Patent ID: 6925498

Claim:
A data output system including a copyright management apparatus and a data output processing apparatus which are capable of communicating via a network, wherein: said copyright management apparatus comprises: copyright data management means for storing copyright data related to output data in a database and managing the copyrighted data, said copyright data including information related to an effective limit date and an output condition; and wherein said output processing apparatus comprises: first copyright data obtaining means for obtaining first copyright data attached to said output data; determination means for determining whether or not second copyright data related to said output data should be obtained from said copyright management apparatus in accordance with the information related to the effective limit date included in the obtained first copyright data; second copyright data obtaining means for obtaining second copyright data from said copyright management apparatus in accordance with a determination result by said determination means; output processing means for executing output processing of said output data by utilizing one of (i) an output condition included in said second copyright data obtained by said second copyright data obtaining means and (ii) the output condition included in said first copyright data obtained by said first copyright data obtaining means, in accordance with the determination result by said determination means.