Recording medium and apparatus for protecting copyrighted digital data

#The invention relates to digital data recording medium, AV apparatus, and AV system which can easily control the recording or dubbing of a digital signal which is supplied from, for example, a television station or a digital VCR.

#The invention also relates to a recording medium and a recording and reproducing apparatus which inhibits or restricts the recording (dubbing) and reproduction of a digital signal in order to protect its copyright.

#In a digital recording and reproducing apparatus, for example, a digital VCR, there is hardly any deterioration of picture quality or sound quality during a dubbing (i.e., copying) process. Therefore, it is necessary to inhibit or restrict the dubbing or reproduction of certain data to protect a copyright. When an analog signal is input, converted to a digital signal and recorded, copyright protective information is superimposed in a vertical blanking period (V blanking period) of the analog signal to inhibit or restrict the dubbing of the digital signal.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an AV system used for dubbing;

#FIG. 2 is a table showing the relations among protective information, copy permission information, and copy permission/inhibition;

#FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams of the reproducing and recording sections of digital VCRs;

#A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an AV system used for dubbing AV data and protective information recorded on a pre-recorded tape loaded in a reproducing apparatus 1 (for example, a digital VCR), the reproduced data being output to a recording apparatus 2 (for example, a digital VCR). The protective information is stored in the digital data of the pre-recorded tape loaded in the reproducing apparatus or, for a transmission system, in the digital television data (DTV), which will be described later, transmitted from a broadcasting station. This protection information indicates whether dubbing is permitted or inhibited by the recording apparatus and is transmitted together with the AV data or DTV data. Rather than always transmitting the protective information, the protective information can be transmitted when dubbing is inhibited and not transmitted when dubbing is permitted.

#A blank tape containing previously recorded copy permission information is loaded in recording apparatus 2. The copy permission information indicates whether the AV or DTV data can be recorded onto the blank tape. For example, if the copy permission information is indicative of permission to copy or not onto a blank tape, copyrighted data can be properly protected. For instance, where the protective information is not supplied from reproducing apparatus 1 or where the protective information indicative of the permission to copy is supplied from reproducing apparatus 1, dubbing can be executed regardless of the permission information recorded on the blank tape. Where the protective information indicative of copy inhibition is supplied from reproducing apparatus 1, that is, when copyrighted data constitutes the reproduced AV data, the copy permission information is important. Namely, where the copy permission information is indicative copy inhibition, the signal cannot be dubbed onto the blank tape. However, where the copy permission information is indicative of permission to copy, dubbing can be executed.

#FIG. 2 is a table showing the relations among the protective information, copy permission information, and copy permission/inhibition. As mentioned above, where no protective information is transmitted, the AV or DTV data can be copied regardless of the copy permission information of the recording medium loaded in the recording apparatus. In addition, where protective information indicative of copy inhibition is transmitted from the reproducing apparatus and where there is no copy permission information in the recording medium or the copy permission information is indicative of copy inhibition, then copying cannot be performed. Even when the protective information indicative of the copy inhibition is transmitted from the reproducing medium, where the copy permission information indicates that copying is permitted onto the recording medium, the AV or DTV data can be copied. Where copying is inhibited, the user is notified by using, for example, an On Screen Display (OSD) on a monitor or the like.