System and method for protection of creative works

The inventive method for protection of creative works is accomplished by creating a creative work, securing the creative work using biometric information of an author of the creative work, and restricting an access to the creative work to the author and select users, who are authorized by the author and whose biometric information is registered with a biometric security database.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and method for protection of creative works using biometric security based on biometric identification and verification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In view of the tremendous opportunities and advantages of cybernetics and phenomenal growth of internet, mobile technologies, digital instrumentation, there have arisen serious concerns in the arena of protecting intellectual property rights of creative digital works, for example, software, digital images, digitized music, e-books, etc. The growth of digital information transmission worries copyright holders who fear that the new technology threatens their rights because of greater piracy, increased theft of digital works at the information transfer stage and widespread sharing of digital works.

Piracy copying of software, particularly software adapted to run on personal computers, is an extensive problem to software vendors which annually costs them large amounts of money. On average, the software industry loses about US$11 to US$12 billion in revenue to software piracy annually. The conventional methods employed to protect software against unauthorized utilization by demanding a password for the installation or operation of a specific computer program or program package, for example, have not provided sufficient security.

Several attempts have already been made to establish arrangements in which simply typing a required password is not sufficient to gain access to a program. For example, systems have been proposed which require that a special hardware unit is connected to the computer to make it possible to utilize a given program. This unit may take the form of a blind plug (also termed “dongle”), for example, which is connected directly to one of the input-output terminals of the computer, and containing fixed tables, identity number, or the like, stored in an internal memory from which information is read upon the request of a programmed additional routine included for this purpose in the application program in question. The unit may also take the form of a card reader station, or the like, in which a card is inserted, the matter stored on the card in principle being similar to that of the blind plug above. Usually the checking procedure involves that the additional routine of the program makes a direct comparison of the program identity, for example, and a corresponding item of information present in the stored table. Thus, an arrangement making it possible to use a certain computer program or a computer program package only if the permission of the copyright holder really exists would be of great importance.

One attempt to address the above challenges was a proposed utilization of biometric access control systems by the sending and receiving party to authenticate the identity of the sending and receiving party. The use of biometric technologies has previously gained some acceptance in the field of content access control, and so, application of such technologies to the goal of securing copyrighted content is a reasonable approach.

Biometrics is a field of technology aimed at utilizing one or more unique personal characteristics of an individual, ranging, for example, from their fingerprints to their hand vein pattern, odor, iris image, or their DNA, to authenticate their identity. Biometric technologies are typically of two types—passive and active. Passive biometrics either do not require the individual who's identity is being verified to do anything other than to enable a certain biometric characteristic to be acquired by the system (e.g., by placing a finger on a fingerprint scanner, by looking into a retinal scanner, or by looking in the direction of a facial scanner). Active biometrics require the individual who's identity is being verified to perform one or more predetermined actions in order to enable the system to acquire the representation of one or more appropriate biometric characteristics (e.g., by providing a signature, by speaking, by squeezing a certain object, etc.). Certain types of biometric systems may incorporate a combination of active and passive biometric approaches. The various types of biometric systems are discussed in greater detail in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/332,017 entitled “MULTIPLATFORM INDEPENDENT BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

It would thus be desirable to provide a system and method for restricting access to creative digital works to one or more specific identified individuals. It would further be desirable to provide a system and method for preserving the identity of the author of a particular creative work and the date and location of its creation. It would additionally be desirable, to provide a system and method for registering, tracking and biometrically verifying identities of users/licensees of various creative works.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive data processing system and method enable protection of creative works using biometric information of their authors and other authorized individuals.

In one embodiment of the inventive method for protection of creative works, the method includes creating a creative work, securing the creative work using biometric information of an author of the creative work, restricting an access to this creative work to the author and authorized individuals who are authorized by the author and whose biometric information is registered with a biometric security database.

In one embodiment of the inventive system for protection of creative works, the system includes a first level at which a creative work is created and a second level at which the creative work is uploaded for secured storage and distribution. The first level includes a first biometric device identifying and verifying biometric information of a user, a first biometric database storing the biometric information of the user, a creative device for creation of the creative work, a memory and a processor. The second level includes a second biometric database and a creative works database. The creative work created at the first level is at least temporarily stored at the memory of the first level. Access to the creative work temporarily stored at the memory is restricted to select users whose biometric information is stored in the first biometric database. When the creative work is uploaded at the second level, the creative work is stored at the creative works database, and the access to the creative work stored at the creative works database is restricted to select users whose biometric information is stored in the second biometric database.

In a further embodiment of the inventive system and method, which may be utilized on its own or in conjunction with the previously described embodiments, one party is a licensor of a licensed product incorporating the creative digital work. In accordance with this embodiment, a license activation method is accomplished by purchasing the licensed product by a first party from a second party; conveying the licensed product by the second party to the first party; verifying an identity of a recipient of the licensed product using a biometric security management system; and activating a license associated with the licensed product when the biometric security management system verifies the identity of the recipient of the licensed product.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system and method of the present invention remedy the disadvantages of previously known solutions directed at protection of creative works.

Because the terminology that may be currently utilized to describe the various embodiments of the novel system (and its functionality), evolves and changes rapidly, for the purposes of clarity, and without departing from the spirit of the invention, the various elements, components, infrastructures, and process steps of the inventive system and method, are described in Table 1, and further below, in terms of their required or desired functionality, and/or in terms of objectives they are intended to accomplish, in accordance with the present invention, rather than as specific structural and/or process implementations, which may change in nomenclature with advances in information systems technology. Table 1 is provided for convenience only and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of possible interpretations of utilized terms.

For example, as computers of various types are well known in the art, it is presumed that any computer used in conjunction with the present invention, will include the typical components necessary for its operation, e.g., one or more CPUs, memory, long term data storage, and, in cases of computers typically utilized by users, one or more input devices, a display, and so on. In addition, because a number of abbreviated terms are used for the sake of convenience inFIGS. 1 to 5, and further below, Table 1 also provides the definitions of some abbreviated terms used herein.

TABLE 1Definitions/Terminology#TermDefinition1CreativeFor purposes of the present application, the termWork“creative work” refers to any work of authorship,regardless of the means of its creation, including butnot limited to the types and definitions set forth in 17U.S.C. §101 and 102.2AuthorAn individual, a group of individuals or a companyresponsible for creation of the creative work or a legalowner of a creative work created by somebody else.3UserA user is defined as:1.Any party that desires to securely and/orverifiably store or transfer to another party (orparties) a creative work, whether bytransmission thereto, or by granting (to theother party or parties) secured access to contentthat includes the creative work, and/or2.Any party that desires to have an access to acreative work from another party (or parties).Thus, in accordance with the present invention, usersmay range from private individuals, to members ofgroups of any type and with any amount of hierarchicallevels and subgroups and that may be readily overlapwith other groups (e.g., Groups of friends, familymembers, employees of a corporation, governmentemployees and/or officials of varying ranks in one ormore agencies, students of a particular university, etc.)4BIVSBiometric Identity Verification System5BIVDBiometric Identity Verification Device6BIVABiometric Identity Verification Application7Informa-As defined herein, information, data, or content, maytion/be of any type and in any number of formats that candata/be, in whole or in part, transmitted, interacted withcontent(e.g., Viewed, modified, reviewed, etc.), Generated,acquired, analyzed, deleted, reviewed, and/or otherwiseprocessed by an infotr system. For example,information may include, but is not limited to, one ormore of the following: text, images, audio, video,transactional information, instrument or sensorreadings (e.g., Medical, scientific, military), links toother data, executable programs and supporting files,etc. Additionally, data may be static, interactive, or acombination of both.While it may be used interchangeably with“information” or “data”, the term “content” preferablyrepresents certain desirable information that is ofinterest to one or more parties, access to which iscontrolled by one or more parties.8Communi-As defined herein, a communication link is preferablycationany form of a communication connection between thelinkvarious components of the inventive system thatenables data transmission of the appropriate types ofinformation therebetween.Each communication link may include, but is notlimited to, one or more of the following, in anycombination: direct telecommunication lines(s), wirelesslink(s) (e.g., Satellite uplink, radio, cellular, Wi-Fi,etc.), and communication network(s) (such as a LAN(local area network), a WAN (wide area network), orthe Internet).9BIVEBiometric Identity Verification Element.10LASLicense Activation Server (see FIGS. 4-5 andaccompanying description)11LACLicense Activation Component (see FIGS. 4-5 andaccompanying description)

It should be noted, that the specific numbers of users, and corresponding systems shown in the variousFIGS. 1 to 5, are provided by way of example only. Because the inventive system is completely scalable, it may be used in configurations ranging from as few as two users, to as many as practically possible, as a matter of design choice or convenience, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

As described further below, the system of the present invention includes at least two levels: Level 1—the level where the creative digital work is created and initially stored (e.g., a digital camera, a personal computer, a mobile device, a scanner, a digital audio recorder, etc.), and Level 2—the network level, where the creative digital work is stored for subsequent protection and/or utilization. As described further below, an intermediary Level 1a, for example, a host computer, may be provided for an intermediate storage and transfer of creative digital works.

The system is generally illustrated inFIG. 2showing Level 1 elements including the processor1, the memory4, the Level 1 biometric database2, the biometric identification and verification device (BIVD)3for acquiring biometric information from a user and a corresponding biometric identity verification application (BIVA)8for controlling the operation of the BIVD3and for enabling the acquired biometric characteristics to be used for identity verification. BIVD3in combination with the BIVA8generate a user biometric identity verification element (BIVE), representative of the biometric information acquired by the BIVD, and process it for storage in the biometric database2(as well as biometric databases of other system levels) and use in future user identity verification (e.g., by creating a recognition template, or otherwise). It should be noted that more than one BIVD with its corresponding BIVA (e.g., fingerprint scanner(s), iris scanner(s), face identifier(s), etc.) may be utilized at Levels1or1aof the present system. Additionally, Level 1 includes a creative device5, i.e., the device that is used by the author to assist in creation of the creative work. Depending on an actual implementation of the claimed invention, creative device5may be an image capturing device of a digital camera, software assisting in creation of a digital work, a sound recording and digitizing device, etc.

Level 2 preferably includes at least a biometric database6for storing BIVEs of users registered with Level 2 network and a creative works database7for storing and protecting creative works uploaded to Level 2. Only users whose BIVEs are registered with the biometric database6and who are authorized by the author will have an access to the creative work in the creative works database7. The author or an owner of the creative work stored in the creative works database may create various rules with respect to accessing, viewing, using, selling, purchasing, distributing and other rights with respect to its creative work.

Level 1a preferably includes a processor1′, a Level 1a biometric database2′, memory4′, BIVD3′ and BIVA8′. Functions of Level 1a elements are similar to the functions of the equivalent elements of Level 1, described above.

FIG. 1is a logical flow chart illustrating the method for protecting creative works, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1, at the initial setup step101, an author is asked whether he/she wants to create and store his/her biometric information (step102), i.e., BIVE. More than one person may be designate as the author. Therefore, multiple biometric enrolments are possible with the present system. As explained above, BIVE is created using a biometric scanning device (“BIVD”) and, in accordance with step103, is stored in the Level 1 Biometric Database. If there are additional users of the system, their BIVEs may also be created and stored at the time the initial set up is performed (steps104-105). Next, author creates a creative work (step106) and has a choice of protecting this work using his/her biometric information (step107). If no protection is desired, the work is ordinarily stored on an appropriate storage means, for example, memory4or4′ (step108). If, however, the author desires to protect the creative work, the system will first check whether the author's BIVE was previously stored (step109). If no such information was previously stored, the author will be asked to use the attached BIVD to create BIVE and to store this information in the Level 1 Biometric Database (step110). The author's BIVE is then verified (step111), and the work is protected and stored (step112). It should be noted that in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the creative work may be encrypted using any known encryption method prior to being stored. To access, the protected work, the author will need to submit his/her BIVE using the BIVD and verify this BIVE by comparing it to the BIVE previously stored in Level 1 Biometric Database. Additionally, the author may designate other individuals allowed to access the protected work. All such individuals will need their BIVEs to be stored in Level 1 Biometric Database. As will be obvious to a person skilled in the art, the additional step of encryption is not necessary to protect the creative work. The work may simply be protected by biometrically securing access to such work in the manner described above.

The protected work may then be uploaded to an intermediate Level 1a or the network Level 2 of the inventive system and distributed or licensed as described below (step114).

The creative work protection system100useful in practicing the method of the present invention, which enables users to easily secure, authenticate, and store their creative works, is described with reference toFIG. 3. AlthoughFIG. 3explains the use of the inventive system and method in connection with creation and utilization of digital images created by a digital camera (i.e., Level 1), it should be noted that the present system is not restricted to such use, as will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.

In accordance with one preferred embodiment, system100includes a digital camera10, a host computer50and a network70. Digital camera10produces digital images that are stored on a removable digital image storage medium (e.g., a memory card)30or other digital storage device. Digital camera10has a zoom lens12that is controlled by a zoom switch (not shown) having telephoto (T) and wide angle (W) positions, and having zoom and focus motor drives (not shown), and an adjustable aperture and shutter (not shown) for focusing light from a scene onto an image sensor14. The image sensor14can be, for example, a single-chip, colored, charge-coupled device (CCD), using the well-known Bayer color filter pattern. When the user depresses a shutter button (not shown), the analog output signal from the image sensor14is converted to digital data by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter (not shown). The digital data is processed by a processor18that is controlled by firmware stored in a reprogrammable memory, such as a Flash EPROM (not shown).

Digital camera10is further supplied with a biometric identification system (BIS), which utilizes one or more unique personal characteristics of camera users registered therewith, to verify their identity. BIS preferably includes a biometric identity verification device (BIVD)28for acquiring biometric information from a user, and a corresponding biometric identity verification application (BIVA) (not shown) for controlling the operation of the BIVD, and for enabling the acquired biometric characteristics to be used for identity verification. BIVA software may be provided with the digital camera on a compact disc, CD-ROM, a floppy disk, or other digital media and installed on the host computer50or directly on the digital camera10(possibly, as part of the firmware) at the time of the initialization of the digital camera, i.e., prior to taking pictures. Thus, in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, BIVA software is executed external to the digital camera10, and is executed on the host computer50. However, the BIVA software can alternatively be executed by an Internet appliance, set-top box, or other external device, or can be executed internal to the digital camera10, provided that the digital camera has an appropriate user interface for displaying and responding to questions. BIVEs of the author and other authorized users may be stored in a local biometric database34.

The processed digital image file is provided to a digital storage interface20which stores the digital image file on the removable digital image storage medium30, or on another type of digital memory device, such as a floppy disk or magnetic hard drive, or smart media. The removable digital image storage medium30, which is well-known to those skilled in the art, can include, for example, a memory card adapted to the PCMCIA card interface standard, as described in the PC Card Standard, Release 2.0, published by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, Sunnyvale, Calif., September 1991. The removable digital image storage medium30can also be adapted to the Compact Flash interface standard, such as described in the Compact Flash Specification Version 1.4, published by the CompactFlash Association, Palo Alto, Calif., July 1999, or to other memory devices such as the well-known SSFDC (Solid State Floppy Disc Card) or Memory Stick formats.

Processor18performs color interpolation followed by color and tone correction, in order to produce rendered sRGB image data. The processor18can include internal buffer memory to store a portion of the image, or to store one or more entire images. Alternatively, the processor18can use a separate external memory, such as DRAM memory19. The rendered sRGB image data is then JPEG compressed and stored as a JPEG image file on the removable digital image storage medium30. The processor18also provides a lower resolution or “thumbnail” size image data to an LCD display22, which displays the captured image for the user to review. Several camera user buttons provided as part of the user controls24are used to control the digital camera10. User controls24, together with text and icons displayed on the LCD display22, form the camera graphical user interface (GUI). This GUI is controlled by the user interface portion of the firmware stored in the Flash EPROM.

The digital camera10determines various metadata items, such as the date/time the picture was taken from the real-time clock (not shown) provided by the processor18. Additionally, a place of the creation may also be preserved by entering the place identifying information using the GUI. After a series of images has been taken by the digital camera10and stored on the removable digital image storage medium30, the removable medium30can be inserted into an appropriate reader48communicatively attached to or incorporated within the host computer50. Alternatively, an interface cable36can be used to connect between a host interface26in the digital camera10and a camera interface46which may be external or internal to the host computer50. The interface cable36may conform to, for example, the well-known universal serial bus (USB) interface specification.

The captured images from the digital camera10can be downloaded to the host computer50and stored on a hard drive56under the control of a central processing unit (CPU)60. As conventionally known, host computer50includes RAM memory38, and the CPU60is coupled to a display monitor52, which is used to view the images, and various input/output devices54(e.g., a keyboard).

In an alternative embodiment, previously created creative works can be stored on an external storage medium32. Examples of the external storage medium32include a CD ROM, a DVD, an external hard drive, a floppy disk, an MP3 player and a flash drive. However, as it is apparent to a person skilled in the art, the present invention is not limited to these exemplary devices. CPU60communicates with an External Media Storage Interface42in order to read the information from the external storage medium32. External media storage interface42can be a CD ROM drive, a floppy disk drive or any other appropriate interface.

To protect creative works and other information stored on the host computer50, a host BIS is provided on the host computer. Host computer BIS preferably includes a host BIVD64for acquiring biometric information from a user, a corresponding BIVA (not shown) and an intermediate biometric database66for storing BIVEs of registered users.

CPU60further communicates with an image forming apparatus (IFA)58through an IFA interface62. IFA58can be a local printer, a copier, a facsimile apparatus or a scanner. IFA58may be utilized to produce hard copy prints of the images that were captured by the digital camera10, to print hard copies of other creative works created on the host computer50, to upload a digital copy of a creative work existing in a hard copy (e.g., by scanning a hard copy of a manuscript) or to upload a digital copy of a creative work transmitted from another location. Similarly to the digital camera10, IFA58can create a date stamp associated with the creation, upload or transmission of a particular creative work.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the creative work is uploaded to the network70having a creative works database72for storage and protection of uploaded creative works and a network biometric database74. As shown inFIG. 3, network may further include a master biometric security system80working with the master biometric database74to register and store biometric information of authorized users. Biometric security system80may be implemented as part of the network70(as shown inFIG. 3) or as a free-standing application service provider (ASP) connected to the network70. Further, biometric security system80may be implemented as an independent biometric security server described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,659, fully incorporated herein by reference. Network70further includes an interface76for interfacing with various local or intermediary devices via secure communication links82. Communications with the host computer50are preferably accomplished via the PC/Network interface68. Similarly, communications with the digital camera10are preferably accomplished via the network interface78. Further elements and functions of network70are described below in connection with distribution of creative works.

As described above in connection withFIGS. 1-3, an author creates his/her creative work200using digital equipment, e.g., a personal computer, a digital camera, a mobile device, etc. This digital equipment may be preliminary set up to have a biometrically secured access to the digital equipment and information stored thereon. As further described above, the author secures the work by attaching his/her biometric information, a date stamp and possibly a place of creation information to the work. The work may be further locally protected by encryption. Only authorized users whose biometric information is registered with a biometric identification system of the digital equipment will be allowed to access the creative work200.

According to the copyright law, copyright protection attaches to work200at the time of creation. To ensure that the creative work itself, its date and place of creation are preserved, the author registers his/her biometric information using the master biometric security system and uploads work200to the Level 2 network. As the author uploads work200, he/she provides the biometric information using the biometric scanning device. The system identifies the author using the previously stored biometric information and creates a date stamp and optionally a place of creation stamp for work200. The name of the author, the date stamp and the place stamp are then attached to the work such that the date, the place and the author of the work may be later verified, if necessary. Further, work200may then be distributed with the attached information, as described in more detail below.

Referring now toFIG. 4, another aspect of the inventive system is shown that enables registered users to obtain a licensed product220, for example, a product incorporating the copyrighted work200discussed above, and activate the license by verifying one or more biometric criteria of the intended user/licensee using the biometric identity verification system (BIVS)205. In addition to the creative work200, licensed product220may include terms and conditions of licensing the product220. User201inFIG. 4refers to the author or licensor (i.e., an owner, vendor or distributor of a licensed product corresponding to the creative work) of the creative work, and its system202may be constructed in a way described above with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3, i.e., the system may be the Level 1, Level 1a or Level 2 system containing the product to be licensed. Further, the licensor's system202preferably includes the following capabilities: 1. capability for transmitting information to at least one other system; 2. capability for receiving information from at least one other system; 3. capability for storing data and applications for issuing instructions, and, in response to issued instructions, performing tasks involving data stored therein or provided thereto, sufficient to enable functionality necessary for operation of the disclosed system and method; 4. capability for displaying information relevant to its operation and the performed tasks; 5. capability for communicating with the BIVS system205via a communication link210; and 6. capability for receiving instructions from an operator. System202also preferably includes a BIVD214for scanning or otherwise retrieving BIVEs.

The embodiment ofFIG. 4further features a licensee203. The licensee203has access to its own system204, which may communicate with the BIVS system205via a communication link212. Additionally, system202of the user201and system204of the user203are able to communicate with each other via a communication link240. The various communication links shown inFIG. 4may be similar to at least some of the other links, or may all be of the same configuration (e.g., the Internet). Similarly to system202, system204also preferably includes a BIVD216for scanning or otherwise retrieving BIVEs.

BIVS system205preferably includes LAS206(see definitions in Table 1) as an integrated component. LAS206is a license activation management system performing enrollment procedure and verification for user203during installation of the product220. Further, each product220prefer includes LAC208(see definitions in Table 1). LAC208is a software installation package that implements biometric identity management algorithm to connect user203to LAS206, capture and send a user's biometric (e.g., fingerprint) element during installation procedure and to ensure that only previously registered clients would be able to complete installation of the product they had purchased.

Referring, toFIG. 5, an exemplary embodiment of a process for accomplishing license activation utilizing the inventive system (for example, the system ofFIG. 4) is shown. As a matter of design choice, the various steps of this process may be executed by different components of the inventive system ofFIG. 4.

The process of licensing the product202may begin at an optional step302, where a user203may purchase a licensed product from a licensor201. LAC208of the purchased licensed product is then sent to the purchasing user at a step304. Using the embodiment shown inFIG. 4as an example, step304may be accomplished by electronically transmitting LAC208from licensor201to user203via the connection link240. Alternatively, LAC208of the purchased licensed product may be recorded on some electronic media (e.g., hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.) and then physically conveyed to the purchasing user. Next, at a step306, the purchasing user runs LAC208on its system204connecting the purchasing user's system to the LAS206of the BIVS system205, where the user performs a registration process (step308). Purchaser's BIVE is then stored at the biometric database212of the BIVS system205. Alternatively, the purchasing user203may register its biometric information with the BIVS system205at the time of purchase of the licensed product using the communication link210between the licensor201and the BIVS system.

After the registration is complete, IBSM System notifies the licensor that the product may be transmitted. At an optional step310, the licensor encrypts the purchased product (this step is optional because it is possible to control access to the purchased product without encrypting it), which is then transmitted to the purchasing user at a step312indicating the purchasing user as the intended recipient. Upon receipt of the licensed product, the user transmits, biometric information acquired through its BIVD216in form of a BIVE to the BIVS system, which verifies the supplied BIVE against the BIVE of the authorized user previously stored during registration. Upon successful verification, the product is decrypted (if it was previously encrypted) and product installation process is activated, at a step314. At an optional step316, an installation log may be created and stored at the BIVS system to provide the licensor with an easy license record keeping option.

Although, transmission of LAC of the purchased product, encryption of the purchased product and the transmission of the actual purchased product are described as three separate steps (i.e., steps304,310and312), they can be accomplished simultaneously. In such alternative embodiment, the licensor will transmit the LAC and the encrypted product as one package. However, the user will not be able to access and/or install the licensed product until the registration (step308) and verification are completed. Accordingly, the creative work incorporated in the licensed product202is protected by the disclosed and claimed system and method.