Patent ID: 8599422

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: a first storage area that stores in itself original data to be copied; a copier that copies the original data to a second storage area that is shared by a plurality of users belonging to one same group and allowed to be accessed by each user of the group, by storing reference information pointing to the original data stored in the first storage area, in the second storage area; a judger that determines whether or not any of access judgment target users who are all of the group users sharing the second storage area or preliminarily specified users selected from the group users, make access to the second storage area and access the reference information stored in the second storage area; and a controller that suspends execution of an instruction given to change the original data for the access judgment target users, and provides the original data to the access judgment target user based on a determination of the judger that only some of the access judgment target users have made access to the reference information when the instruction to change the original data is given, and then, cancels the suspension after the original data is provided to all of the access judgment target users.