AUTOMATED MEDIA AND CONTENT REPORTING SYSTEM FOR BROADCAST MEDIA

• US 20110015968A1
• Filed: 07/17/2009
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alan L. Carlson
• Original Assignee: Alan L. Carlson
• Inventors: Carlson, Alan L.
• Application Number:
  US12/505,410
• Publication Number:
  US 20110015968A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management

Abstract

A reporting system for transmission broadcast media automatically monitors content distribution by media outlets and their delivery model, and identifies content and locates corresponding royalty arrangements and rights holders. Accordingly, royalty transactions can be minimized as superior rights holders can be directly compensated based on distribution models, private royalty agreements and statutory considerations. IN some embodiments superior rights holders such as a publisher can be compensated directly forgoing compensating intermediaries or inferior rights holders or performing rights organizations. Thus, the disclosed arrangements can calculate compensation amounts superior rights holder and a deduction amount for the compensation due to the inferior rights holder. Payment instructions for the payment amount to the superior rights holder are accordingly issued, and the payment instructions are reported to the inferior rights holder as well as the artist of a work in the content usage.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of managing a compensation system for rights holders, comprising:

monitoring an electronic transmission, the electronic transmission having a plurality of musical compositions;

acquiring a unique identifier associated with an individual musical composition of the plurality of musical compositions;

searching at least one relational database to locate information associated with the unique identifier, the information including a unique identity of a first rights holder in the individual musical composition and a unique identity of a second rights holder in the individual musical composition;

locating at least one compensation arrangement applicable to the first rights holder and the second rights holder based on a type of the electronic transmission;

determining a first compensation amount applicable to the first rights holder and a second compensation amount applicable to the second rights holder in response to the transmission of the individual musical composition utilizing the at least one compensation arrangement;

accumulating the determined first and second compensation amounts due the first and second rights holder according to the plurality of musical compositions; and

generating a compensation report having accumulated compensation amounts.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising paying one of the accumulated compensation amounts to at least one of the first or second rights holder.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said locating further comprises searching a database for the at least one compensation arrangement.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising periodically querying third party databases and storing information related to unique identifiers locally.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said searching further comprises searching via a computer network.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising locating the relational database via the Internet.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising including a title for the individual musical composition and metadata associated with the individual musical composition in the compensation report.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the metadata includes indicators of payment terms, a performer, a publisher, a composer, a lyricist, a band, a reporting period, a media outlet, a record label, a number of times that an individual musical composition was played, a number of times that an individual musical composition was played on a specific media outlet, and a number of times that the individual composition played.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rights holder has rights that are superior rights to rights of the second rights holder.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first rights holder is one of a record label or a publisher and the second rights holder is a collective organization.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising reducing an amount of compensation due to the second rights holder based on an agreement between a media outlet of the electronic transmission and the first rights holder.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining includes determining a per-content transmission rate regarding each individually transmitted musical composition transmitted.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising deducting an amount from a fixed fee due to the second rights holder based on an agreement between a media outlet of the electronic transmission and the first rights holder.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing search rules to search a plurality of databases to acquire data and metadata associated with the individual musical composition.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic transmission type is one of the Internet, a terrestrial broadcast, a high definition terrestrial broadcast, a cellular network, or a satellite transmission.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an entity that facilitates at least part of the electronic transmission;

accessing data based on said identifying; and

determining a royalty liability of the entity using the data.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity is one of a content distributor, a content provider, a service provider, a content mover, a middleman, an intermediary, a repeater, an aggregator, an encoder, a communications provider, a subscriber based distribution system, a portal provider, or an Internet service provider.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein data utilized to generate the compensation report is utilized to generate business planning data.

19. An automated reporting system for broadcast media, comprising:

a monitor which automatically examines content usage of an electronic transmission at a broadcast outlet to generate content usage data, wherein the electronic transmission includes a plurality of musical compositions, and the content usage data includes unique identifiers associated with individual musical compositions in the plurality of musical compositions;

a relational database which correlates the unique identifiers with at least one first rights holder and at least one second rights holder who are due compensation for portions of the electronic transmission at the broadcast outlet;

a royalty calculator which automatically locates a compensation arrangement applicable to the first rights holder and the second rights holder based on a type of the electronic transmission, and automatically calculates a first compensation amount applicable to the first rights holder and a second compensation amount applicable to the second rights holder based on the compensation arrangement; and

a reporter which automatically generates a compensation report including the first and second compensation amounts.

20. A computer-implemented method of managing a compensation system for broadcast media, comprising:

receiving content usage data from one or more monitors which examine content usage of media output at one or more broadcast outlets;

correlating the content usage data with at least one superior rights holder and at least one inferior rights holder who are due compensation for portions of the media output at the one or more broadcast outlets, wherein the superior rights holder is due less compensation that the inferior rights holder for the content usage and payment to the superior rights holder for the content usage eliminates or reduces compensation due to the inferior rights holder;

calculating a payment amount for the compensation due to the superior rights holder for the content usage and a deduction amount for the compensation due to the inferior rights holder based on the payment amount; and

storing the payment and deduction amounts in association with the superior and inferior rights holders and the content usage data.