System and method for selecting, ordering and accessing copyrighted information from physical documents

• US 7,574,407 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2003
• Issued: 08/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Barbero, Jose Maria Varona, Carro, Fernando Incertis
• Primary Examiner(s): Fischer; Andrew J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kamal; Shahid
• Application Number:
  US10/530,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20060167754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,211 Days
• Field of Search: 705 51- 79
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method for processing edited objects associated with a physical document, for use in a user workstation by a user. An edited object is identified in an edited objects table from being associated with an item that has been selected from a page of the physical document through use a point pressed on a touch foil aligned over or under the page. It is ascertained that the user does not have a license to use and/or copy the edited object. Information concerning the edited object is received by the user workstation from an edited objects server and then displayed on the user workstation. The user workstation receives the edited object with the license from the edited objects server, stores the edited object, and updates an edited object path column in the edited objects table in the user workstation with a file path for accessing the stored edited object.

Claims

1. A method for processing edited objects associated with a copyrighted physical document, the method for use in a user workstation by a user, said method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

determining a position of a point pressed on a touch foil of an opto-touch foil aligned over or under a page of the copyrighted physical document, said page comprising a plurality of items, said point having been pressed to select an item of the plurality of items during illumination of the plurality of items by a light emitting foil of the opto-touch foil, said pressed point aligned proximate to the selected item;

identifying the selected item by correlating the determined position of the pressed point with a position of the selected item in a list of item positions recorded in an item position column of an edited objects table that is stored in the user workstation, said list of item positions being associated with the plurality of items on the page of the physical document, wherein the edited objects table comprises a header section and a body section, wherein the header section comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of an edited objects server, a publication number of the physical document, a title of the physical document, an author of the physical document, a date of publication of the physical document, and an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) of the physical document, wherein the body section comprises a plurality of rows and three columns, wherein each row of the plurality of rows is specific to a copyrighted edited object, wherein the three columns consist of the item position column comprising a position of the edited object on the page, an item name column comprising a name of the edited object, and an edited object path column comprising either a file path to the edited object on the user workstation which denotes that the user has a license to use and or copy the edited object or informing text indicating that the edited object does not exist on the user workstation which denotes that the user does not have the license to use and/or copy the edited object, wherein the edited object path column for at least one row of the plurality of rows comprises the file path to the edited object specific to each row of the at least one row, and wherein the edited object path column for each row of at least one other row of the plurality of rows comprises the informing text;

identifying a first edited object in the edited objects table from an edited object name denoted in the item name column in a determined row of the edited objects table in which there is an association of the first edited object with the selected item resulting from said correlating;

ascertaining, from the informing text in the edited object path column of the determined row, that the user does not have a license to use and or copy the first edited object;

after said ascertaining, sending, from the user workstation to the edited objects server, a request for information concerning the first edited object, wherein the request comprises an identification of the physical document, an identification of the page, and an identification of the selected item;

receiving, by the user workstation from the edited objects server, the requested information, wherein the received requested information comprises license terms and conditions as well as pricing and ordering information pertaining to the first edited object;

after said receiving the requested information, displaying or playing the received requested information on the user workstation;

after said displaying or playing the received requested information, sending an order from the user workstation to the edited objects server for the license, wherein the order comprises the identification of the physical document, the page, and the selected item, and payment data relating to the selected item and required by a publisher of the physical document;

after said sending the order, receiving, by the user workstation from the edited objects server, the first edited object with the license;

storing the received first edited object in the user workstation;

updating the edited object path column in the edited objects table in the user workstation with a file path for accessing the stored received first edited object.

2. A method for processing edited objects associated with a copyrighted physical document, the method for use in a user workstation by a user, said method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

determining a position of a point pressed on a touch foil of an opto-touch foil aligned over or under a portion of the copyrighted physical document, said portion comprising a plurality of items, said point having been pressed to select an item of the plurality of items during illumination of the plurality of items by a light emitting foil of the opto-touch foil, said pressed point aligned proximate to the selected item;

identifying the selected item by correlating the determined position of the pressed point with a position of the selected item in a list of item positions recorded in an edited objects table that is stored in the user workstation, said list of item positions being associated with the plurality of items on the portion of the physical document;

identifying an edited object in the edited objects table from association of the edited object with the selected item in the edited objects table;

ascertaining whether the user has a license to use and or copy the edited object; and

if said ascertaining ascertains that the user has the license then accessing the edited object from the user workstation and displaying the edited object, and if said ascertaining ascertains that the user does not have the license then obtaining the license and the edited object from an edited objects server,

wherein said ascertaining ascertains that the user does not have the license, and wherein said obtaining the license and the edited object from the edited objects server comprises;

sending an order for the license to the edited objects server;

receiving the edited object with the license from the edited objects server;

storing the edited object in the user workstation;

updating the edited objects table with a file path for accessing the stored edited object;

indicating in the edited objects table that the user has the license,

wherein said sending the order for the license to the edited objects server comprises sending to the edited objects server a request for information concerning the edited object, and wherein the method further comprises;

receiving the requested information from the edited objects server; and

displaying or playing the received information concerning the edited object,

wherein the physical document is a printed document comprising at least one page, and wherein the portion of the physical document is a page of the at least one page, and wherein the requested information comprises;

license terms and conditions;

pricing and ordering information; and

an identification of the physical document, the page, and the selected item.

3. A method for processing edited objects associated with a copyrighted physical document, the method for use in a user workstation by a user, said method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

determining a position of a point pressed on a touch foil of an opto-touch foil aligned over or under a portion of the copyrighted physical document, said portion comprising a plurality of items, said point having been pressed to select an item of the plurality of items during illumination of the plurality of items by a light emitting foil of the opto-touch foil, said pressed point aligned proximate to the selected item;

identifying the selected item by correlating the determined position of the pressed point with a position of the selected item in a list of item positions recorded in an edited objects table that is stored in the user workstation, said list of item positions being associated with the plurality of items on the portion of the physical document;

identifying an edited object in the edited objects table from association of the edited object with the selected item in the edited objects table;

ascertaining whether the user has a license to use and/or copy the edited object; and

if said ascertaining ascertains that the user has the license then accessing the edited object from the user workstation and displaying the edited object, and if said ascertaining ascertains that the user does nor have the license then obtaining the license and the edited object from an edited objects server,

wherein said ascertaining ascertains that the user does not have the license, and wherein said obtaining the license and the edited object from the edited objects server comprises;

sending an order for the license to the edited objects server;

receiving the edited object with the license from the edited objects server;

storing the edited object in the user workstation;

updating the edited objects table with a file path for accessing the stored edited object;

indicating in the edited objects table that the user has the license,

wherein the edited objects table comprises rows and columns, wherein each row is associated with a unique edited object, and wherein the columns comprise a column for item position, a column for item name, and a column for the file path for accessing the edited object.