Method and apparatus for controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work comprising:
- receiving rating input comprising a selection of one of a plurality of ratings choices;
reviewing an audiovisual work on a first storage medium to determine if the first storage medium includes a rated version of the audiovisual work which bears a predetermined relationship to the rating input; and
if the first storage medium includes the rated version, playing the rated version; and
if the first storage medium does not include the rated version;
accessing a database stored on a second storage medium, the database containing, for each of the plurality of ratings choices, a secondary database comprising information identifying at least a portion of a scene of the work having an assigned content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to the ratings choice; and
reproducing scenes of the work in accordance with the information in the secondary database corresponding to the rating input.
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Abstract
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for building a database of content objectionable scenes of an audiovisual work, and a method and apparatus which uses the database to control reproduction of the work. The database may be stored on a server and made available to clients which control an audiovisual reproduction apparatus through a direct dial-up or Internet connection.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work comprising:
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receiving rating input comprising a selection of one of a plurality of ratings choices; reviewing an audiovisual work on a first storage medium to determine if the first storage medium includes a rated version of the audiovisual work which bears a predetermined relationship to the rating input; and if the first storage medium includes the rated version, playing the rated version; and if the first storage medium does not include the rated version; accessing a database stored on a second storage medium, the database containing, for each of the plurality of ratings choices, a secondary database comprising information identifying at least a portion of a scene of the work having an assigned content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to the ratings choice; and reproducing scenes of the work in accordance with the information in the secondary database corresponding to the rating input. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work on a playback apparatus including a controller, comprising:
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providing to the playback apparatus an audiovisual work prerecorded by a source on a first storage medium; establishing a connection to a server containing a database that is stored on a server storage medium that is different from the first storage medium, the database containing, for each of a plurality of ratings choices, a secondary database comprising information identifying a relationship between at least a portion of a scene of the work and the ratings choice, with each ratings choice having a content ratings level assigned by a screener who is a party other than the source; receiving ratings input specifying a ratings choice; downloading into the controller of the playback apparatus the secondary database associated with the ratings choice specified in the ratings input; and reproducing scenes of the work with playback apparatus, the controller using the information in the downloaded secondary database to control reproduction of the work. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work, the apparatus comprising:
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an audiovisual reproduction unit adapted to read from a prerecorded audiovisual medium an audiovisual work prerecorded by a source on the prerecorded audiovisual medium; a ratings input adapted to receive information assigning an assigned content ratings level to at least a portion of the audiovisual work and to receive a playback content ratings level input by a viewer; a connection to a server storage medium that is separate from the prerecorded audiovisual medium, the server storage medium including a database; and a controller coupled to the audiovisual reproduction unit, the viewer input, and the connection to the server, the controller being programmed to a) store the assigned content ratings level in the database via the connection to the server storage medium and b) control the audiovisual reproduction unit to reproduce only the portions of the audiovisual work which have an assigned content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to the playback content ratings level. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification