Patent ID: 7844611

Claim:
A time-shift image distribution system comprising: an image server; and a time-shift image requesting apparatus configured to request the image server to provide a time-shift image of a non-present time, the time-shift image requesting apparatus being connected to the image server via a communication network; wherein the image server comprises: first communication means for carrying out communications with the time-shift image requesting apparatus via the communication network, an image database configured to store image data of captured images in association with meta information including information representing imaging times and information for identifying subject images captured, searching means for searching the image database based on a search request received from the time-shift image requesting apparatus via the first communication means, the search request at least including information representing an imaging time and information for identifying a subject image as search-condition information, the searching means searching the image database for image data of a captured image matching the search-condition information, image providing means for providing image data of a captured image detected by the searching means to the time-shift image requesting apparatus, reservation means for saving, as a search reservation request, a future time search request received from the time-shift image requesting apparatus via the first communication means, wherein search-condition information of the future time search request includes information representing a future imaging time, and an image-transmission-queue storage unit that, based on the search reservation request, searches the image database at a future time to identify image data matching the search-condition information and, when image data matching the search-condition information becomes available, provides the image data to the time-shift image requesting apparatus, wherein the time-shift image requesting apparatus comprises: second communication means for carrying out communications with the image server via the communication network, and means for sending a search request including information representing an imaging time and information for identifying a subject image as search-condition information to the image server via the second communication means, wherein the information for identifying a subject image includes location-range information representing a location range with reference to a geographical location of the time-shift image requesting apparatus.