# US 12,008,083 B2 · Information processing apparatus, for storing consensus information among copyright holders in a blockchain

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- Number: US 12,008,083 B2
- Document ID: US12008083B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/434,873
- Filed: 2020-03-19
- Published: 2022-06-02
- Granted: 2024-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2019-04-02
- Assignees: Sony Group Corporation
- Applicants: Sony Group Corporation
- Inventors: Kenichi Gokan
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12008083B2

## CPC

- G06F 21/105: {Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level}
- G06F 21/1075: {Editing}
- G06F 21/64: Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
- G06F 21/1073: {Conversion}
- G06Q 2220/18: Licensing
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

An information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program configured to manage the copyright-related information of content appropriately. The information processing apparatus includes control circuitry to acquire, when there is a plurality of copyright holders relating to one piece of content, consensus information indicating an agreement on a share of respective copyrights of the plurality of copyright holders, and create a transaction for recording the acquired consensus information on a blockchain system.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information processing apparatus, comprising:
control circuitry configured to
acquire, when there is a plurality of copyright holders relating to one piece of content, copyright agreement information, which is electronic information separate from the one piece of content and indicating that an agreement on sharing respective copyrights of the plurality of copyright holders regarding the one piece of content has been reached;
create a transaction for recording the acquired copyright agreement information on a blockchain system;
transmit the created transaction to the blockchain system for registration on the blockchain system,
wherein the control circuitry is further configured to create the transaction for recording copyright additive information on the blockchain system, the copyright additive information including content identification information identifying the one piece of content, share information indicating a respective agreed-upon percentage share of the copyright held by each of the plurality of copyright holders of the one piece of content, and the acquired copyright agreement information; and
give a predetermined notification to the respective right holders of the copyright when a sum total of shares held by the respective right holders of the copyright exceeds a predetermined threshold.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the copyright agreement information is text log information indicating the agreement on the sharing of the respective copyrights of the plurality of copyright holders.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the copyright agreement information is a history of an email or chatting in which the plurality of copyright holders makes the agreement on the sharing of the respective copyrights.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to transmit the transaction to a node of the blockchain system, the node performing recording processing on the blockchain system.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to execute blockchain consensus agreement processing for recording the transaction on the blockchain system.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:
a blockchain data memory to store data including the transaction as blockchain data upon executing the blockchain consensus agreement processing.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to perform processing of converting the acquired copyright agreement information into a hash value by a hash function, and create the transaction for recording the hash value of the copyright agreement information on the blockchain system.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information, which includes information regarding an author's moral right held by an author of the one piece of content.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information regarding the author's moral right, which is a right to integrity held by the author.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information regarding the author's moral right, which is a right of attribution held by the author.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information regarding an intention to exercise the author's moral rights by the author.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information indicating that the author has no intention to exercise the author's moral right.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the copyright additive information indicating that the author has an intention to exercise the author's moral right.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to give a predetermined notification to the author when a predetermined request relating to the one piece of content is made.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to give the predetermined notification to the author when the copyright additive information includes information indicating that the author permits modification of the one piece of content.

### Claim 16

An information processing method, comprising:
acquiring, when there is a plurality of copyright holders relating to one piece of content copyright agreement information, which is electronic information separate from the one piece of content and indicating that an agreement on sharing respective copyrights of the plurality of copyright holders regarding the one piece of content has been reached;
creating a transaction for recording the acquired copyright agreement information on a blockchain system;
transmitting the created transaction to the blockchain system for registration on the blockchain system,
wherein the method further comprises creating the transaction for recording copyright additive information on the blockchain system, the copyright additive information including content identification information identifying the one piece of content, share information indicating a respective agreed-upon percentage share of the copyright held by each of the plurality of copyright holders of the one piece of content, and the acquired copyright agreement information; and
giving a predetermined notification to the respective right holders of the copyright when a sum total of shares held by the respective right holders of the copyright exceeds a predetermined threshold.

### Claim 17

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an information processing program that, when executed by processing circuitry, causes the processing circuitry to execute a method comprising:
acquiring, when there is a plurality of copyright holders relating to one piece of content, copyright agreement information, which is electronic information separate from the one piece of content indicating that an agreement on sharing respective copyrights of the plurality of copyright holders regarding the one piece of content has been reached;
creating a transaction for recording the acquired copyright agreement information on a blockchain system;
transmitting the created transaction to the blockchain system for registration on the blockchain system,
wherein the method further comprises creating the transaction for recording copyright additive information on the blockchain system, the copyright additive information including content identification information identifying the one piece of content, share information indicating a respective agreed-upon percentage share of the copyright held by each of the plurality of copyright holders of the one piece of content, and the acquired copyright agreement information; and
giving a predetermined notification to the respective right holders of the copyright when a sum total of shares held by the respective right holders of the copyright exceeds a predetermined threshold.
