Watermarking downloadable game content in a gaming system

Abstract

Systems and methods embed watermark data into downloadable software components. The watermarks may be used to indicate who created or who owns the software components. In addition, a watermark may be inserted to indicate certain transactions have taken place with respect to the software component. For example, a transactional watermark may be embedded when a software component is downloaded from one system to another. The downloadable software components may include banner content, advertising content, denomination data, pay table, language data, video content, audio content, episodic game data, wagering game software, operating system software, device driver software and device firmware.

1 . A method comprising: 
 providing a network communicably coupling a plurality of gaming systems, the gaming systems including a wagering game machine operable to present a wagering game on which monetary value may be wagered;    inserting a first watermark into a software component; and    downloading the software component to a first gaming system.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first watermark includes a creator identification.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first watermark includes an owner identification.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first watermark includes transaction data.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising inserting a second watermark into the software component.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second watermark includes transaction data.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising downloading the software component to a second wagering game machine.  
   
   
       8 . A method comprising: 
 providing a network communicably coupling a plurality of gaming systems, the gaming systems including a wagering game machine operable to present a wagering game on which monetary value may be wagered;    reading a downloadable software component for a gaming system of the plurality of gaming systems;    extracting watermark data from the downloadable software component; and    determining an attribute of the downloadable software component using the watermark data.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the attribute comprises ownership data for the downloadable software component.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the attribute comprises transaction data for the downloadable software component.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the transaction data includes identification data identifying one or more systems in a download path.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the transaction data includes a result of a wagering game executed on the gaming system.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining if the downloadable software component is valid utilizing the attribute.  
   
   
       14 . A system comprising: 
 a first gaming system operable to store a downloadable software component;    a first watermarking component executable by the first gaming system and operable to insert a first watermark into the downloadable software component; and    a second gaming system operable to receive the downloadable software component having the first watermark.    
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first watermark includes an owner identification.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the second gaming system comprises a wagering game machine operable to present the downloadable gaming software component.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 a second watermarking component executable by the second gaming system and operable to insert a second watermark into the downloadable software component having the first watermark; and    a third gaming system operable to receive the downloadable software component having the first watermark and the second watermark.    
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the second watermark includes transaction data.  
   
   
       19 . A machine-readable media having machine executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising: 
 providing a network communicably coupling a plurality of gaming systems, the gaming systems including a wagering game machine operable to present a wagering game on which monetary value may be wagered;    inserting a first watermark into a software component; and    downloading the software component to a first gaming system.    
   
   
       20 . A machine-readable having machine executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising: 
 providing a network communicably coupling a plurality of gaming systems, the gaming systems including a wagering game machine operable to present a wagering game on which monetary value may be wagered;    reading a downloadable software component for a gaming system of the plurality of gaming systems;    extracting watermark data from the downloadable software component; and    determining an attribute of the downloadable software component using the watermark data.