Method and system for access to electronic version of a physical work based on user ownership of the physical work
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- processing, via a computer, a request from a user to access an electronic version of a physical work stored in a data storage, wherein the data storage has electronic versions of physical works stored therein, the electronic versions of the physical works comprising images of the physical works; and
determining, via the computer or another computer, whether the user owns the physical work for which access has been requested;
wherein if the user is determined to own the physical work, then, via the computer or another computer, providing the user with access to the electronic version of the physical work; and
wherein if the user is not determined to own the physical work, then, via the computer or another computer, providing the user with some access but less access to the electronic version of the physical work than the access provided when the user is determined to own the physical work.
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Abstract
Access to an electronic version of a physical work is provided to a user. The electronic version of the physical work comprises images of the physical work that, when visually displayed, appear the same as the physical work. Access to the electronic version of the physical work is based on user ownership of the physical work. Access to a portion or all of the physical work may be provided in accordance with one or more access rules. A user may own a physical work by virtue of purchasing the physical work or purchasing an item that the physical work normally accompanies. A flag may be set for later reference to indicate user ownership of the physical work.
71 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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processing, via a computer, a request from a user to access an electronic version of a physical work stored in a data storage, wherein the data storage has electronic versions of physical works stored therein, the electronic versions of the physical works comprising images of the physical works; and determining, via the computer or another computer, whether the user owns the physical work for which access has been requested; wherein if the user is determined to own the physical work, then, via the computer or another computer, providing the user with access to the electronic version of the physical work; and wherein if the user is not determined to own the physical work, then, via the computer or another computer, providing the user with some access but less access to the electronic version of the physical work than the access provided when the user is determined to own the physical work. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer system, comprising:
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a data storage containing electronic versions of physical works, wherein the electronic versions of the physical works comprise images of the physical works; a communications component operative to communicate with a user; and a processing component operative to provide a user with access to an electronic version of a physical work stored in the data storage, the processing component being further operative to determine whether the user owns the physical work, and if the user is determined to own the physical work, then to provide the user with access to the electronic version of the physical work, and if the user is not determined to own the physical work, then to provide the user with some access but less access to the electronic version of the physical work than the access provided when the user is determined to own the physical work. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer-readable medium containing executable program instructions that, when executed by a computing apparatus, cause the apparatus to:
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process a request from a user to access an electronic version of a physical work stored in a data storage, wherein the data storage has electronic versions of physical works stored therein, the electronic versions of the physical works comprising images of the physical works; and determine whether the user owns the physical work for which access has been requested; if the user is determined to own the physical work, then provide the user with access to the electronic version of the physical work; and if the user is not determined to own the physical work, then provide the user with some access but less access to the electronic version of the physical work than the access provided when the user is determined to own the physical work. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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processing, via a computer, a request from a user to access an electronic version of a physical work stored in a data storage, wherein the data storage has electronic versions of physical works stored therein, the electronic versions of the physical works comprising images of the physical works that, when visually displayed to the user, appear the same as the physical works; determining, via the computer or another computer, whether the user owns the physical work for which access has been requested; and if the user is determined to own the physical work, then, via the computer or another computer, providing the user with access to the electronic version of the physical work, the method further comprising consulting, via the computer or another computer, one or more access rules that define an amount of content in the electronic version of the physical work to which the user is provided access based on the user'"'"'s ownership of the physical work, wherein the physical work is comprised of pages and the electronic version of the physical work is comprised of images of the pages of the physical work, and wherein the one or more access rules define an amount of an image of a page in the physical work to which the user is provided access. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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Specification