Emulsion film media employing steganography
First Claim
1. A photographic emulsion film for exposing and developing to produce an image thereon, characterized by an auxiliary information signal encoded therein, said signal being encoded as a patterned physical characteristic coextensive with said film.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Technology is now available permitting consumers to make amateur- or even professional-grade copies of photographs. For wedding and portrait photographers, in particular, the business of making duplications is fundamental to their livelihoods. The threat of such copying is felt strongly. To redress these concerns, a machine-readable marking is provided on emulsion films, photographic papers, and the like. The marking encodes digital information, yet is essentially imperceptible to the human eye. A photographic duplication kiosk can be constructed to read this embedded information and, if warranted by the embedded information, to disable the kiosk'"'"'s copying function. An exemplary embodiment pre-exposes the photographic product with a spatial domain representation of the embedded data, and may include rotationally symmetric one- or two-dimensional patters. Numerous other implementations are similarly practical.
353 Citations
63 Claims
- 1. A photographic emulsion film for exposing and developing to produce an image thereon, characterized by an auxiliary information signal encoded therein, said signal being encoded as a patterned physical characteristic coextensive with said film.
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2. A method of processing a photographic emulsion film during manufacture and prior to exposure by an end user thereof, the method comprising:
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generating a pattern representing an auxiliary information signal;
encoding said film in accordance with said pattern, said encoding not impairing subsequent use of the film by said end user;
said encoded pattern being substantially coextensive with said film.
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- 3. A photographic emulsion paper, characterized by a pattern incorporated therein, said pattern being substantially undetectable by casual observation, but being detectable from scan data obtained by scanning of said paper using a visible light scanning device, said pattern indicating to a compliant photo reproduction kiosk that copying should be prevented.
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12. A blank photographic paper having an emulsion coating thereon suitable for exposing and developing to produce an image thereon, characterized in that—
- after developing—
a pattern appears on the paper that is substantially undetectable by casual observation, but is detectable from scan data obtained by scanning of said paper using a visible light scanning device, said pattern signaling to a compliant photo reproduction kiosk that copying should be prevented. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 51, 52, 53)
- after developing—
- 19. An article comprising a substrate bearing a photographic image, the article having a pattern incorporated therein that is substantially undetectable by casual observation, but is detectable from scan data obtained by scanning of said article using a visible light scanning device, said pattern spanning the article, rather than being found only in one portion thereof, thereby allowing detection of said pattern from first and second non-overlapping portions of said article, the pattern signaling to a compliant photo reproduction kiosk that copying should be prevented.
- 23. A method of processing a photographic emulsion paper during manufacture and prior to exposure by an end user thereof, comprising forming on said paper a pattern that is undetectable by casual observation, yet can be computer-detected from optical scan data produced by scanning of a photographic print later formed on said paper, said pattern indicating to a compliant photo reproduction kiosk that copying should be prevented.
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27. A method of producing a card- or paper-like article that is copy-restrictive, comprising:
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providing a substrate;
applying a layer of material over said substrate;
processing said layer of material to form a pattern therein, said pattern being substantially undetectable by casual observation, but being detectable from scan data obtained by scanning of said article using a visible light scanning device, said pattern indicating to a compliant copying device that copying should be prevented; and
thereafter, processing said article to carry human-perceptible information thereon. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A photo duplication kiosk for producing a hard-copy print from a customer-provided printed photograph, the kiosk comprising:
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a visible light scanning device for generating scan data corresponding to said photograph;
a print-writing device for producing a hard-copy print in accordance with the scan data; and
a processor for interrupting operation of the print-writing device if the scan data includes a pattern signaling that reproduction should be prohibited, said pattern being substantially undetectable by casual observation of the printed photograph, but being detectable by computer processing of said scan data. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 56, 57)
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30. A method of operating a photo duplication kiosk that produces a hard-copy print from a customer-provided printed photograph, the method comprising:
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optically scanning the printed photograph to generate scan data;
processing the scan data to discern the presence of a pattern in the customer-provided printed photograph, said pattern signaling that reproduction of the photograph should be prohibited, said pattern being substantially undetectable by casual observation of the printed photograph; and
interrupting a print-making operation if said pattern is detected. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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- 58. A method for deterring piracy of a copyrighted photograph, comprising printing the photograph on a pre-processed paper, said pre-processing leading to formation of a pattern that is substantially undetectable by casual observation, but is detectable from scan data obtained by scanning the printed photograph using a visible light scanning device employed by a photo duplication kiosk, wherein detection of said pattern triggers an anti-piracy deterrent action by such photo duplication kiosk.
Specification