Patent ID: 8660963

Claim:
A contents copying management system configured by connecting a contents copying apparatus and a copying management device by a network, said contents copying apparatus comprising: a controller configured to acquire medium identifying information specific to and uniquely characterizing one recorded-contents-carrying original recording medium including contents to be copied by imaging by a camera a printed surface of the one recorded-contents-carrying original recording medium to generate a luminance signal, and generating the medium identifying information by starting an operation of generating the luminance signal based on a physical address recorded on a recording surface of the recorded-contents-carrying original recording medium; the controller further configured to acquire apparatus identifying information specific to and indicating said contents copying apparatus itself; a first transmission/reception section that transmits said medium identifying information and said apparatus identifying information to said copying management device as copying-related combination information; the first transmission/reception section further receives copying authorizing information generated by said copying management device on the basis of said copying-related combination information at the time of accessing said copying management device, after transmitting said medium identifying information; and the controller further configured to control an operation of copying said contents from said original recording medium in response to said copying authorizing information; said copying management device comprising: a database that registers and stores said copying-related combination information received from said contents copying apparatus in advance; a control section configured to compare said copying-related combination information received at the time of access by said contents copying apparatus with said copying-related combination information registered in said database in advance, that judges agreement or disagreement of said combinations of medium identifying information and apparatus identifying information, and that generates copying authorizing information for authorizing an operation of copying the contents in response to agreement of said combinations but that generates copying non-authorizing information for not authorizing any operation of copying the contents in response to disagreement of said combinations; and a second transmission/reception section that transmits said copying authorizing information to said contents copying apparatus.