognition results in finding said recognized object, wherein each of the objects of said object database is associated with at least one output rule from an output rule database comprising at least three output rules including an authorization rule, a block rule, and a notification rule; determining a content output for the recognized object based on said at least one output rule associated with the recognized object; and providing the content output based on said at least one output rule.

Claim 14

The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the at least one output rule is selected from a group consisting of an output limitation rule, the notification rule, a copyright rule, the authorization rule, an archiving rule, the block rule, a copy number rule, a purchase order rule, a copy order rule, and a fair-use rule.

Claim 15

The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising: modifying a portion of the document in response to the determining of the content output for the recognized object.

Claim 16

The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein said modifying the portion of the document further comprises: obfuscating visual information from said portion of the document.

Claim 17

The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein said modifying the portion of the document further comprises: adding visual information to the document selected from a group consisting of a watermark, an embedded emblem, one or more words, and steganographic content.

Claim 18

The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising: sending an unauthorized copy alert in response to the determining of the content output for the recognized object.

Claim 19

The computer program product of claim 11 , the method further comprising: providing a third prompt following the first prompt inquiring whether the document is being copied for fair use, and providing a fourth prompt inquiring whether the user is aware of a potential violation of rules, laws or guidelines against copying the document.

Claim 20

The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the second prompt warns that a portion of the document is subject to being blacked out, the method further comprising: displaying a proposed area of the document to be blacked out and prompting for a user input concerning the proposed area.

Claim 21

The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the output rule database comprises at least a first output rule based on said recognized object being a symbol associated with a first copying limitation, and a second output rule based on said recognized object being predefined content associated with a second copying limitation.

Claim 22

The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein said first output rule is based on the symbol being one of a group of symbols consisting of a watermark, a logo, a “DO NOT COPY” label, and a barcode; and wherein said second output rule is based on the predefined content being one of a group of contents consisting of predefined content text, capitalization patterns, formatting, and white space usage.