Document management with embedded data

• US 20060028689A1
• Filed: 08/11/2003
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/1996
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Levy, Kenneth L., Reed, Alastair M., Rhoads, Geoffrey B., Perry, Burt W., Calhoon, Sean, Schoenheit, Tim
• Application Number:
  US10/639,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20060028689A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/3.280
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/327 which are undetectable to the naked eye, e.g. embedded codes

Abstract

This disclosure details systems and methods for embedding and reading auxiliary code signals in documents, and for using the code signals to enable a variety of forensic tracking, monitoring and usage control functions.

Claims

1. A method of managing documents comprising:

receiving an electronic document that has not been rasterized, the electronic document including semantic information that is interpretable by a human when rendered to an output form for display or printing; and

embedding a machine-readable code signal into the document such that the code signal survives printing of the electronic document, wherein the code signal carries hidden auxiliary data that is not interpretable by a human viewer and does not change semantic meaning of the semantic information, the machine readable code signal being generated by modulating the auxiliary data with a carrier signal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic document comprises a document in a page description language format including editable text.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the code signal is inserted before rasterizing the editable text such that the editable text remains editable by a user after the code signal is inserted.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the code signal is combined with a rasterized version of the text during a process of rasterizing the document for printing.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the code signal comprises a background tint that is replicated across an entire page of the document such that the auxiliary data can be completely extracted from a plurality of different parts of the document.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the code signal comprises a signal that is out of phase with a color component of a printed original, and that causes a detectable change in a color component after scanning or re-printing the original, the change enabling an automated reader to distinguish a printed original from a printed copy.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the code signal comprises a halftone watermark wherein an image representation of the semantic information is modified to encode the auxiliary data by modifying halftone representations of the semantic information.

8. A computer readable medium on which is stored instructions for executing the method of claim 1.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the hidden auxiliary data is readable from an image scanned from a printed version of the document, and the hidden auxiliary data includes information is used to control printing of a visible banner on a copy made of the document.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the visible banner includes information about a user that causes the copy to be made.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the hidden auxiliary data includes a source identifier that identifies a source of the document.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the hidden auxiliary data includes data for determining whether a document in which the data is embedded is in an unauthorized location on a computer network.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the hidden auxiliary data includes data for determining whether a document has been processed by an unauthorized user.

9-23. -23. (canceled)