System and method for third party logging server

• US 7,072,867 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2000
• Issued: 07/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath
• Primary Examiner(s): HEWITT II, CALVIN L
• Application Number:
  US09/726,272
• Publication Number:
  US 20020065779A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,042 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705 50- 59, 705/68, 705/35, 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/53
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted

Abstract

A system and method for a third party logging server to keep track of sales by online merchants of copyrighted works. Providers of copyrighted works, such as publishers and authors, register with the third party logging server and acquire an authentication mechanism to use the server, such as a username and password. The providers upload digital works and royalties corresponding to the works to the third party logging proxy server. Online merchants register with the third party logging proxy server and also acquire an authentication mechanism to use the server. The merchant downloads works and royalty rates to the merchant'"'"'s computer for online sales. The merchant also downloads software that informs the third party logging proxy server whenever the merchant makes a sale. The server keeps track of the sale. The server collects royalty payments from merchants. The server also calculates and sends providers their royalty payments.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

obtaining, at a third party logging server, a plurality of digital works from a plurality of provider computer systems;

storing the received digital works on a nonvolatile storage device accessible from the third party logging server;

receiving, at the third party logging server, a product sale request from a merchant computer system, wherein the product sale request is received over a computer network;

transmitting, from the third party logging server through the computer network to the merchant computer system, one or more of the digital works, wherein the merchant computer system is adapted to provide the transmitted digital works to one or more customer computer systems;

recording, at the third party logging server, a sales record corresponding to the product sale request; and

registering a merchant corresponding to the merchant computer system with the third party logging server, the registration including an agreement with the merchant regarding use of the digital works and payment for receipt of the digital works, wherein the registration occurs before the receiving, transmitting, and recording.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing the merchant computer system with an authentication mechanism in response to the registration of the merchant; and

authenticating the merchant computer system using the authentication mechanism prior to the transmission of digital works to the merchant computer system from the third party logging server.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a plug-in software module for installation on the merchant computer system, the plug-in software module adapted to notify the third party logging server whenever a customer purchases one of the digital works from the merchant computer system; and

receiving, from the merchant computer system, a notification that one or more of the digital works has been purchased from the merchant computer system, wherein the recording of the sales record corresponding to the product sale request is performed in response to receiving the notification.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3 wherein the notification is sent to the third party logging server over the computer network by the plug-in software module installed at the merchant computer system.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 3 wherein the notification includes one or more digital work identifiers that correspond to the digital works that have been purchased from the merchant computer system and a merchant identifier that identifies the merchant.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 wherein the recording further comprises:

identifying a royalty rate corresponding to the digital work identifiers;

calculating a purchase amount based upon the royalty rate; and

including the purchase amount in the sales record.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 further comprising:

preparing a billing statement that includes the sales record; and

providing the billing statement to the merchant.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

for each of the provider computer systems, registering a provider corresponding to the provider computer system with the third party logging server, the registration including an agreement with the provider regarding use of the digital works and payment for use of the digital works by merchants, wherein the registration occurs before the obtaining and the storing.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

identifying a set of one or more providers from the plurality of providers from which the digital works sold by the merchant were obtained;

determining a royalty amount for each of the identified providers;

preparing a royalty statement to the identified providers, the royalty statement including the royalty amount; and

electronically sending the royalty statements and funds corresponding to the royalty amounts to the providers.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending the product sale request from the merchant computer system to the third party logging server in response to a customer requesting to purchase the digital works from the merchant computer system;

receiving, at the merchant computer system, the digital works transmitted from the third party logging server; and

transmitting the received digital works from the merchant computer system to the customer computer system after the merchant computer system has received the digital works.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from one or more of the providers a royalty rate corresponding to one or more of the digital works;

calculating an amount due from the merchant based upon the royalty rate of the digital works transmitted to the merchant computer system; and

billing the merchant the amount due.

12. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory accessible by the processors;

a network interface connecting the information handling system to a computer network;

a nonvolatile storage device accessible by the processors; and

a logging tool, the logging tool including;

means for obtaining, at the information handling system, a plurality of digital works from a plurality of provider computer systems;

means for storing the received digital works on the nonvolatile storage device;

means for receiving, at the information handling system, a product sale request from a merchant computer system, wherein the product sale request is received over a computer;

means for transmitting, from the information handling system through the computer network to the merchant computer system, one or more of the digital works, wherein the merchant computer system is adapted to provide the transmitted digital works to one or more customer computer systems;

means for recording, on the nonvolatile storage device, a sales record corresponding to the product sale request; and

means for registering a merchant corresponding to the merchant computer system with the information handling system, the registration including an agreement with the merchant regarding use of the digital works and payment for receipt of the digital works, wherein the registration occurs before the performance of the means for receiving, the means for transmitting, and the means for recording.

13. The information handling system of claim 12 further comprising:

means for providing the merchant computer system with an authentication mechanism in response to the registration of the merchant; and

means for authenticating the merchant computer system using the authentication mechanism prior to the transmission of digital works to the merchant computer system from the information handling system.

14. The information handling system of claim 12 further comprising:

means for sending a plug-in software module for installation on the merchant computer system, the plug-in software module adapted to notify the information handling system whenever a customer purchases one of the digital works from the merchant computer system; and

means for receiving, from the merchant computer system, a notification that one or more of the digital works has been purchased from the merchant computer system, wherein the means for recording of the sales record corresponding to the product sale request is performed in response to receiving the notification.

15. The information handling system of claim 14 wherein the notification is sent to the third party logging server over the computer network by the plug-in software module installed at the merchant computer system.

16. The information handling system of claim 14 wherein the notification includes one or more digital work identifiers that correspond to the digital works that have been purchased from the merchant computer system and a merchant identifier that identifies the merchant.

17. The information handling system of claim 16 wherein the means for recording further comprises:

means for identifying a royalty rate corresponding to the digital work identifiers;

means for calculating a purchase amount based upon the royalty rate; and

means for including the purchase amount in the sales record.

18. The information handling system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for preparing a billing statement that includes the sales record; and

means for providing the billing statement to the merchant.

19. The information handling system of claim 18 further comprising:

for each of the provider computer systems, means for registering a provider corresponding to the provider computer system with the information handling system, the registration including an agreement with the provider regarding use of the digital works and payment for use of the digital works by merchants, wherein the registration occurs before the performance of the means for obtaining and the means for storing.

20. The information handling system of claim 19 further comprising:

means for identifying a set of one or more providers from the plurality of providers from which the digital works sold by the merchant were obtained;

means for determining a royalty amount for each of the identified providers;

means for preparing a royalty statement to the identified providers, the royalty statement including the royalty amount; and

means for electronically sending the royalty statements and funds corresponding to the royalty amounts to the providers.

21. The information handling system of claim 12 further comprising:

means for sending the product sale request from the merchant computer system to the information handling system in response to a customer requesting to purchase the digital works from the merchant computer system;

means for receiving, at the merchant computer system, the digital works transmitted from the information handling system; and

means for transmitting the received digital works from the merchant computer system to the customer computer system after the merchant computer system has received the digital works.

22. The information handling system of claim 12 further comprising:

means for receiving, from one or more of the providers a royalty rate corresponding to one or more of the digital works;

means for calculating an amount due from the merchant based upon the royalty rate of the digital works transmitted to the merchant computer system; and

means for billing the merchant the amount due.

23. A computer program product stored on a computer operable medium comprising:

means for obtaining, at a third party logging server, a plurality of digital works from a plurality of provider computer systems;

means for storing the received digital works on a nonvolatile storage device accessible from the third party logging server;

means for receiving, at the third party logging server, a product sale request from a merchant computer system, wherein the product sale request is received over a computer network;

means for transmitting, from the third party logging server through the computer network to the merchant computer system, one or more of the digital works, wherein the merchant computer system is adapted to provide the transmitted digital works to one or more customer computer systems;

means for recording, at the third party logging server, a sales record corresponding to the product sale request; and

means for means for registering a merchant corresponding to the merchant computer system with the third party logging server, the registration including an agreement with the merchant regarding use of the digital works and payment for receipt of the digital works, wherein the registration occurs before the means for receiving, the means for transmitting, and the means for recording.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

means for providing the merchant computer system with an authentication mechanism in response to the registration of the merchant; and

means for authenticating the merchant computer system using the authentication mechanism prior to the transmission of digital works to the merchant computer system from the third party logging server.

25. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

means for sending a plug-in software module for installation on the merchant computer system, the plug-in software module adapted to notify the third party logging server whenever a customer purchases one of the digital works from the merchant computer system; and

means for receiving, from the merchant computer system, a notification that one or more of the digital works has been purchased from the merchant computer system, wherein the means for recording of the sales record corresponding to the product sale request is performed in response to receiving the notification.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the notification is sent to the third party logging server over the computer network by the plug-in software module installed at the merchant computer system.

27. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the notification includes one or more digital work identifiers that correspond to the digital works that have been purchased from the merchant computer system and a merchant identifier that identifies the merchant.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the means for recording further comprises:

means for identifying a royalty rate corresponding to the digital work identifiers;

means for calculating a purchase amount based upon the royalty rate; and

means for including the purchase amount in the sales record.

29. The computer program product of claim 28 further comprising:

preparing a billing statement that includes the sales record; and

providing the billing statement to the merchant.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising:

for each of the provider computer systems, means for registering a provider corresponding to the provider computer system with the third party logging server, the registration including an agreement with the provider regarding use of the digital works and payment for use of the digital works by merchants, wherein the registration occurs before the performance of the means for obtaining and the means for storing.

31. The computer program product of claim 30 further comprising:

means for identifying a set of one or more providers from the plurality of providers from which the digital works sold by the merchant were obtained;

means for determining a royalty amount for each of the identified providers;

means for preparing a royalty statement to the identified providers, the royalty statement including the royalty amount; and

means for electronically sending the royalty statements and funds corresponding to the royalty amounts to the providers.

32. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

means for sending the product sale request from the merchant computer system to the third party logging server in response to a customer requesting to purchase the digital works from the merchant computer system;

means for receiving, at the merchant computer system, the digital works transmitted from the third party logging server; and

means for transmitting the received digital works from the merchant computer system to the customer computer system after the merchant computer system has received the digital works.

33. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

means for receiving, from one or more of the providers a royalty rate corresponding to one or more of the digital works;

means for calculating an amount due from the merchant based upon the royalty rate of the digital works transmitted to the merchant computer system; and

means for billing the merchant the amount due.