Device for generating, detecting, recording, and reproducing a watermarked moving image having a copy preventing capability and storage medium for storing program or the moving image

• US 6,700,989 B1
• Filed: 03/23/1998
• Issued: 03/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nakagawa, Toru, Itoh, Hiroyasu, Akiyama, Ryota
• Primary Examiner(s): AHMED, SAMIR ANWAR
• Application Number:
  US09/045,531
• Time in Patent Office: 2,171 Days
• Field of Search: 380/50, 380/51, 380/57, 380/58, 380/59, 380/4, 380/5, 380/212, 380/213, 380/203, 705/57, 705/58, 382/232, 382/233, 382/236, 382/100, 382/250, 386/94, 713/161, 713/182, 713/184, 713/193, 348/460, 348/461, 348/462, 725/9, 725/20, 725/22
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0085 Time domain based watermarking, e.g. watermarks spread over several images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0051 Embedding of the watermark in the spatial domain
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0064 for copy protection or copy management, e.g. CGMS, copy only once, one-time copy
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91328 the copy protection signal being a copy management signal, e.g. a copy generation management signal [CGMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91335 the copy protection signal being a watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

The present invention relates to a contrivance for inserting watermark information into a moving image. The watermark information indicative of the ownership of the copyright of the moving image is inserted into the frames of the moving image at irregular intervals, the frames being of such a number that the watermark information is visually unperceivable in the moving image. In addition, the insertion positions of the watermark information in the frames are determined on the basis of random number values. Besides, restrictive information for the copying of the moving image is inserted together with the watermark information. When the moving image has been brought to a standstill into a static image, the watermark information can be visually perceived with ease, so that illegality such as piracy can be readily exposed. Thus, the present invention can provide a simple and inexpensive scheme for the copyright protection of the moving image.

Claims

1. A watermark insertion device inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

a frame selection unit selecting frames into which said watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames; and

a watermark-information insertion unit in communication with the frame selection unit and inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said watermark-information insertion unit decides a color and a tonal density of a part of the moving image in inserting said watermark information, the image part surrounding that position in each of said selected frames at which said watermark information is to be inserted, and said watermark-information insertion unit inserts the watermark information whose color and tonal density have been adjusted in accordance with results of the decisions.

2. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said watermark information is visually perceivable when the moving image is brought to a standstill, and said frame selecting unit selects the frames so that said watermark information is not recognizable in said moving image.

3. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said frame selection unit determines the frames to-be-selected by use of random number values which are generated under a controlled condition.

5. The watermark insertion device according to claim 3, further comprising:

moving-image storage unit storing therein information indicative of the controlled condition, together with the moving image in which said watermark information has been inserted.

6. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said watermark-information insertion unit determines those positions in said selected frames at which said watermark information is to be inserted, by use of random number values which are generated under a controlled condition.

8. The watermark insertion device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a moving-image storage unit storing therein information indicative of the controlled condition, together with the moving image in which said watermark information has been inserted.

9. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said watermark-information insertion unit selects said watermark information from a plurality of sorts of watermark information prepared beforehand.

10. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said watermark-information insertion unit selects at least one pattern from a plurality of sorts of patterns prepared beforehand and then inserts the at least one pattern, in addition to said watermark information, thereby improving verification.

12. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said frame selection unit selects the frames so that said selected frames are not successive.

13. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said watermark-information insertion unit inserts said watermark information into at least one frame which is successive to any of the frames selected by said frame selection unit.

14. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a partial-image storage unit storing therein partial images in said selected frames which have hidden therein said watermark information inserted by said watermark-information insertion unit.

15. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1, further comprising:

copy-restriction-information insertion unit inserting copy restriction information which restricts copying of the moving image, into an area in which data controlling said moving image is recorded.

16. The watermark insertion device according to claim 15,

wherein the copy restriction information is made detectable hardware-wise independently of said watermark information.

17. The watermark insertion device according to claim 15,

wherein the copy restriction information is information indicative of any of a mode which permits the copying of said moving image any unrestricted number of times, a mode which permits said copying only once, a mode which rejects the new copying, and a mode which rejects said copying entirely.

18. The watermark insertion device according to claim 17, which is made applicable even to an apparatus free from any restriction on video recording, owing to the mode which permits said copying any number of times.

27. The watermark insertion device according to claim 1,

wherein said frame selection unit selects a first prescribed number of frames, every second prescribed number of frames.

4. A watermark insertion device inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

a frame selection unit selecting frames into which said watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames;

a watermark-information insertion unit in communication with the frame selection unit and inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said frame selection unit determines the frames to-be-selected by use of random number values which are generated under a controlled condition; and

a moving-image storage unit storing therein the moving image in which said watermark information has been inserted, together with information indicative of the frames in which said watermark information has been inserted.

7. A watermark insertion device inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

a frame selection unit selecting frames into which said watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames;

a watermark-information insertion unit in communication with the frame selection unit and inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said watermark-information insertion unit determines those positions in said selected frames at which said watermark information is to be inserted, by use of random number values which are generated under a controlled condition; and

a moving-image unit storing therein information indicative of the insertion positions of said watermark information in said selected frames, together with the moving image in which said watermark information has been inserted.

11. A watermark insertion device inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

a frame selection unit selecting frames into which said watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames; and

a watermark-information insertion unit in communication with the frame selection unit and inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said watermark-information insertion unit inserts patterns which correspond to numbers of the frames selected by said frame selection unit, the numbers indicating positions of said selected frames in the moving image, in addition to said watermark information.

19. A watermark insertion device inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

a frame selection unit selecting frames into which said watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames; and

a watermark-information insertion unit in communication with the frame selection unit and inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said frame selection unit selects the frames in a number of random number values generated under a controlled condition, every second prescribed number of frames.

20. A method of inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

selecting frames into which the watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames;

deciding a color and a tonal density of a part of the moving image in inserting the watermark information, the image part surrounding that position in each of the selected frames at which the watermark information is to be inserted; and

inserting said watermark information whose color and tonal density have been adjusted in accordance with results of the decisions into the selected frames.

22. The watermark insertion method according to claim 20,

wherein the insertion of said watermark information is done into the frames in a quantity in which said insertion of said watermark information is not recognizable in the moving image.

23. The watermark insertion method according to claim 20,

wherein information which restricts copying of the moving image is recorded together with said moving image in which said watermark information has been inserted.

21. A method of inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

selecting frames into which the watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames; and

inserting said watermark information into the selected frames, wherein said watermark information has a size which is large enough to visually perceive said watermark information when the moving image has been brought to a standstill.

24. A computer-readable storage medium used to direct a computer inserting watermark information into a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, to perform the operations of:

selecting frames into which the watermark information is to be inserted, at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames;

deciding a color and a tonal density of a part of the moving image in inserting the watermark information, the image part surrounding that position in each of the selected frames at which the watermark information is to be inserted; and

inserting said watermark information whose color and tonal density have been adjusted in accordance with results of the decisions into the selected frames.

25. A machine-readable storage medium used to direct an apparatus storing a moving image composed of a plurality of frames, comprising:

visible watermark information, visually perceivable when said moving image is brought to a standstill, inserted into selected frames at irregular intervals from among the plurality of frames so that the visible watermark information is visually unperceivable in said moving image and adjusted in a color and a tonal density thereof in accordance with a color and a tonal density of a part of the moving image in inserting the visible watermark information, the image part surrounding that position in each of the selected frames at which the visible watermark information is to be inserted.

26. The storage medium according to claim 25,

wherein copy restriction information indicative of a restrictive condition for copying of said moving image is inserted in that area of said moving image in which control data is recorded.