Abstract:
Digital content contained on physical media rented to a customer who fails to return said media once the rental term has expired. Date information encoded onto the media or encoded within the content is used to determine that the rental period has expired. If the media containing the expired content is residing in a media player, the user is notified through a plurality of notification schemes. Customers of expired digital content can also be notified if the media player is connected to the internet even if the media containing the content is not currently residing in the media player. This invention solves several problems currently effecting content rental services and allows the rental services to conserve costs normally associated with notifying customers that their rental has expired.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Rental of digital content on physical media has been an established business methodology for many years. Many problems exist with such a rental. 
         [0002]    One problem is the customer who fails to return the media. Some media rental companies have developed strategies where they debit a customer&#39;s credit card for the cost of the media. Typically the company in effect sells the content on the media to such a customer for more than the customer could have bought the same content for at a discount store. 
         [0003]    This problem is very prevalent with on-line video rental businesses such as NetFlix and BlockBuster; however these tactics tend to alienate the customers. When customers fail to return media that had been mailed to them, the companies wait a period of time, and then contact the customer to remind them to return the movie they had rented. Most customers comply with the request to return the media. Some customers just claim that they have mailed the media back and that it must have been lost in the mail. This is an easy claim to make and one that is hard to disprove. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The present invention addresses this problem by allowing the company to invoke action by the media player device or a television when the rental period for the media has expired. 
         [0005]    These behaviors can be as gentle as constantly reminding the customer that the rental period has expired and that the media should be returned. It can be as harsh as the player device refusing to play the content on the media. 
         [0006]    Embodiments also allow for a behavior that permits the customer to renew the rental period or to purchase the media or the content if the media player supports such a purchase. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation. The following figures and the descriptions both brief and the detailed descriptions of the invention refer to similar elements and in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a diagram depicting how behavior metadata is joined to a digital content file. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a diagram depicting an embodiment for placing metadata and digital content on a plurality of media and delivery mechanisms. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a diagram depicting one set of components of an embodiment. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a diagram depicting the how notification of expired digital content is displayed to a user who does not have the media or the content file currently accessible by the player device. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a diagram depicting how the rental notification metadata is placed onto optical media for successive rentals. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a system  10  that includes a Digital Content File  11  and Rental Period Metadata File  12  which contains information concerning the rental period of Digital Content File  11 . Rental Period Metadata File  12  may limit the rental period by limiting the time of rental, number of views, or by another method. Digital File Writing Process  13  aggregates Digital Content File  11  and Rental Period Metadata File  12  onto media. An Exclusive ‘OR’ function  18  may be used to allow a plurality of techniques to be used. The nature of Exclusive ‘OR’ function  18  is to allow any one of the three methods shown from a plurality of methods to be selected by Digital File Writing Process  13 . 
         [0014]    Three different embodiments are described. Digital File Writing Process  13  may write Digital Content File  11  and Rental Period Metadata File  12  on to the media as separate files shown as Digital Content File  14  and Rental Period Metadata File  15 . In another embodiment, Digital File Writing Process may write Digital Content File  11  and Rental Period Metadata File  12  on to the media as Digital Content and Rental Period Metadata File  16  which is a single file created by the joining of the two files. In another embodiment, Digital File Writing Process may write Digital Content File  11  and Rental Period Metadata File  12  on to the media as Aggregated Digital Content and Rental Period Metadata File  16  which is a single file that may have been algorithmically constructed from the two files  11  and  12  such that they are not easily separated. The algorithm used to join the files together by Digital File Writing Process  13  may be any of a plurality of algorithms such as encryption or hashing. 
         [0015]    System  20  in  FIG. 2  depicts the plurality of delivery methods for the embodiments. Media Writer  21  writes one of a plurality of file formats containing digital content and rental period metadata as depicted in  FIG. 1  onto any of a plurality of media such as Flash Memory Module  22 , Hard Disk Storage  23 , Optical Storage Disk  24 , or through a download scheme by sending the Downloaded Digital Content File  26  over the Internet  25  to User&#39;s Home  28 . Physical media Flash Memory Module  22 , Hard Disk Storage  23 , and/or Optical Storage Disk  24  delivery method utilizes US Postal  27  to deliver the physical media to User&#39;s Home  28 . 
         [0016]    An embodiment  30  is shown in  FIG. 3 , in which three different formats of digital content and rental period metadata can be selected for processing by an Exclusive OR Function  35  and normalized by Normalizing Engine  45  to a single format usable by both Behavior Engine  38  and Content Decoder  39 . In this embodiment, Digital Content File  32  and Rental Period Metadata File  31  are two individual files on a piece of media as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0017]    Digital Content With Rental Content  33  has both the digital content file and the rental period metadata files combined into a single file. Aggregated Digital Content With Rental Period Metadata  34  contains both the digital content file and the rental period metadata files algorithmically hashed together. After Normalizing Engine  45  has converted the selected file(s) into Rental Period Metadata File  36 , Behavior Engine  38  processes the metadata to determine if the rental period has expired. 
         [0018]    The rental period may be any of several different forms. For example, the rental period may be a range of calendar dates, a number of days, a number of hours, or some other measurable period of time or of events. Again for example, the rental period may be a fixed number of hours once an initial use of the digital content has started. 
         [0019]    In this example, the digital content may be usable for 24 hours once the first use of the digital content has started. If Behavior Engine  38  determines that the rental period has expired, it sends a “Rental Expired” message to Display Engine  40  and a “Do Not Play” message to the Content Decoder  39 . The form of the message sent by Behavior Engine  38  to Display Engine  40  may be of a plurality of formats such as text, graphic, or video. The display engine may be connected to the video screen  41  by a wire cable such as HDMI or component, by a wireless link such as 802.11 wireless protocol, or by some other means. In one embodiment, User  43  may indicate to Behavior Engine  38  through the use of a Remote Control Device  44  a desire to extend the rental period. Behavior Engine  38  in this embodiment may save that information in Behavior Storage  42  and through a set of rules notify Content Decoder  39  to play Digital Content File  37 . If Digital Content File  37  is within the rental period, Content Decoder  39  decodes the file and sends it to Display Engine  40 ; which in turn processes the file and send the video to Television  41 . 
         [0020]      50  depicts a system of  FIG. 4 , where Media Player  55  and/or Television  54  are connected to the Internet  53  and accessible by Rental Computer  51 . Rental Computer  51  can access its Rental Database  52  to determine that a rental media has not been returned by the user. In this embodiment, Rental Computer  51  sends a notification to either or both Media Player  54  and/or Television  55 . The notification may be of a plurality of formats such as text, graphic, or video. User  56  observes the message sent to either Media Player  55  or Television  54  and is thus reminder to return the media to the renting company. 
         [0021]    In an alternate embodiment, User  56  through the use of Remote Control Device  57  may extend the rental period of the digital content by Television  54  and/or Media Player  55  receiving user&#39;s agreement to extend and transferring that information back to Rental Computer  51  via Internet  53 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows an alternative set of processes  50  for changing metadata on write once optical media. This embodiment solves a problem where write once optical media which is typically used for rental DVDs. This type of media typically does not work well in an environment where some of the data needs to be changed prior to each rental. Write once media, however, can often have multiple sessions or partitions created one at a time in a serial fashion. In this type of embodiment, several megabytes of space on the media can accommodate hundreds of additional sessions containing small amounts of data. Considering that the space requirements for rental period metadata consume on the order of tens to hundreds of bytes of data, the number of additional sessions that could be written would exceed the usable life span of rental cycles. 
         [0023]    For example, a single piece of DVD write once media may initially have Digital Content File  61  written on it and Session  1  Rental Period Metadata File  62  written. When the media is returned by a user, Session  2  Rental Period Metadata File  65  can be written as the next session prior to the media being sent to the next customer. This embodiment allows the media distributor to change the rental period rules at will. It also allows for the refreshing of metadata that may contain data other than rental period data. For example, the metadata may contain targeted ads that are specifically targeted to the next customer that will receive the media. 
         [0024]    The general structure and techniques, and more specific embodiments which can be used to effect different ways of carrying out the more general goals are described herein. 
         [0025]    Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above, other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to be encompassed within this specification. The specification describes specific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may be accomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to be exemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification or alternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skill in the art. For example, other kinds of media and players are contemplated, including newer players such as Bluray or HD-DVD. 
         [0026]    Also, the inventors intend that only those claims which use the words “means for” are intended to be interpreted under 35 USC 112, sixth paragraph. Moreover, no limitations from the specification are intended to be read into any claims, unless those limitations are expressly included in the claims. The computers described herein may be any kind of computer, either general purpose, or some specific purpose computer such as a workstation. The computer may be an Intel (e.g., Pentium or Core 2 duo) or AMD based computer, running Windows XP or Linux, or may be a Macintosh computer. The computer may also be a handheld computer, such as a PDA, cellphone, or laptop. 
         [0027]    The programs may be written in C or Python, or Java, Brew or any other programming language. The programs may be resident on a storage medium, e.g., magnetic or optical, e.g. the computer hard drive, a removable disk or media such as a memory stick or SD media, wired or wireless network based or Bluetooth based Network Attached Storage (NAS), or other removable medium. The programs may also be run over a network, for example, with a server or other machine sending signals to the local machine, which allows the local machine to carry out the operations described herein. 
         [0028]    Where a specific numerical value is mentioned herein, it should be considered that the value may be increased or decreased by 20%, while still staying within the teachings of the present application, unless some different range is specifically mentioned. Where a specified logical sense is used, the opposite logical sense is also intended to be encompassed.