Patent ID: 8122477

Claim:
A system for electronically distributing video to one or more viewers, the system being managed by an operator at a particular distribution location, comprising: a) a storage vault, said storage vault containing one or more purchased copies of a video, said video being purchased from the owner of the video, said storage vault being disposed on-premise at the particular distribution location, said storage vault being locked so that said copies of said video are stored securely; b) an encoder wherein at least one copy of said video is digitally encoded into a video server storage unit; c) a display system for displaying said video to the viewers, said display system having display system software for interfacing between said video server storage unit and said display system; d) a distribution network for distributing said video from said video server storage unit to a display system; e) a usage timer system for calculating the remaining time of each of the rented out copies of a video and the shortest wait, tracking said wait for the benefit of users waiting for a video to become available, and, additionally, when a user “pauses” a play, said usage timer system begins to add the corresponding time to the “wait” time for that particular copy of the video; f) said display system also comprising a title availability/unavailability graphic user interface in a “time till available” window, wherein said title availability/unavailability graphic user interface displays to a viewer whether a video is available or if unavailable, when the title will become available; g) wherein the number of said videos distributed by said distribution network is less than or equal to the number of purchased copies of said video; and, h) wherein revenue is generated for the operator from renting digital copies of said purchased copies of said video a plurality of times.