Patent ID: 6865552

Claim:
A data copying system, comprising a data copying apparatus for copying data recorded on a first recording medium to a second recording medium and a billing apparatus for billing for the copying of the data, wherein a first modification control information is recorded on the first recording medium, the first modification control information includes a copying permission flag indicating whether copying of the data is permitted, a quality control flag indicating whether quality control of the data is required as a condition for permitting the copying of the data and a billing control flag indicating whether billing is recorded as a condition for permitting the copying of the data, the data copying apparatus including: a data read section for reading out the data and the first modification control information from the first recording medium; a data modification control section for controlling modification of the data in accordance with the first modification control information or a second modification control information transmitted from the billing apparatus as necessary; and a data write section for writing an output of the data modification control section to the second recording medium, wherein: the second modification control information is information transmitted from the billing apparatus to the data copying apparatus when billing is required for the copying of the data, the second modification control information comprises at least one set of quality level information and royalty information, the quality level information indicating which level the data is modified into and the royalty information indicating an amount of the billing corresponding to the quality level; the data modification control section determines whether billing is required for the copying of the data in accordance with the billing control flag; when the billing is required, the data modification control section receives the second modification control information from the billing apparatus, allows a user to select one set of the at least one set of quality level information and royalty information included in the second modification control information, and controls the modification of the data in accordance with the quality level information of the one set selected by the user, after confirming that the billing has been done by the billing apparatus in accordance with the royalty information of the one set selected by the user; and; when the billing is not required, the data modification control section controls the modification of the data in accordance with the first modification control information, without confirming that the billing has been done by the billing apparatus.