Patent ID: 7327935

Claim:
An information copying system, comprising: a first information recording apparatus; and a second information recording apparatus, the first information recording apparatus comprising a limited number-of-times of copying information setting unit for receiving predetermined electronic data and setting limited number-of-times of copying information, which shows the number-of-times permitted for copying the electronic data, with respect to the electronic data, a first limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit for reading out the electronic data from a first information recording medium in which the electronic data with the limited number-of-times of copying information set by the limited number-of-times of copying information setting unit are recorded, and updating the limited number-of-times of copying information set with respect to the read electronic data, and a first transmitter for transmitting the electronic data whose limited number-of-times of copying information is updated by the first limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit, and the second information recording apparatus comprising a second receiver for receiving the electronic data transmitted from the first transmitter provided in the first information recording apparatus, a second limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit for reading out the electronic data from the second information recording medium in which the electronic data received by the second receiver are recorded, and updating the limited number-of-times of copying information set with respect to the read electronic data, and a second transmitter for transmitting the electronic data whose limited number-of-times of copying information is updated by the second limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit, wherein the limited number-of-times of copying information setting unit provided in the first information recording apparatus sets the limited number-of-times of copying information N (N is a natural number of 1 or more) with respect to the electronic data, the first limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit updates the limited number-of-times of copying information to the number of-times of M (M is an integer of 0 or more and N−1 or less) by performing a subtraction, the second limited number-of-times of copying information updating unit provided in the second information recording apparatus updates the limited number-of-times of copying information that is not 0 to the number-of-times of R (R is an integer of 0 or more and M−1 or less) when the limited number-of-times of copying information set with respect to the read electronic data is not 0, and updates the limited number-of-times of copying information set with respect to the electronic data recorded in the second information recording medium from the number-of-times of M to the number-of-times of (M−(R+1)) when the limited number-of-times of copying information set with respect to the read electronic data is updated to the number-of-times of R.