Network photograph service system

• US 6,578,072 B2
• Filed: 12/31/1998
• Issued: 06/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hara, Makoto, Yatabe, Takashi, Watanabe, Michito
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung; Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): LIN, WEN TAI
• Application Number:
  US09/224,050
• Publication Number:
  US 20030093493A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,622 Days
• Field of Search: 358/442,527,500 707/10,100,200,201,204 711/100,154,161 709/217
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00135 Scanning of a photographic original
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00145 from a remote location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00151 with selective access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00188 Printing, e.g. prints or reprints H04N1/0019, H04N1/00196 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00196 Creation of a photo-montage, e.g. photoalbum H04N1/0019 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00442 Simultaneous viewing of a plurality of images, e.g. using a mosaic display arrangement of thumbnails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00461 marking or otherwise tagging one or more displayed image, e.g. for selective reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/4413 involving the use of passwords, ID codes or the like, e.g. PIN
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/444 to a particular document or image or part thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3266 of text or character information, e.g. text accompanying an image H04N2201/3226 takes precedence

Abstract

In a network photograph service which provides digital photographic services on a network, only selected images are shown only to people that a user wishes to show the images, without cost and time upon or after photographing the images. Images registered with a database 16 and the names of albums having been registered (album 1, album 2, and album 3) are shown on a screen of the user'"'"'s personal computer. The user relates the names of the albums with the images and the correspondence set by the user is stored in the system. When the album name is specified by a user, only the images belonging to the album can be browsed in a unit of an album according to the stored correspondence.

Claims

1. A network photograph service system for providing various kinds of services using an image disclosed on a network, said network photograph system comprising:

image recording means for recording a plurality of images registered to an owner;

image selecting means for enabling the owner of the recorded images to select from amongst the recorded images at least one or a plurality of images and independently classify the selected one or plurality of images into an image group or a plurality of groups by enabling a pre-registered name of the image group and the images recorded in the image recording means are capable of being seen on the network;

image group managing means for managing the image group by recording a correspondence based on the classification of images between an image and the name of the image group to which the image belongs; and

grouped image distributing means for enabling, based on the recorded correspondence, a third-party user of the service to browse on the network only those images belonging to an image group to which access has been granted out of all of the images recorded in the image recording means.

2. The network photograph service system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grouped image distributing means allows only a service user who has input a pre-registered password to browse images belonging to the image group.

3. The photograph service system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising image group registering means for enabling the owner of the recorded images on the network to register an image group name.

4. The network photograph service system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the image group registering means stores the name of the image group that the service user sets and a password to restrict browsing of the image belonging to the image group by relating the image group name and the password.

5. The network photograph service system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image group managing means manages the image group by attaching accompanying information showing the name of the image group to each image belonging to the image group.

6. The network photograph service system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising comment attaching means for enabling the owner of the recorded images on the network to attach a comment to an image distributed by the group image distributing means, and

said group image distributing means enabling information regarding the comment attached to each image to be browsed together with the image.

7. The network photograph service system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising print ordering means for enabling printing of an image distributed by the grouped image distributing means to be ordered on the network.

8. A network photograph service system according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence between the image and the name of the image group to which it belongs is recorded in a table.

9. The network photograph service system according to claim 1, wherein the image group comprises images selected from all of the images that had been registered to the owner in the image recording means up to the point where the owner makes the selections for the image group.

10. The network photograph service system according to claim 1, wherein the selected image can be classified in more than one group.

11. The network photograph service system according to claim 10, wherein the image classified in more than one group is only recorded once in the recording means and is not recorded under each image group.