METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING WEB PAGES BASED ON PLAYBACK OF RECORDINGS

• US 20080040492A1
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gracenote, Inc. (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Gracenote, Inc. (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Roberts, Dale, Greenberg, Ann
• Granted Patent: US 7,680,902 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/433 using audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier

Abstract

Entertainment content complementary to a musical recording is delivered to a user'"'"'s computer by a computer network link. The user employs a browser to access the computer network. A plug-in for the browser is able to control an audio CD or other device for playing the musical recording. A script stored on the remote computer accessed over the network is downloaded. The script synchronizes the delivery of the complementary entertainment content with the play of the musical recording.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A method for associating local and remote data on a local computer connected to a network, comprising:

outputting on the local computer remote data based on playback of a recording by the local computer, the remote data obtained via the network from at least one storage location dynamically determined when the playback of the recording occurs using an identifier derived from table of contents information for the recording.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising obtaining the remote data using an at least partial pointer corresponding to the recording, the at least partial pointer obtained from the network by the local computer.

4. A method as recited in claim 3,

wherein the remote data is display data representing a World Wide Web page, and

wherein the at least partial pointer at least partially defines a uniform resource locator for the World Wide Web page.

5. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

automatically executing a communication program for communication via the network and output of the remote data received from the network, when the recording is played;

determining at a remote computer at least one location, corresponding to the identifier, where the remote data is stored; and

automatically sending the remote data from the at least one location to the local computer via the network.

9. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the remote data includes at least one of an image associated with the recording, animation associated with the recording, and a video associated with the recording.

10. A method as recited in claim 9,

wherein the recording is stored on a disc, and

wherein the remote data includes display data representing an album cover associated with the disc.

11. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said outputting outputs the remote data including at least one name of a song included in the recording.

12. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the recording is on a compact disc containing a plurality of tracks, and

wherein said outputting outputs the remote data including at least one title of a corresponding track on the compact disc.

6. A method for associating local and remote data on a local computer connected to a network, comprising:

automatically executing, on the local computer when a recording is played, a communication program for communication via the network to send information related to table of contents information for the recording;

dynamically determining, at a remote computer, at least one location where remote data is stored corresponding to an identifier derived from the information sent from the local computer;

automatically sending the remote data from the at least one location to the local computer via the network; and

outputting on the local computer the remote data in association with playback of the recording by the local computer.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the communication program is a web browser, the network is the Internet, and the remote data is display data representing at least part of one web page.

8. A method as recited in claim 7,

wherein the information used to determine the identifier includes table of contents information for the recording

wherein the recording is stored on a disc, and

wherein said executing and determining begins when the disc is inserted into a disc drive coupled with the local computer, regardless of whether the communication program has been initiated.

13. At least one computer readable medium encoding at least one computer program that when executed by at least one processor performs a method for associating a recording at a local computer with data at a remote computer coupled to the local computer via a network, comprising:

deriving an identifier by numerically processing table of contents information for the recording;

automatically accessing the remote computer at a location dynamically determined after verification of access to the recording by the local computer; and

comparing the identifier with records in a database maintained on the remote computer.

14. A system coupled to a network, comprising:

an access unit to access local data containing no content stored for the purpose of providing enhanced capability;

a processor deriving an identifier by abstracting table of contents information for the local data not stored to identify the local data;

a communication unit to automatically obtain remote data from the network upon access to the identifier; and

a processing unit, coupled to said access unit and said communication unit, to provide the enhanced capability by processing the remote data.

15. At least one computer readable medium encoding at least one computer program that when executed by at least one processor performs a method for associating a recording with output of remote data on a local computer connected to a network, comprising:

outputting remote data obtained via the network from at least one storage location determined using an identifier derived from table of contents information for the recording after verification of access to the recording by the local computer.

16. At least one computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, further comprising prior to said outputting

prompting input of a disc containing the recording;

and

verifying access to the recording on the disc.

17. A method for associating remote and local data on a local device connected to a network, comprising:

deriving an identifier at the local device by numerically processing table of contents information for the recording;

automatically obtaining the remote data from the network by the local device using an at least partial pointer corresponding to the identifier; and

outputting at the local device the remote data obtained from the network, based on access to the local data by the local device.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising obtaining the remote data using at least one uniform resource locator corresponding to the identifier and based on the at least partial pointer obtained from the network by the local device.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein the remote data is an Internet resource.

20. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

automatically executing a communication program for communication via the network and output of the remote data received from the network, when the local data is accessed; and

automatically requesting the remote data based on the identifier.

21. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein the communication program is a web browser, the network is the Internet, and the remote data is an Internet resource.

22. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein the remote data include an electronic file of digitally encoded audio.

23. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the remote data include at least one of an image associated with the local data, animation associated with the local data, and a video associated with the local data.

24. A method as recited in claim 23,

wherein the local data is an electronic file of digitally encoded audio, and

wherein the remote data include an album cover associated with the electronic file.

25. A system, coupled to a network, to associate remote data with local data, comprising:

an access unit to access the local data;

a processor deriving an identifier by abstracting table of contents information for the local data;

a communication unit to automatically obtain the remote data from the network upon access to the local data, using an at least one partial pointer obtained from the network and corresponding to the identifier; and

an output unit to output the remote data.

26. A system as recited in claim 25, wherein said communication unit obtains the remote data using at least one uniform resource locator based on the at least partial pointer obtained from the network and corresponding to the identifier.

27. A system as recited in claim 26, wherein the remote data include an electronic file of digitally encoded audio.

28. A system as recited in claim 25, wherein the remote data include at least one of an image associated with the local data, animation associated with the local data, and a video associated with the local data.

29. A method for associating a recording with output of data on a local computer connected to a network, comprising:

outputting remote data obtained from the network upon verification of access to the recording by the local computer, the remote data obtained via the network from at least one storage location determined by numerically processing table of contents information for the recording not stored to identify the recording.

30. A method as recited in claim 29, further comprising

prompting input of a disc containing the recording;

and

verifying access to the recording on the disc.

31. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein said outputting outputs the remote data including at least one name of a song included in the recording.

32. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the recording is on a compact disc containing a plurality of tracks, and

wherein said outputting outputs the remote data including at least one title of a corresponding track on the compact disc.

33. A computer system coupled to a network, comprising:

a playback unit to play a recording;

a communication unit to obtain remote data via the network from at least one storage location determined by numerically processing table of contents information for the recording not stored to identify the recording; and

an output unit to output the remote data.

34. A computer system as recited in claim 33, wherein said communication unit obtains the remote data using a pointer string at least partially defining at least one uniform resource locator corresponding to the recording.

35. A computer system as recited in claim 33, wherein said communication unit obtains the remote data including at least one name of a song included in the recording.

36. A computer system as recited in claim 33, wherein the recording is on a compact disc containing a plurality of tracks, and

wherein said communication unit obtains the remote data including at least one title of a corresponding track on the compact disc.

37. A method for associating remote data with a recording accessed at a local computer connected to a network to provide enhanced capability based on the remote data, comprising:

outputting remote data, obtained from the network and providing enhanced capability, upon verification of access by the local computer to a recording, containing no content stored for the purpose of providing the enhanced capability, based on an identifier derived by abstraction of contents of the recording not stored to identify the recording.

38. At least one computer readable medium encoding at least one computer program that when executed by at least one processor performs a method for associating remote data with a recording accessed at a local computer connected to a network to provide enhanced capability based on the remote data, comprising:

outputting remote data, obtained from the network and providing enhanced capability, upon verification of access by the local computer to a recording, containing no content stored for the purpose of providing enhanced capability, based on an identifier derived by abstraction of contents of the recording not stored to identify the recording.

39. A method for controlling a local computer connected to a network to provide enhanced capability not available from content stored at the local computer, comprising:

controlling the local computer to provide the enhanced capability based on remote data obtained from the network using an identifier derived by abstraction of contents of a recording accessed by the local computer, where the contents used to derive the identifier are not stored to identify the recording.

40. At least one computer readable medium encoding at least one computer program that when executed by at least one processor performs a method for controlling a local computer connected to a network to provide enhanced capability not available from content stored at the local computer, comprising:

controlling the local computer to provide the enhanced capability based on remote data obtained from the network using an identifier derived by abstraction of contents of a recording accessed by the local computer, where the contents used to derive the identifier are not stored to identify the recording.

41. A method for obtaining data related to a recording, comprising:

obtaining an identifier based on information associated with the recording;

using the identifier as a key to locate at least one record in at least one database file; and

obtaining data from at least one related file linked to the at least one database file.

42. A method as recited in claim 41, wherein the database file specifies identifiers for other related recordings.

43. A method as recited in claim 41, wherein said obtaining comprises:

obtaining correlated identifiers for related recordings; and

obtaining a plurality of related linked database files using the correlated identifiers.

44. A method as recited in claim 41, wherein said obtaining comprises:

obtaining an array of identifiers for related recordings; and

obtaining a plurality of related linked database files using the array of identifiers.

45. At least one computer readable medium encoding a computer program that when executed causes at least one processor to perform a method for obtaining data related to a recording, comprising:

obtaining an identifier based on information associated with the recording;

using the identifier as a key to locate at least one record in at least one database file; and

obtaining data from at least one related file linked to the at least one database file.

46. At least one computer readable medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the database file specifies identifiers for other related recordings.

47. At least one computer readable medium as recited in claim 45, wherein said obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining correlated identifiers for related recordings; and

obtaining a plurality of related linked database files using the correlated identifiers.

48. At least one computer readable medium as recited in claim 45, wherein said obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining an array of identifiers for related recordings; and

obtaining a plurality of related linked database files using the array of identifiers.

49. A computer system, coupled to a network, to associate data with recordings, comprising:

a communication unit to receive via the network at least one of an identifier and information associated with a recording used to determine the identifier;

a storage unit storing at least one database file; and

a database access unit, coupled to said communication unit and said storage unit, to use the identifier as a key to locate at least one record in the at least one database file, said communication unit outputting via the network at least one related file linked to the at least one database file.

50. A computer system as recited in claim 49, wherein the at least one database file specifies identifiers for other related recordings.

51. A computer system as recited in claim 49,

wherein the at least one database file in said storage unit includes correlated identifiers for related recordings,

wherein said database access unit accesses related linked database files using the correlated identifiers, and

wherein said communication unit outputs the related linked database files via the network.

52. A computer system as recited in claim 49,

wherein said database access unit accesses an array of identifiers for related recordings and related linked database files using the array of identifiers, and

wherein said communication unit outputs the related linked database files via the network.

53. A computer system to associate data with a recording, comprising:

a processor to determine an identifier from information associated with the recording;

a storage unit storing at least one database file; and

a database access unit, coupled to said processor and said storage unit, to use the identifier as a key to locate at least one record in the at least one database file.

54. A computer system as recited in claim 53, wherein the at least one database file specifies identifiers for other related recordings.

55. A computer system as recited in claim 53,

wherein the at least one database file in said storage unit includes correlated identifiers for related recordings,

wherein said database access unit accesses related linked database files using the correlated identifiers.

56. A computer system as recited in claim 53, wherein said database access unit accesses an array of identifiers for related recordings and related linked database files using the array of identifiers.

57. A method for associating local and remote data on a local computer connected to a network, comprising:

outputting on the local computer remote data related to a recording accessed by the local computer, the remote data obtained via the network from at least one storage location determined based on an abstraction of contents of the recording not stored to identify the recording.

58. A method as recited in claim 57, further comprising obtaining an identifier of the recording by the abstraction of the contents of the recording not stored to identify the recording, where the identifier is capable of further abstraction.

59. A method as recited in claim 58, further comprising determining an at least partial pointer using the identifier in a process capable of finding multiple recordings approximately matching the identifier.

60. A method as recited in claim 59, further comprising obtaining the remote data using the at least partial pointer.

61. A method for associating a recording with output of data on a local device connected to a network, comprising:

obtaining an identifier for the recording from information provided with the recording to play back the recording;

comparing the identifier with records in a database maintained on a remote computer coupled to the local device via the network; and

outputting remote data obtained from the network upon verification of access to the recording by the local device, the remote data obtained via the network from at least one storage location dynamically determined based on the identifier.

62. A method as recited in claim 61,

further comprising automatically sending the information provided with the recording from the local device to the remote computer, and

wherein said obtaining is performed by the remote computer from the information provided with the recording received from the local device.

63. A method as recited in claim 61,

wherein said obtaining includes generating the identifier by the local device based on the information provided with the recording, and

wherein said method further comprises automatically sending the identifier from the local device to the remote computer.

64. A method for associating remote and local data stored in a recording accessed by a local device connected to a network, comprising:

automatically executing a program on the local device, when the local data are accessed to play the recording for a user of the local device, to obtain at least one pointer string, corresponding to the local data, from at least one database of local data identifiers derived from the local data and pointer strings stored on at least one remote device connected to the local device via the network;

obtaining the remote data via the network from a content provider based on the at least one pointer string; and

outputting at the local device the remote data obtained from the network.

65. A method as recited in claim 64, further comprising maintaining in the at least one database an association between the local data identifiers and the pointer strings which at least partially define uniform resource locators of corresponding Internet resources for a plurality of items of local data provided by an organization.

66. A method as recited in claim 65, wherein the recording is digital audio and the items of local data are electronic files of digital audio.

67. A method as recited in claim 66, wherein the at least one pointer string at least partially defines an address of a World Wide Web page maintained on behalf of at least one person who produced sound for the recording.

68. A method as recited in claim 67, wherein the remote data include at least one of an image of the at least one person, a video in which the at least one person appears and biographical information about the at least one person.

69. A method as recited in claim 67, wherein the remote data include an electronic file of digital audio.

70. A method as recited in claim 64, wherein the remote data include an electronic file of digital audio.

71. A method for associating remote and local data on a local device connected to a network, the local data including at least one electronic file of digital audio stored on one of a compact disc and a digital versatile disc, said method comprising:

obtaining an identifier, from information used when playing back the local data, when the one of a compact disc and a digital versatile disc is inserted into the local device;

automatically executing, when the local data is accessed, a communication program for communication via the network, after initiating the communication program if the communication program has not been initiated previously;

automatically requesting remote data based on the identifier; and

automatically outputting at the local device the remote data obtained from the network.

72. A system coupled to a network and associating remote data with local data included in a recording to play back the recording, comprising:

a local device located at a first location, including

an access unit playing the recording for a user of the local device and accessing the local data;

a communication unit, coupled to said access unit, automatically obtaining, upon access to the local data by said access unit, the remote data from the network using at least one pointer string at least partially defining a uniform resource locator corresponding to the local data; and

an output unit, coupled to said communication unit at the first location, outputting the remote data; and

a remote computer, coupled to said communication unit via the network and located at a second location remote from the first location, storing at least one database of recording identifiers and pointer strings, said communication unit obtaining the at least one pointer string from said remote computer.

73. A system as recited in claim 72,

wherein said communication unit in said local device further sends to said remote computer information provided with the recording to play back the recording, and

wherein said remote computer determines, based on the information received from said local device, a recording identifier for the recording corresponding to the at least one pointer string.

74. A system as recited in claim 72,

wherein said local device further includes a processor generating a recording identifier for the recording based on information used to play back the recording, and

wherein said communication unit sends the recording identifier to the remote computer to obtain the at least one pointer string.

75. A system as recited in claim 72, wherein the at least one database stored on said remote computer associates the recording identifiers with at least partial uniform resource locators of corresponding World Wide Web pages for a plurality of recordings released by an organization.

76. A system as recited in claim 72, wherein the at least one pointer string at least partially addresses a World Wide Web page maintained on behalf of at least one person who produced sound for the recording.