# US 8,752,185 B2 · Method for media fingerprinting > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,752,185 B2 - Document ID: US8752185B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/113,893 - Filed: 2008-05-01 - Published: 2009-11-05 - Granted: 2014-06-10 - Earliest claimed: 2008-05-01 - Assignees: Yahoo! Inc. - Applicants: Satish Menon; Malcolm Slaney - Inventors: Satish Menon; Malcolm Slaney - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8752185B2 ## CPC - G06F 16/41: Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures - G06F 11/1004: {to protect a block of data words, e.g. CRC or checksum (G06F11/1076 takes precedence; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorized activity G06F21/00)} - G06F 16/683: using metadata automatically derived from the content - G06F 16/783: using metadata automatically derived from the content - G06F 21/10: Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material (protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16) {; Digital rights management [DRM]} - G06F 21/14: against software analysis or reverse engineering, e.g. by obfuscation - G06F 21/64: Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures - H04L 9/3239: {involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD} - G06Q 30/00: Commerce - G06Q 2220/10: Usage protection of distributed data files - G06Q 2220/16: Copy protection or prevention - H04L 9/0643: {Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC} - H04L 2209/16: Obfuscation or hiding, e.g. involving white box - H04L 2209/60: Digital content management, e.g. content distribution - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - 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 A method of checking whether a content aggregator's content matches a content owner's content involves generating a fingerprint of the content and looking for a matching fingerprint from the content owner through a service provided by the content owner. In one aspect, the fingerprints are generated from an intermediate digest of the content instead of the original form. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving, from a plurality of end-users of a content aggregator, by the content aggregator, a plurality of content items; the content aggregator allowing a second plurality of end-users to access the plurality of content items; receiving, from an end-user, at the content aggregator, a particular content item; generating, by the content aggregator, a first fingerprint of the particular content item; retrieving, by the content aggregator, a first owner-provided fingerprint that is generated by a first content owner; determining, by the content aggregator, whether the first fingerprint matches the first owner-provided fingerprint; generating, by the content aggregator, a second fingerprint of the particular content item, wherein the second fingerprint is different than the first fingerprint; retrieving, by the content aggregator, a second owner-provided fingerprint that is generated by a second content owner that is different than the first content owner; and determining, by the content aggregator, whether the second fingerprint matches the second owner-provided fingerprint; determining that the particular content item is illegal content based at least in part on a determination that the first fingerprint matches the first owner-provided fingerprint or the second fingerprint matches the second owner provided fingerprint; wherein the method is performed by one or more machines. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first owner-provided fingerprint is retrieved by the content aggregator through a web service provided by the first content owner. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first owner-provided fingerprint is generated using one of: (i) a fingerprint algorithm defined by the content aggregator; or (ii) a fingerprint algorithm defined by the first content owner. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first owner-provided fingerprint is associated with fingerprint data that indicates information about a corresponding content item for which the first owner-provided fingerprint was generated. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the fingerprint data contains at least one item of information selected from a group consisting of: a title of the corresponding content item; a runtime of the corresponding content item; a size of the corresponding content item; contact information of the first content owner; and a description of a fingerprint algorithm used to create the first owner-provided fingerprint. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by the content aggregator, a third fingerprint of a second content item that is included in the plurality of content items; retrieving, by the content aggregator, through a service provided by a third content owner, a fourth fingerprint that is generated by the third content owner; converting the third fingerprint to a fifth fingerprint; determining whether the fifth fingerprint matches the fourth fingerprint. ### Claim 7 A method comprising: receiving, from a plurality of end-users of a content aggregator, by the content aggregator, a plurality of content items; the content aggregator allowing a second plurality of end-users to access the plurality of content items; receiving, from an end-user, at the content aggregator, a particular content item; transforming, by the content aggregator using a particular technique, the particular content item into a first intermediate digest, wherein the first intermediate digest is an obfuscated version of the particular content item; generating, by the content aggregator, a first fingerprint from the first intermediate digest using a fingerprint algorithm; receiving, by the content aggregator, from a content owner, a second intermediate digest that is an obfuscated version of a content item; generating, by the content aggregator, a second fingerprint from the second intermediate digest using the fingerprint algorithm; and comparing the first fingerprint with the second fingerprint; determining that the particular content item is illegal content based at least in part on a determination that the first fingerprint matches the second fingerprint; wherein the method is performed by one or more machines. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein said transforming comprises a combination of spatial and temporal sampling. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the second intermediate digest is made available to the content aggregator through a service provided by the content owner. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the service is a web service. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the particular technique is a technique that is selected by the content owner. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein: the content owner is a first content owner; the method further comprising: transforming, by the content aggregator using a second technique, the particular content item into a third intermediate digest; generating, by the content aggregator, a third fingerprint from the third intermediate digest using the fingerprint algorithm; receiving, by the content aggregator, from a second content owner that is different than the first content owner, a fourth intermediate digest; generating, by the content aggregator, a fourth fingerprint from the fourth intermediate digest using the fingerprint algorithm; and comparing the third fingerprint with the fourth fingerprint. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the second technique is different than the particular technique. ### Claim 14 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein: the content owner is a first content owner; the plurality of content items includes a second content item that is different than the particular content item; and the method further comprising: transforming, by the content aggregator using a second technique, the second content item into a third intermediate digest; generating, by the content aggregator, a third fingerprint from the third intermediate digest using the fingerprint algorithm; receiving, by the content aggregator, from a second content owner that is different than the first content owner, a fourth intermediate digest; generating, by the content aggregator, a fourth fingerprint from the fourth intermediate digest using the fingerprint algorithm; and comparing the third fingerprint with the fourth fingerprint. ### Claim 15 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising: retrieving, by the content aggregator, an executable program from the content owner; wherein transforming the particular content item into the first intermediate digest comprises executing the executable program. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of content items includes a second content item that is different than the particular content item; and the method further comprising: generating, by the content aggregator, a third fingerprint of the second content item; retrieving, by the content aggregator, through a service provided by a third content owner, a fourth fingerprint that is generated by the third content owner; and determining, by the content aggregator, whether the third fingerprint matches the fourth fingerprint. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the particular content item comprises audio data; generating the first fingerprint comprises computing a spectrogram based on the audio data, wherein the first fingerprint is based on an analysis of the spectrogram. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the particular content item comprises video data; generating the first fingerprint is based on a color histogram of the video data. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, the method further comprising: retrieving, by the content aggregator, through a service provided by a third content owner that is different than the first content owner, a third fingerprint that is generated by the third content owner; and determining, by the content aggregator, whether the first fingerprint matches the third fingerprint. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: generating the first fingerprint is based on a first fingerprint algorithm; and generating the second fingerprint is based on a second fingerprint algorithm that is different than the first fingerprint algorithm. ### Claim 21 A system comprising: a content aggregator, executing on one or more computing devices, that is configured to: receive content items from end-users; and allow end-users to access the content items; wherein the content aggregator is further configured to determine whether content items that are received from end-users are illegal by executing a method that comprises: receiving, from an end-user, a particular content item; generating, by the content aggregator, a first fingerprint of the particular content item; retrieving a first owner-provided fingerprint that is generated by a first content owner; determining whether the first fingerprint matches the first owner-provided fingerprint; generating, by the content aggregator, a second fingerprint of the particular content item, wherein the second fingerprint is different than the first fingerprint; retrieving a second owner-provided fingerprint that is generated by a second content owner that is different than the first content owner; and determining whether the second fingerprint matches the second owner-provided fingerprint; and determining that the particular content item is illegal content based at least in part on a determination that the first fingerprint matches the first owner-provided fingerprint or the second fingerprint matches the second owner provided fingerprint. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, wherein the content aggregator is configured to retrieve the first owner-provided fingerprint through a web service provided by the first content owner.