Systems and methods for delivering media content

• US 20020083006A1
• Filed: 08/07/2001
• Published: 06/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intertainer Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Intertainer Incorporated
• Inventors: OʼHalloran, Richard T., Wong, David, Headings, Kevin P., Lau, Kenneth G., Beckman, Samuel J., Garakani, Farhad G., Heymanson, Justin W.
• Application Number:
  US09/922,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20020083006A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system and method for offering media content to consumers for a selected interval of time. In one or more embodiments, the present invention uses a content management system for preparing the media content for distribution, a subscriber management system for managing consumer accounts, a content distribution system for distributing the media content to the consumers, and a licensing server for issuing licenses restricting the use of media content.

Claims

1. A system for developing media content and offering the media content to a plurality of consumers, the system comprising:

a processor operable to combine media assets and metadata based on selected groupings of the consumers to create a media content offering for each selected group of the consumers;

a database for storing the media content offering;

a file repository for storing media content associated with the media content offering; and

a server adapted to distribute media content stored in said file repository.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is operable to manage consumer-related information, further comprising a database for storing the consumer-related information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the consumer-related information includes billing information.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the consumer-related information includes demographical information.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is operable to collect information associated with the use of media content selected from the media content offering by each consumer.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the content use information includes consumer media content preferences.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the content use information includes an amount of time each consumer uses the selected media content.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the media content offering is programmed to expire after a fixed interval of time.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said database is adapted to store a plurality of media content offerings to form a composite media content offering.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said database is refreshed to change the composition of the composite media content offering.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said server is a web server, further comprising a video file repository for storing video associated with the media content offering and a video server.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a licensing server operable to grant a license to each consumer requesting use of selected media content requiring the license upon a determination that the consumer is permitted to use selected media content.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the license includes a decryption key program adapted to decrypt media content that is encrypted.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein said processor is operable to check an accounts database and determine whether the consumer is permitted to use the selected media content.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising an ad manager for targeting advertisements to the consumers.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the groupings of consumers are arranged based on consumer-related information associated with each consumer of each group.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the consumer-related information includes demographics of members of each selected group of consumers.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the consumer-related information includes geographic locations of members of each selected group of consumers.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said database is located locally to each selected group of consumers.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein said file repository and said server are located locally to each selected group of consumers.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the consumer-related information includes content usage by members of each selected group of consumers.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the content usage includes viewing habits by members of each selected group of consumers.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of receiving a request for media content selected from the media content offering by one of the consumers and determining whether the consumer making the request is permitted to use the selected media content.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of issuing a license to the consumer upon a determination that the consumer is permitted to use the selected media content.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of accessing an account associated with the consumer and checking for permissions associated with the account, wherein said determination step is based on any of the permissions associated with the account.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of delivering at least one advertisement to the consumer making the request.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein each advertisement is delivered based on the use of media content by the consumer.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein each advertisement is delivered based on the demographics of the consumer.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the media content offering includes an offering of video content.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the media content offering includes an offering of music content.

32. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of receiving a request for media content selected from the media content offering by one of the consumers and delivering the selected media content over at least one of a DSL, satellite network, cable network, and wireless network.

33. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of collecting information associated with the use of the media content selected from the media content offering by each consumer.

34. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of refreshing the database.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of refreshing is based at least in part on the demographics of members of each selected group of consumers.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of refreshing is based at least in part on the viewing habits of members of each selected group of consumers.

37. The method of claim 23, wherein the consumer groupings used to combine the media assets and metadata include demographics of members of each selected group of consumers.

38. The method of claim 23, wherein the consumer groupings used to combine the media assets and metadata include geographic locations of members of each selected group of consumers.

39. The method of claim 23, wherein the consumer groupings used to combine the media assets and metadata include content usage by members of each selected group of consumers.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the content usage includes viewing habits by members of each selected group of consumers.

23. A method for developing and offering media content to a plurality of consumers, the method comprising the steps of:

combining media assets and metadata based on selected groupings of consumers to create a media content offering for each selected group of the consumers; and

storing the media content offering in a database.

41. A system for developing media content and offering the media content to a plurality of consumers, the system comprising:

a processor operable to combine media assets and metadata based on at least one business rule associated with one or more of the media assets to create a media content offering accessible by a selected group of the consumers, the business rule prescribing how one or more of the media assets may be used;

a database for storing the media content offering;

a file repository for storing media content associated with the media content offering; and

a server adapted to distribute media content stored in said file repository.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the at least one business rule includes a geographic location of members of each selected group.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the at least one business rule specifies a provider to be used to deliver the media content offering to the selected group of consumers.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein the at least one business rule includes a price for association with at least one of the media assets in the media content offering.

45. The system of claim 41, wherein the at least one business rule includes a time frame during which one or more of the media assets are available for access by the selected group of consumers.

46. The system of claim 41, wherein said database is adapted to store a plurality of media content offerings to form a composite media content offering.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said database is refreshed to change the composition of the composite media content offering.

48. The system of claim 41, wherein said server is a web server, further comprising a video file repository for storing video associated with the media content offering and a video server.

49. The system of claim 41, further comprising a licensing server operable to grant a license to each consumer requesting use of selected media content requiring the license upon a determination that the consumer is permitted to use selected media content.

50. A method for developing and offering media content to a plurality of consumers, the method comprising the steps of:

combining media assets and metadata based on at least one business rule associated with one or more of the media assets to create a media content offering accessible by a selected group of the consumers, the business rule prescribing how one or more of the media assets may be used; and

storing the media content offering in a database.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein said combining step is based on a business rule that includes a geographic location of members of each selected group.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein said combining step is based on a business rule that specifies a provider to be used to deliver the media content offering to the selected group of consumers.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein said combining step is based on a business rule that includes a price for association with at least one of the media assets in the media content offering.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein said combining step is based on a business rule that includes a time frame during which one or more of the media assets are available for access by the selected group of consumers.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein the media content offering includes an offering of video content.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein the media content offering includes an offering of music content.

57. The method of claim 50, further comprising the steps of receiving a request for media content selected from the media content offering by one of the consumers and delivering the selected media content over at least one of a DSL, satellite network, cable network, and wireless network.

58. The method of claim 50, further comprising the step of refreshing the database.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein said step of refreshing is based at least in part on the demographics of members of the selected group of consumers.