U.S. patent application number 13/730425 was filed with the patent office on 2013-07-18 for management of shared media content.
This patent application is currently assigned to SLING MEDIA INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is SLING MEDIA INC.. Invention is credited to Jason Krikorian, Brian Meckler.
Application Number | 20130185163 13/730425 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46327000 |
Filed Date | 2013-07-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130185163 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Krikorian; Jason ; et
al. |
July 18, 2013 |
MANAGEMENT OF SHARED MEDIA CONTENT
Abstract
A media device allows users to watch and capture portions from a
media broadcast. Users may then share the captured media content
items with other users, for example, by uploading the items to a
community website. Before providing requested media content items
to other users, the website may combine advertisements with the
media content items. The website may receive advertising revenue
from advertisers and may share the advertising revenue with owners
of the media content items in exchange for their permission to
provide the media content items. The advertisers may provide
restrictions on how the advertisements are combined with the media
content items, and the content owners may provide restrictions on
how the media content items are provided to the users.
Inventors: |
Krikorian; Jason; (Woodside,
CA) ; Meckler; Brian; (Kensington, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SLING MEDIA INC.; |
Foster City |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
SLING MEDIA INC.
Foster City
CA
|
Family ID: |
46327000 |
Appl. No.: |
13/730425 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11620711 |
Jan 7, 2007 |
8346605 |
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13730425 |
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11147664 |
Jun 7, 2005 |
7877776 |
|
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11620711 |
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60823066 |
Aug 21, 2006 |
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60577833 |
Jun 7, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.69 ;
705/14.73; 709/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04H 60/80 20130101;
H04N 7/165 20130101; G06Q 40/00 20130101; H04L 65/605 20130101;
H04N 19/102 20141101; H04N 19/61 20141101; H04L 65/4076 20130101;
H04N 21/4383 20130101; H04N 19/152 20141101; H04L 65/602 20130101;
H04N 21/23424 20130101; H04N 21/4384 20130101; H04N 21/25891
20130101; H04N 21/4402 20130101; H04L 65/4015 20130101; H04N 19/14
20141101; H04L 67/02 20130101; H04N 19/132 20141101; H04N 19/115
20141101; H04N 19/85 20141101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101; G11B 27/034
20130101; H04L 29/06027 20130101; H04L 65/4092 20130101; H04N
19/137 20141101; H04N 21/812 20130101; H04N 21/44004 20130101; H04N
19/117 20141101; H04N 19/80 20141101; H04N 21/632 20130101; H04N
21/4331 20130101; H04N 19/172 20141101; H04N 21/6587 20130101; H04N
19/188 20141101; H04N 21/43615 20130101; H04N 21/4788 20130101;
G06Q 30/0273 20130101; H04N 21/4325 20130101; H04N 19/164 20141101;
H04N 19/40 20141101; H04N 19/182 20141101; H04N 21/23406 20130101;
H04L 65/607 20130101; H04N 19/107 20141101; H04N 19/162 20141101;
H04N 21/2743 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/14.69 ;
709/219; 705/14.73 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1-32. (canceled)
33. A computer-implemented method executable by a server
communicating on a network, the method comprising: receiving a
video clip at the server from a first user, wherein the video clip
comprises a portion of a video stream, wherein the portion is
selected by the first user, wherein the video stream comprises
original content owned by one or more original content owners, and
wherein the video clip is received from the first user with
identification information that identifies the original content
used to create the video clip; identifying, using the server, the
one or more owners of the original content based upon the
identification information received with the video clip; combining
advertisements with the received video clip using the server; and
providing the combined video clip and advertisements from the
server to the second user upon requests for the video clip
subsequently received by the server.
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: receiving one or
more restrictions associated with the original content from the one
or more owners, the one or more restrictions indicating one or more
limitations on how the video clip is provided to the second
user.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the one or more
restrictions limit the advertisements that can be combined with the
video clip.
36. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions
limit the length of the video clip that can be provided to the
second user.
37. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions
limit a quality characteristic of the video clip that can be
provided to the second user, and wherein the quality characteristic
is selected from a group consisting of: a resolution, a frame rate,
and a bit rate.
38. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions
limit the number of second users who can be provided a particular
item of the video clip.
39. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions
identify a particular item of the video clip that cannot be
provided to the second user.
40. A computer-implemented method executable by a server,
comprising: receiving a content item from a first user at the
server via a network, wherein the content item is a video clip that
comprises a portion of a video stream that is selected by the first
user, wherein the video stream comprises original content that is
owned by one or more owners, and wherein the content item is
received from the first user with identification information that
identifies the original content; identifying, using the server, the
one or more owners of the original content based upon the
identification information received with the content item from the
first user; receiving a request for the content item from a second
user by the server; and providing the content item from the server
to the second user.
41. The method of claim 40, further comprising: receiving one or
more restrictions associated with the original content from the one
or more owners, the one or more restrictions indicating one or more
limitations on how the content item created from the original
content is provided to the second user.
42. The method of claim 40, further comprising determining, using
the server, whether the owner of the content has given permission
to provide the content item to the second user.
43. A computer-implemented method executable by a server providing
a media content item, the method comprising: receiving the media
content item from a first user at the server, wherein the media
content item is a media clip that is created by the first user as a
selected portion of a media stream, wherein the media stream
comprises original content owned by one or more content owners, and
wherein the media content item comprises identifying information
that identifies the original content used to create the media
content; determining, using the server, the one or more content
owners based upon the identifying information received from the
first user with the media content item; implementing, at the
server, one or more restrictions based upon the original content
from the one or more content owners, the one or more restrictions
indicating one or more limitations on how the media content item
based upon the original content is provided; receiving, at the
server, a request for the media content item; and providing the
requested media content items from the server in response to the
request, the content item provided in accordance with the
associated one or more restrictions.
44. The method of claim 43 wherein the identification information
is automatically determined when the first user creates the media
content item.
45. The method of claim 44 wherein the identification information
is automatically determined from information associated with a
source of the original content.
46. The method of claim 44 wherein the identification information
is automatically obtained from an electronic program guide that
describes the original content.
47. The method of claim 43 wherein the media content item is a
video clip comprising a portion of a received media stream
comprising the original content that is received by one of the
users.
48. The method of claim 43 further comprising charging, by the
server, advertising fees from one or more advertisers in exchange
for providing an advertisement with the media clip.
49. The method of claim 48 further comprising crediting, by the
server, a portion of the advertising fees to the one or more owners
of the original content.
50. The method of claim 43 wherein the media clip comprises a
portion of the stream having a beginning and an end determined by a
user of the media player, and wherein the identification
information comprises information obtained from an electronic
program guide at the media player that describes the original
content.
51. The method of claim 50 wherein the identification information
identifies the original content by a program name.
52. The method of claim 50 wherein the identification information
identifies the original content by a broadcast network that
broadcast the original content.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/823,066, filed on Aug. 21, 2006, which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety; the application is also
a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/147,664,
filed on Jun. 7, 2005, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/577,833, filed Jun. 7, 2004, both of which are
hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
[0002] This application is also related to U.S. application Ser.
No. 11/620,707, filed concurrently herewith on Jan. 7, 2007, which
is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0003] 1. Field of the Invention
[0004] This invention relates generally to media content
management, and in particular to the distribution of shared media
content with advertisements and financial arrangements among the
distributors, advertisers, and content owners.
[0005] 2. Background of the Invention
[0006] Television and other video content, as well as a myriad of
other multimedia, are increasingly finding a home on new devices.
For example, television programming is no longer found solely on
the television. Through computer networks, as well as other
delivery mechanisms, television and other media content are
increasingly becoming available on other devices, such as personal
computers, mobile phones, PDAs, and other portable computing
devices. The increasing availability of the media content also
enables viewers to record and share them with others.
[0007] One conventional approach for people to share media content
is through a peer to peer (P2P) computer network, such as Napster.
A P2P computer network is a network that relies primarily on the
computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network
rather than concentrating them in a relatively low number of
servers. Users of the P2P computer network can share media content
stored in computers on the network. However, because much of the
media content shared includes copies of copyrighted popular
multimedia content (e.g., music and movies), sharing of the media
content without copyright owners' permissions is illegal in most
jurisdictions. Copyright owners (also known as content owners) tend
not to grant such permissions because they do not receive any
benefit in return. Also, P2P computer network does not provide
content owners with the ability to control the distribution of
their media content.
[0008] Another conventional approach to share media content is for
the content owners to provide mechanisms for users to share their
media content. For example, the content owners can provide their
media content in their websites. People who want to access the
media content can visit these websites to access them. However,
this approach is inconvenient for the users because there is no
central place to access media content. Also, not all content owners
have the financial capacity to provide mechanisms for users to
access their media content.
[0009] Thus, from the above, there is a need for a system and
process allowing users to share media content, granting the content
owners rights to control the use of their media content, and
enabling operators of the system and process to generate
advertisement revenue.
SUMMARY
[0010] Embodiments of the invention allow users of a community
website to share media content with other users of the website
while grant rights to owners of the shared media content to control
the use of their content. Embodiments of the invention also enable
the operator of the website to generate advertising revenue and
share the revenue with the content owners for the sharing of their
content.
[0011] In one embodiment, the community website receives media
content from users and combines the media content with
advertisements. Upon users' request for the media content, the
community website provides the combined media content and
advertisements to the users. The community website receives
advertisement fees from advertisers in exchange for providing the
combined media content and advertisements to the users. The
community website provides a portion of the advertisement fees to
owners of the media content in exchange for permission to provide
the combined media content and advertisements to the users.
[0012] In another embodiment, owners of media content can set
restrictions on their media content to control the use of their
media content. In exchange for the website's enforcement of the
restrictions the content owners may give permission to distribute
the content items. In yet another embodiment, advertisers can set
restrictions on their advertisements to control the combination of
the advertisements with the media content.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a
media device, in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process for recording and sharing
media clips, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0015] FIGS. 3(a)-(c) illustrate examples of user interfaces for
recording and sharing media clips, in accordance with an embodiment
of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a
media content management system, in accordance with an embodiment
of the invention.
[0017] FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram of a process for sharing
media content, in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the interactions among the
website, users, advertisers, and content owners in a business model
using the media content management system, in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention.
[0019] One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the
following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures
and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing
from the principles of the invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
Overview
[0020] Embodiments of the invention provide an integrated user
interface to users of a media device to view media content, record
media clips, edit the clips, associate the clips with relevant meta
data, and share the processed media clips with others. As used
herein, media content and media clips may include any type of media
content, including audio or video content, or both. Users can view
a media stream, record a portion of the media stream they deemed
interesting into a media clip, and send the media clip to others
using the integrated user interface.
[0021] Embodiments of the invention allow users of a media content
management system to share media content with other users of the
system. Users of the media content management system can upload
media content (e.g., media clips) to the system to share the
uploaded media content to others, who can download that media
content from the system. Alternatively, the media may ultimately be
distributed to viewers via a peer to peer distributed system. That
is, the content may be alternatively stored on the computers and
other devices of the end users of the system. When a user wishes to
view a clip from the system, the clip is sourced from one or more
of the other users, or peers.
[0022] Embodiments of the invention allow owners of the shared
media content ("content owners") to control the use of their
content. Content owners can set a broad range of restrictions on
their media content limiting the use of their media content.
Examples of the restrictions include the duration, the quality
(e.g., resolution, frame rate of a video content, bit rate of an
audio content), and the number of people allowed to access the
media content.
[0023] Embodiments of the invention may also enable the operator of
the media content management system to generate advertising
revenue. The system combines media content with advertisements and
provides the combined media content and advertisements to users
upon their requests for the media content. The advertising revenue
includes advertising fees paid by advertisers for providing their
advertisements to the users. The advertising revenue can be shared
with the content owners for their permission to share their content
with the users of the system. Advertisements may be sold by the
operator of the media content management system or the content
owners. Advertisements may also be sold via the use of an automated
ad purchase system using key words or other meta data available
which is associated with a clip. That is, a small business may want
to place an ad opposite any clip of a specific show. Perhaps
through a web interface, the small business owner could purchase
the ad and upload the creative content which would be shown as an
advertisement whenever a clip of the desired show is viewed by a
user.
[0024] The media content management system described herein can
also promote the lawful sharing of copyrighted media content by
giving the copyright owners right to control the use of their media
content and sharing the advertising revenue generated by
distributing advertisement with their media content.
Media Device Architecture
[0025] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the architecture of a media
device 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As
illustrated, the media device 100 includes a media player module
110, a media editor module 120, and a network client module 130.
The media device 100 is communicatively connected to a media
broadcaster 140 and a server 150.
[0026] The media device 100 includes hardware and/or software
devices that are configured to enable users to view media content;
record, edit, and associate meta data with the media clip
("clipping"); and share the recorded media clip with others through
a single, integrated user interface. The media device 100 is
adapted to execute computer program modules. As used herein, the
term "module" refers to computer program logic and/or data for
providing the specified functionality. A module can be implemented
in hardware, firmware, and/or software.
[0027] In one embodiment, the media device 100 is a software
application running on any general or multi-purpose device (such as
a personal computer, mobile device, cellular phone, or any other
computing device with sufficient capabilities for these tasks),
beneficially avoiding the need for users to carry special equipment
to transmit media content to and/or receive media content from the
media management server 410. Alternatively, the media device 100
can be a dedicated appliance, such as a place-shifting system or a
personal video recorder (PVR). In the case of a placeshifting
system (an example of which is the Slingbox from Sling Media), the
placeshifting appliance interacts with software located on another
device such as a PC or mobile phone by streaming content from the
placeshifting appliance to the client device.
[0028] The media player module 110 is configured to play media
content received from the media broadcaster 140, which may be any
source of media, including a placeshifting device. The media
content may be delivered to the media device 100 in a variety of
ways, including over the air transmission (analog and digital), via
cable infrastructure, IP transport (via wired and wireless means),
satellite transmission, as well as through many other methods. The
models for delivery of content to the media device 100 may vary,
including pay-per-view, linear programming, on demand streaming,
download and playback, and live streaming from another location,
placeshifting, among many others.
[0029] The media editor module 120 is configured to provide users
with functionality of recording (or capturing) the media content
played by the media player module 110. In one embodiment, the media
editor module 120 can cache the media content played and provide
users with an editing window to define a media clip from the cached
content. This allows a user to capture, process, edit, and upload
easily a clip that they recently viewed. The media editor module
120 can be further configured to converting the defined media clip
from one media format to another or perform any other transcoding,
encoding, or other processing on the clip as desired.
[0030] The network client module 130 is configured to transmit the
recorded media clip to the server 150, or alternatively, to other
end users in a distributed storage and distribution architecture.
The network client module 130 can be configured to connect with the
server 150 through a wired or wireless network. Examples of the
network include the Internet, an intranet, a cellular network, or a
combination thereof. The server 150 can be a web server, an email
server, or other computing devices with network capacity.
[0031] The media broadcaster 140 transmits the media content to the
media device 100. It can be a central server at a remote
broadcasting location, or a computer at a user's home. In one
embodiment, the media broadcaster 140 can be a time-shifting device
(e.g., a personal video recorder) or a placeshifting device (e.g.,
a personal broadcaster). In placeshifting, a user can watch or
listen to live, recorded or stored media on a remote device via a
data network. For example, a user may stream content from a device
at home (such as a satellite receiver, cable box, or digital video
recorder) to a cellular phone, which can receive the media from
across the house, across town, or across the world. This
transmission may use public or private networks. A product that
currently provides such a placeshifting application is the
SLINGBOX.TM. from Sling Media, Inc., and described in co-pending
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/147,664, filed Jun. 7, 2005, the
content of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Operation of the Media Device
[0032] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process of the media device 100
for recording (or clipping) and sharing media clips in accordance
with one embodiment of the invention. The process illustrated in
FIG. 2 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination
of hardware and software.
[0033] The process illustrated in FIG. 2 starts with the media
device 100 receiving 210 media content from the media broadcaster
140. The media content can be in the form of a media stream (e.g.,
television broadcasting). In one embodiment, the media player
module 110 plays the media stream on the integrated user interface.
One example of this user interface is illustrated in FIG. 3(a). The
user interface in FIG. 3(a) includes a media display window 310 to
display the received video stream live, which includes controls for
users to control the video play (e.g., volume control 312, record
button 314) and indicators indicating the status of the video
stream (e.g., network transmission speed, video stream status, and
video stream title).
[0034] Referring back to FIG. 2, the media device 100 receives 220
a command from a user to clip or otherwise capture a portion of the
media. The user may submit the command by interacting with the
integrated user interface. For example, the user can trigger a
designated control (e.g., the record button 314) using a pointing
device (e.g., a mouse or touch sensitive screen) or using a keypad.
Alternatively, the user may submit the command using devices such
as a remote control (e.g., a remote control for a DVR, cable box,
satellite receiver, or other media source).
[0035] Once the device 100 receives the command, the media editor
module 120 may bring up a media editing window in the integrated
user interface. The media editing window allows the user to select
the starting point and the ending point of the media content that
the user would like to capture. In one embodiment, as the media
player module 110 plays the media stream, the media editor module
120 continually captures and caches the last five minutes (or some
other designated time period) of media content played. The media
editor module 110 may be configured to discard the earliest
recorded content when the cached stream hits five minutes (or some
other designated time period) so that the media that is cached is
always the most recent media that has been played. This allows the
user to select a portion of what is currently in the cache. In
another embodiment, such as with a PVR, the media stream being
played by the device 100 may already be stored in a memory, so
there is no need to cache a portion of the media being played. In
such a case, the captured clip is just a cropped version of a
larger media file already stored in memory.
[0036] One example of this user interface is illustrated in FIG.
3(b). The user interface in FIG. 3(b) displays the media editing
window 320 adjacent to the media play window 310. The media editing
window includes a video window 322 displaying the cached media
content. The video editing window also includes a slider 324 below
the video window representing the duration of the cached portion of
the video stream. As shown in FIG. 3(b), the media editing window
320 is displayed adjacent to the media play window 310; however,
the media editing window 320 may be displayed as a separate window
or by any other method as desired for the user interface.
[0037] Referring back to FIG. 2, the media device 100 receives 230
user selections for defining a desired media clip. In one
embodiment, a user can select the desired start point and end point
through the media editing window. For example, in the user
interface illustrated in FIG. 3(b), a user can make the selection
by marking the start and end points on the slider 324. In one
embodiment, the media device 100 checks and enforces restrictions
contained in the metadata of the media stream or otherwise
associated therewith. For example, if the restrictions limit the
duration of a clip, the media device 100 will not allow the media
clip to exceed that limit. The user may also select a frame within
the media clip as a representative thumbnail image for the media
clip. The media device 100 creates a media clip based on the user
selection.
[0038] The media device 100 may also tag 240 information to the
media clip, such as meta data that describes the clip. The
information to be tagged can be manually input by the user and/or
it may be automatically associated with the clip. For example, once
the clip is captured, the user may input words, phrases, pictures,
URLs, titles, actors, networks, channels, or other meta data that
the user believes should be associated with the clip. Alternatively
or additionally, other methods for automated tagging may be used,
such as methods that automatically determine information about the
content of the clip and tag the clip with that information. This
information may be retrieved from a number of sources, including an
electronic program guide (EPG) or the settings on the computing
devices. Other observed information may also be a source for
tagging information, including the time of day, time zone or
location, channel number, title of show, episode, network, etc. The
information may further include information expressly associated
with the video clip, which may be delivered via the VBI, over an IP
network, or by some other means. Other information, such as the
closed captioning, may also be a source for automatic tagging. The
information tabbed to the media clip can be stored in its metadata.
In some embodiments, the user can also change the format of the
media clip and set other encoding parameters, such as bit rate.
[0039] The media device 100 can transmit 250 the media clip as the
user instructs. The user can submit the instruction through the
integrated user interface. For example, the media edit window can
include a designated button for uploading the media clip to a
community website. The user can configure the button to send
automatically, manually post, or otherwise upload the media clip to
the community website or other online location. The user can
configure the button to link with his account in the website. The
user can click the button and the network client module 130 will
upload the media client. Alternatively, the media edit window can
include a drop-down menu allowing the user to select recipients of
an email notification. After the media clip is uploaded, a notice
will be sent to the email addresses of the selected recipients,
noticing them that the user has uploaded a clip, with a pointer
reference to the clip stored on the website. This allows the user
to share content with a community of users rather than a particular
selected person or persons. The community sharing model also
enables certain business and advertising schemes, described in
greater detail below. In other embodiments, the user can also
instruct the media device 100 to save the media clip in a local or
remote location.
[0040] Alternatively, rather than uploading the media clip, the
media device 100 may call an email client (or other local
communication client) to create a new email message and attach the
media clip to the message. The user can then select the intended
recipients of the message and send the message. The media device
100 can also automatically send out the message if the recipient or
destination of the video clip has already been determined. The
address book databases can be those available from email clients
such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, and others, as well as any
Internet based messaging services, such as MSN Messenger and AOL
Instant Messenger.
Example Process for the Media Device
[0041] The process described above can be further illustrated
through an example of an operation of the media device 100 in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In this example,
the media device 100 is a laptop computer. The media device 100
receives a video stream from a placeshifting system (e.g., a
SLINGBOX.TM.) and plays the video stream in an integrated user
interface on the computer screen to a user.
[0042] When watching the video stream, the user sees something he
would like to share with friends. The user presses the record
button on the integrated user interface, which immediately launches
a media editing window within the application. Within the media
editing window, the user has access to last five minutes (or some
other duration) of video viewed, which was cached on the hard drive
of the laptop computer. The user sets the start point and end
point, adds a title to the clip, and presses a recipient button,
which brings up a list of friends. The user selects the intended
friends. Meta data associated with the clip may also be added
manually or automatically. Then the user clicks an upload button on
the integrated user interface. The media device 100 uploads the
video clip to a community website, and sends a notification email
with a pointer reference to the uploaded video clip to the selected
friends.
[0043] After receiving the notification email, the user's friends
can click the pointer and view the video clip in the community
website.
[0044] Similar experiences are also possible with other devices and
solutions. For example, a similar experience can be had on a mobile
phone that receives a video stream from a placeshifting device.
Alternatively, the interface can be integrated into a DVR connected
to the Internet, with the clipping experience presented to the user
via a television set and controlled via a remote control. In yet
another alternative, the interface may be used on a PC that is not
receiving content via a placeshifting device but rather directly
via an audio video input (e.g., cable coax) into the PC.
Accordingly, the process of viewing, clipping, and sending clips
can be advantageously used in a number of different contexts.
Media Content Management System Architecture
[0045] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the architecture of a media
content management system 400 in accordance with one embodiment of
the invention. In this embodiment, the system 400 includes a media
management server 410, an advertisement server 420, and three
client devices 430A-C. The media management server 410, the
advertisement server 420, and the client devices 430 are
communicatively coupled through a network 440.
[0046] The media management server 410 includes a hardware and/or
software device that is configured to receive media content from
and/or provide the received media content to the client devices 430
through the network 440. Media content may include data in medium
such as text, audio, still images, video, and graphics, and a
combination thereof. Media content can be in different formats. For
example, audio content can be encoded in Windows Media Audio (WMA)
format or in MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3) format. In one embodiment,
the media management server 410 includes a web server 412, an
application server 414, a payment server 416, and a media store
418. The media management server 410 can also include other
components (e.g., an email server), although FIG. 4 omits such
components for clarity.
[0047] The web server 412 is a front end of the media management
server 410 and functions as a communication gateway of the media
management server 410. The web server 412 receives media content
transmitted to the media management server 410 from the client
devices 430 through the network 440 and stores the received media
content in the media store 418. The web server 412 also receives
requests for specific media content units from the client devices
430, retrieves the requested media content units from the media
store 418, and provides them to the client devices 430. In one
embodiment, the web server 412 is an Internet web server hosting
one or more websites.
[0048] The web server 412 can support multiple communication
protocols for the client devices 430 to send and request media
content. For example, the web server 412 can be configured to
support file transfer protocol (FTP) such that the client devices
430 can provide and/or access media content using FTP. As another
example, the web server 412 may host webpages for users to upload
and/or download media content. The web server 412 can provide media
content to the client devices 430 in the form of media files or
media streams that are suitable for transmission over the network
440, where the media streams can be viewed by end users at the
client device 430.
[0049] The application server 414 is configured to combine media
content with advertisements and provide the combined media content
and advertisement to the web server 412. Like media content,
advertisements can include data in medium such as texts, audio and
video. In some embodiments, instead of advertisements, the
application server 414 combines media content with other
information (e.g., information about the subject matter of the
media content).
[0050] The payment server 416 is configured to track balances of
related parties (e.g., advertisers, copyright owners, users) based
on a payment model. The payment server 416 can also work with the
web server 412 to provide the related parties online access to
their accounts. The related parties can check account balance, make
payments, and transfer funds to their other accounts by accessing
their accounts. The payment server 416 can also periodically send
invoices and account balance reports to the related parties. In one
embodiment, the payment server 416 can be configured to enable the
related parties to connect their accounts with their bank accounts
and authorize the payment server 416 to automatically deposit money
to and/or withdraw money from their bank accounts.
[0051] In one embodiment, the payment server 416 is also configured
to keep track of the relationships between the media content and
the related parties. The relationships include content owners and
their media content, advertisers and their advertisements, and
users and the media content that they uploaded and/or downloaded.
Multiple parties can have ownership interests in one media content
unit. For example, a video clip can have multiple copyright holders
and multiple licensees. The identities of these content owners can
be provided in the metadata accompanying the media content unit. In
one embodiment, the payment server 416 creates an account for each
content owner and links the account with media content units the
content owner has interests in. For example, the account for the
Walt Disney Studios can be associated with all video content and
graphical content having the image of Mickey Mouse along with other
media content owned by the Walt Disney Studios. Similarly, the
payment server 416 can also create an account for each advertiser
and associate the account with its advertisements, and create an
account for each user and associate the account with media content
units the user uploaded and/or downloaded. This information can be
used to determine balances of the parties. The account information
can be saved in the media store 418 together with the media
content.
[0052] The media store 418 stores the data received from the web
server 412, the application server 414 and the payment server 416.
These data include media content received from the client devices
430, information associated with the media content (e.g., ownership
information), and information about the related parties (e.g.,
account information). The media store 418 may be a relational
database or any other type of database that stores the
above-described data. The media store 418 may be accessible by the
web server 412, the application server 414, and the payment server
416. The web server 412, the application server 414, the payment
server 416, and the media store 418 may be stored and operated on a
single computer or on separate computer systems communicating with
each other through a network.
[0053] The advertisement server 420 includes a hardware and/or
software device that is configured to provide advertisements to the
media management server 410 and/or the client devices 430. In one
embodiment, the advertisement server 420 includes an advertisement
application server 422 and an advertisement store 424.
[0054] The advertisement application server 422, similar to the web
server 412 in the media management server 410, is configured to
receive advertisements transmitted to the advertisement server 420
and stores the received advertisements in the advertisement store
424.
[0055] The received advertisements may include associated ownership
information.
[0056] The advertisement store 424 stores the advertisements and
associated ownership information received from the advertisement
application server 422. Similar to the media store 418, the
advertisement store 424 may be a relational database or any other
type of database. The advertisement store 424 may be stored
centrally and operated on a single computer. Alternatively, the
advertisement store 424 can include multiple databases, each
individually maintained by an advertiser.
[0057] In one embodiment, the advertisement server 420 can be
combined with the media management server 410. For example, the
application server 414 and the web server 412 can be configured to
implement the functions of the advertisement application server
422, and the media store 418 can be configured to store the
advertisements and associated ownership information that would
otherwise be stored in the advertisement store 424.
[0058] The client devices 430A-C include hardware and/or software
devices that are configured to transmit media content to and/or
receive media content from the media management server 410 and/or
the advertisement server 420. The client devices 430 can optionally
include displays (e.g., an LCD screen) and speakers. In one
embodiment, one or more of the client devices 430 can be a media
device 100. There can be many client devices 430 in the system 400.
FIG. 4 displays only three client devices 430 for clarity.
[0059] In one embodiment, the client device 430 is configured to
play the combined media content and advertisements received from
the media management server 410 and/or the advertisement server
420. For example, the client device 430 can include the media
player client as described above, which can play video clips
received from the media management server 410 to end users.
[0060] In one embodiment, the media management server 410, the
advertisement server 420 and the client devices 430A-C are
structured to include a processor, memory, storage, network
interfaces, and applicable operating system and other functional
software (e.g., network drivers, communication protocols).
[0061] The network 440 is configured to connect the media
management server 410, the advertisement server 420, and the client
devices 430A-C. The network 440 may be a wired or wireless network.
Examples of the network 440 include the Internet, an intranet, a
cellular network, or a combination thereof.
Operation of the Media Content Management System
[0062] FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram of a process of the media
content management system 400 for sharing media content in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In this process,
the media management server 410 hosts a community website where
users of the website can upload, download, share, and exchange
media content (e.g., video clips). The process illustrated in FIG.
5 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of
hardware and software.
[0063] The process illustrated in FIG. 5 starts with a client
device 430A receiving 510 a media stream. As described above with
reference to FIG. 5, the client device 430A can include a media
device 100 receiving media content and/or media stream from a
plurality of sources, such as a TV broadcasting network. The client
device 430A can be configured to play the media stream to a user as
the stream is received.
[0064] The client device 430A captures 520 a media clip in the
received media stream. In one embodiment, the client device 430A
continually captures and caches the most recently received media
stream. The user can use a graphical interface provided by the
client device 430A to select the beginning and end of the clip in
the cached portion of the media stream that the user would like to
capture.
[0065] The client device 430A sends 530 the captured media clip to
the community website using a communication protocol supported by
the web server 412. The web server 412 can require the user to
first become a community member by registering an account before
they can upload any media content in the community website. The
client device 430A can be configured to send 530 the media clip to
the community website using the user's account.
[0066] After receiving the media clip from the client device 430A,
the web server 412 stores it in the media store 418. In one
embodiment, the web server 412 also receives identification
information related to the received media clip, and stores it in
the media store 418 along with the media clip. The web server 412
can provide the received media clips on the community website for
members to access. One example of the community website listing the
received media clips is illustrated in FIG. 3(c). The webpage shown
in FIG. 3(c) lists media clips received from members of the
community website. Users accessing this webpage can access the
listed media clips by clicking on them.
[0067] The application server 414 combines 540 advertisements with
the received media clip. As described above with reference to FIG.
4, the application server 414 can receive advertisements from the
advertisement server 420 through the web server 412 and the network
440.
[0068] The application server 414 can combine 540 the media clip
and the advertisements in different manners. As described above,
media content and advertisements can include data in medium such as
text, audio, still images, video, and graphics. The application
server 414 can determine a manner to combine a media clip and an
advertisement based on the forms of information included in the
media clip and the advertisement. For example, if both include
video and/or audio, the application server 414 can join them
together, so that the advertisement leads into or follows the media
clip. As another example, the application server 414 can present
the advertisement alongside the media clip in a web page, such that
interested users can access the web page for the media clip, and
thereby view the advertisement. As still another example, the
application server 414 can place the advertisement as an overlay to
the video portion of the media clip. The application server 414 can
combine the advertisements with the media clip when the web server
412 first receiving the media clip or after receiving a request for
the media clip. Alternatively, the application server 414 can
conduct the combination 540 periodically.
[0069] In one embodiment, the application server 414 can be
configured to enforce restrictions associated with the media
content and the advertisements. The advertisements can have
restrictions limiting the media content that can be associated with
them. For example, an advertiser can prohibit its advertisements
from being associated with media content including adult material.
As another example, an advertisement (e.g., an automobile
advertisement) can require the associated media content to include
content relevant to the subject matter of the advertisement (e.g.,
video clips about car race). Media content can also have
restrictions limiting the advertisements that can be associated
with the media content.
[0070] In one embodiment, the application server 414 identifies
restrictions associated with the media clip and/or the
advertisements and combines 540 the media clip and the
advertisements only if the associated restrictions are satisfied.
For example, the application server 414 can combine 540 the media
clip with advertisements by first identifying advertisements that
satisfy restrictions associated with the media clip, then selecting
one or more of the identified advertisements where the combination
does not violate the restrictions associated with the selected
advertisements, and combining 540 the media clip with the selected
advertisements.
[0071] Another user of the community website sends 550 a request
for the media clip to the community website using a client device
430B. After receiving the request, the web server 412 provides 560
the combined media clip and advertisements to the client device
430B through the network 440. The web server 412 can provide the
combined media clip and advertisements in different manners. For
example, the web server 412 can send an email to the user
containing the associated advertisement and a pointer reference to
the media clip. The user can access the media clip by clicking the
pointer reference. Alternatively, the web server 412 can provide
the user with a webpage including the combined media clip and the
advertisements. After receiving the combined media clip and
advertisements, the client device 430B can play 570 it to the
user.
[0072] The operator of the community website may receive 580 an
advertisement fee from an advertiser in exchange for providing 560
the combined media clip and advertisement to the user. As described
above with reference to FIG. 4, the payment server 416 keeps track
of the relationship between the advertisers and their
advertisements. Therefore, the payment server 416 can identify the
advertisers associated with the combined advertisements, determine
the advertisement fees for the advertisers to pay, and charge the
advertisers accordingly.
[0073] In one embodiment, the advertisement fees are determined by
a standard advertising model (e.g., Pay Per Click Advertising
(PPC), Pay Per Thousand Advertising (PPM), Fixed Rate) determined
by the operator and the advertisers. Various advertising models
that may be used with the system 400 are disclosed in U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/780,709, filed Mar. 8, 2006, the
content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety. The advertising model can provide a range of advertising
fees based on multiple factors, such as the nature of the
advertisement (e.g., video, audio, or text) and the manner of the
association (e.g., the advertisement is joined with a video clip).
The payment server 416 can charge the advertising fees from the
advertisers by debiting their accounts.
[0074] The operator of the community website may also provide 590 a
portion of the advertising fees to a content owner in exchange for
permission to provide 560 the combined media clip and advertisement
to the users. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the
payment server 416 keeps track of the ownership information of the
media content. Therefore, the payment server 416 can identify the
content owners of the media clip, determine the portion of the
advertising fees to the content owners, and credit the content
owners accordingly.
[0075] In one embodiment, the payment is determined by a royalty
rate determined by the operator and the content owners. Similar to
the advertising model, the royalty rate can provide a range of
royalty payments based on factors such as the nature of the media
content. In one embodiment, the royalty is a fixed percentage of
the advertisement revenue generated by providing advertisements
with media content owned by the content owner. The content owners
can also set a fixed fee for their media content. For example, the
owner of a home video clip can require 5 per access to the video
clip. The payment server 416 can provide 590 the royalty payment to
the content owners by crediting their accounts.
Business Model for the Media Content Management System
[0076] FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting the interactions among
entities involved in the operation of the media content management
system 400 (hereinafter called "the system 400") according to a
business model. The interactions illustrated in FIG. 6 may be
implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of hardware and
software.
[0077] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the system 400 can operate to
enable users to share and exchange media content, generate
advertising revenue by distributing advertisements with the media
content, and share the revenue with content owners in exchange for
permissions to provide the media content to users with the
advertisements. In stead of or in addition to sharing the revenue
with the content owners, the system 400 can enables the content
owners to control the use of their media content by providing
restrictions for permissions to provide their media content to
users with the advertisements.
[0078] Entities involved in the operation of the system 400 include
an operator of the community website 610, advertisers 620, content
owners 630, and users 640. The operator runs the media management
server 410 to provide a community website 610 for the users 640 to
store, share, and exchange media content, and distribute
advertisements with the media content to the users 640. The
advertisers 620 provide advertisements to the community website 610
to be provided to the users 640 together with the media content in
exchange for payments. The users 640 share media content through
the community website 610. The content owners 630 give the
community website 610 rights to distribute their media content to
the users 640 in exchange for payments and/or control.
[0079] The community website 610 receives media content from the
users 640. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the
community website 610 can require the users 640 to become
registered members to upload media content to and/or download media
content from the community website 610. The received media content
include media content that the users 640 are interested in
themselves and/or feel will have a wide appeal to a large audience.
The users 640 can also provide descriptive information about the
media content to the community website 610.
[0080] The community website 610 receives restrictions of the media
content from the content owners 630. In one embodiment, a media
content unit can have one or more associated restrictions limiting
the use of the media content unit. In one embodiment, these
restrictions can be provided in the metadata of the associated
media content. For example, restrictions associated with a video
clip can be transmitted during the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI)
when the video clip is transmitted to the media management server
410. VBI is the period of time between frames in a video
transmission when information is still being transmitted but when
the information is not being displayed on the screen.
Alternatively, the web server 412 can be configured to accept these
restrictions separately from the associated media content. For
example, the content owners 630 can set restrictions applicable to
all or a portion of their media content by interacting with the web
server 412. The content owners 630 can also set restrictions
applicable to their media content not yet in the media management
server 410.
[0081] In one embodiment, the community website 610 can enable the
content owners to set a broad range of restrictions to their media
content, such as: the duration, the quality (resolution, frame rate
of a video content, bit rate of an audio content), and the number
of people allowed to access the media content. For example, a
content owner can set a generic rule like: "All Seinfeld video
clips display at lower resolution and may be no longer than 2.5
minutes." After identifying a piece of media content containing a
Seinfeld video clip, the community server 610 may allow access to
the media content only if the restriction is not violated. The
community website 610 can be configured to modify the media content
(e.g., reduce the duration and/or resolution of a video) to enforce
the associated restrictions. Alternatively, the modification can be
conducted on the user side (e.g., the client devices 430 can be
configured to enforce the restrictions).
[0082] Content owners 630 may also restrict the access to their
media content. For example, the content owners 630 can restrict the
access to a media content unit to be by invitation only (e.g.,
sharing video clips with friends and acquaintances) or available
only to registered members. Therefore, the community website 610
will allow users 640 to access a media content unit only if the
associated restrictions set by the content owners are
satisfied.
[0083] Content owners 630 may also restrict the advertisements that
can be associated with their media content. For example, a media
content unit can have a restriction prohibiting any association
with automobile advertisements. As another example, a piece of
media content can have a restriction limiting the duration of the
associated video advertisement.
[0084] Under this business model, content owners 630 may have
strong incentives to allow sharing of their media content with the
public to promote the popularity of the media content and generate
more royalty income, even without receiving a portion of any
advertising revenue. For example, Walt Disney Studios may specify
in the restrictions that its Mickey Mouse media content are
publicly available to promote a re-release of a Mickey Mouse movie
or to promote visiting its theme parks. The content owners may have
additional incentives by allowing third-party advertisers to attach
their own advertisements to the clipped video content, by then
receiving a portion of or the entire advertising fee.
[0085] The community website 610 receives advertisements from the
advertisers 620. The community website 610 can also receive
restrictions from the advertisers 620. Similar to the restrictions
provided by the content owners 630, these restrictions limit the
media content to be combined with the advertisements, and thereby
enable the advertisers 620 to better target their advertisements to
the right audience.
[0086] The community website 610 combines the media content with
the advertisements. This combination normally must satisfy the
restrictions provided by both the content owners 630 and the
advertisers 620. The community website 610 then provides the
combined media content and the advertisements to the users 640.
[0087] The operator receives advertising fees from the advertisers
620 for distributing the advertisements to the users 640. The
operator can share this revenue with the content owners 630 for
permissions to provide the media content to the users 640 with the
advertisements, to the extent the content owners 630 have rights in
the media content.
[0088] In one embodiment, the community website 610 distributes the
advertising revenue among all entities involved in the operation of
the system 410, including the operator, the content owners 630, and
even the users 640 that uploaded and/or downloaded the media
content. In other embodiments, the advertising fees may be shared
just between a subset of the parties, such as the content owners
630 and the operator. In still other embodiments, the advertising
fees may be shared with other participants in the distribution
chain of the media content, such as the operator of the originating
television service (such as a cable provider, especially if the
media content originate from content served by an associated set
top box), an Internet service provider (ISP) that provides the
bandwidth used by the source (such as a place-shifting device),
and/or the ISP that provides the bandwidth used by the client
device 430 (such as a wireless network provider in the case where
the client device 430 is a portable device using a wireless
network).
[0089] As described above, the operator can operate the system 400
to generate advertising revenue by distributing user-supplied media
content with advertisements. The operator can share the revenue
with the content owners 630 in exchange for permissions to provide
the media content to the users 640 with the advertisements. The
system 400 also provides the content owners 630 with the ability to
control the use of their media content to address their fears of
losing control over their media content.
Example Process for the Media Content Management System
[0090] The principles described herein can be further illustrated
through an example of an operation of the media content management
system 400 (hereinafter called "the system 400") in accordance with
one embodiment of the invention. In this example, the system 400
hosts a community website 610 where users of the website can share
audio/video clips.
[0091] The example commences with a user 640 watching a TV program
Seinfeld previously captured by a Personal Video Recorder (PVR,
client device 430). The user 640 finds a section of the video
interesting, and invokes a graphical interface of the PVR to
capture the video section by selecting the beginning and end of the
section. The PVR creates a video clip (Seinfeld clip) containing
the captured video section and upload the Seinfeld clip to the
community website 610 using the user's account.
[0092] The application server 414 identifies the subject matter of
the received clip using the metadata stored during the VBI of the
video clip, associates the clip with the content owner, Sony
Pictures Digital Inc., and stores the clip and the related
information in the media store 418.
[0093] A second user 640 of the community website 610 subsequently
conducts searches in the website 610 for video clips related to
Seinfeld using a computer (client device 430), and locates the
Seinfeld clip previously received. The second user 640 then submits
a request for the Seinfeld clip.
[0094] In response to the second user 640's request, the community
website 610 checks the restrictions applicable to the Seinfeld
clip. The content owner, Sony Pictures Digital Inc., has set a
restriction applicable to all Seinfeld video clips limiting their
duration to be no more than 2.5 minutes. After confirming that the
Seinfeld clip lasts no more than 2.5 minutes, the community website
610 identifies an advertisement for eBay promoting its Seinfeld
related auction items (eBay advertisement). Advertiser eBay sets a
restriction limiting the eBay advertisement to be combined only
with video clips related to Seinfeld. The application server 414
confirms that combining the Seinfeld clip and the eBay
advertisement does not violate the restrictions associated with
either the clip or the advertisement, then joins the advertisement
and the clip into a combined clip, such that the eBay advertisement
leads into the Seinfeld clip. Subsequently, the community website
610 generates a webpage including a pointer reference to the
combined clip, and redirects the second user 640 to the generated
webpage, where the second user 640 downloads the combined clip.
[0095] After the combined clip is downloaded in the second user
640's computer, the computer plays the eBay advertisement and the
Seinfeld clip to the second user 640. The payment server 416
calculates an advertisement fee for the advertiser eBay and deducts
the fee from its account. The payment server 416 also calculates a
royalty payment for the content owner, Sony Pictures Digital Inc.,
and credits the payment to its account.
Summary
[0096] Embodiments of the invention can provide a web portal for
users to share and exchange media contents, while grant content
owners rights to control the use of their media content. Operator
of the web portal can generate advertising revenue by distributing
advertisements together with media contents to the users, and share
the revenue with the content owners to compensate them for their
permissions to provide their media content to the users.
[0097] Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein
can be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or
software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In
one embodiment, a software module is implemented with a computer
program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing
computer program code, which can be executed by a computer
processor for performing any or all of the steps operations, or
processes described. For example, the physical components used in
the system may depend on the method in which the media content is
delivered to one or more users of that media content.
[0098] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the
invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is
not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the
precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can
appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in
light of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the
scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description,
but rather by the claims appended hereto.
[0099] Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the
specification has been principally selected for readability and
instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate
or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the
disclosure of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not
limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the
following claims.
* * * * *