Information storage medium which stores defect management information, method of replacing defect management information, and apparatus which replaces defect management information

A method of using an information storage medium comprising a rewritable area, the rewritable area comprising a user area to store user data;

• and a defect management area to store defect management information associated with a defect area in the rewritable area, the defect management area comprising a plurality of replacement areas, the method comprising:
• recording at least a portion of the defect management information stored in one of the plurality of replacement areas in another of the plurality of replacement areas before the one replacement area becomes unusable in a replacing manner;
• and
• wherein recording at least a portion of the defect management information between the replacement areas reuses a previous replacement area.

An apparatus which records or reproduces information by use of an information storage medium comprising a rewritable area, the rewritable area comprising a user area to store user data, and a defect management area to store defect management information associated with a defect area in the rewritable area, the defect management area comprising a plurality of replacement areas, the apparatus comprising:

• a first unit configured to read the information from and write the information into the plurality of replacement areas of the user area and the defect management area of the information storage medium;
• a second unit configured to record at least a portion of the defect management information stored in one of the plurality of replacement areas in a different one of the plurality of replacement areas before the one replacement area becomes unusable;
• and
• a third unit configured to record the at least a portion of the defect management information between replacement areas in a previous replacement area.