Digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system

Abstract

The system ( 10 ) includes a digital media creator-destroyer apparatus ( 12 ) for receiving and storing digital media from a remote digital media source ( 20 ), for generating multiple transferable copies of the digital media, and for destroying unused copies of the digital media. The digital media creator-destroyer apparatus ( 12 ) is housed within a retail store ( 14 ) or similar outlet that displays transferable copies of digital media to end-user purchasers. The system ( 10 ) provides retailer control at a single store ( 14 ) level, regional or national ( 38 ) level of inventory, distribution and destruction of digital media, such as music, movies, video games, computer software, ring tones for cell phones, etc., stored on compact disks, digital video disks or other apparatus capable of storing and transferring digital media. Destroying unused copies eliminates cost inefficiencies of the retailer having to return unused copies.

1 . A digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system, comprising:
 digital media creator means for receiving and storing digital media from a digital media source, for generating a plurality of portable copies of the digital media according to a communication signal transmitted over a network by a central database, each portable copy of the digital media including a digital watermark value;   digital media destroyer means for destroying selected ones of the generated portable copies of the digital media according to the communication signal; and   means for transmitting, to the central database, storage information on identification of the digital media stored by the digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system, the digital watermark values contained in the generated portable copies, and digital watermark values associated with the destroyed portable copies.   
     
     
         2 . The digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system of  claim 1 , wherein the digital media creator means comprises a media copy burner and a central processing unit for controlling storage of the received digital media, and the digital media destroyer means comprises a media destruction unit. 
     
     
         3 . The digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system of  claim 2 , wherein the media copy burner, the media destruction unit, and the central processing unit are secured within a common chassis. 
     
     
         4 . The digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system of  claim 1 , wherein the digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system is housed within a retail outlet, wherein the digital media source is remote from the retail outlet and accessible from the digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system over the same or another network. 
     
     
         5 . The digital media inventory control, distribution and destruction system of  claim 1 , further comprising means for identifying and generating a distinct, linked-code in each portable copy of the digital media generated by the digital media creator means, the linked-code identifying within each portable copy an identity of the digital media creator means and a distinct identifier for each portable copy. 
     
     
         6 . An article of manufacture comprising a tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving and storing digital media from a digital media source;   generating a plurality of portable copies of the digital media according to a communication signal transmitted over a network by a central database, each portable copy of the digital media including a digital watermark value;   destroying selected ones of the generated portable copies of the digital media according to the communication signal; and   transmitting, to the central database, storage information on identification of the stored digital media, the digital watermark values contained in the generated portable copies, and digital watermark values associated with the destroyed portable copies.   
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a distinct, linked-code in each generated portable copy of the digital media, the linked-code identifying within each portable copy an identity of a media copy burner and a distinct identifier for each portable copy. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise communicating the linked-code of a particular portable copy to the central database upon destruction of the particular portable copy. 
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise communicating the linked-code of a particular portable copy to the central database upon transfer of the particular portable copy to a purchaser. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 6 , wherein the generation and the destruction are performed using a media copy burner and a media destruction unit, respectively, and wherein the media copy burner and the media destruction unit are secured within a common chassis. 
     
     
         11 . A method, comprising:
 transmitting sales information from a plurality of media generation and destruction devices over a network to a central location, the transmitted sales information delineating sales volume on an individual media title basis of inventory housed by the remote media generation and destruction devices; and   in response to receiving back from the central location an inventory level request on at least one of the media generation and destruction devices, automatically generating new portable copies of media by copying media onto blank media and automatically destroying existing portable copies of media as needed to match an inventory housed by the receiving media generation and destruction device to the received inventory level request.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 displaying, at a particular one of the media generation and destruction devices, a list indicating available titles that are either currently stored on the particular media generation and destruction device or network accessible from the particular media generation and destruction device; and   in response to receiving a selection from the list, outputting a particular one of the pre-generated portable copies from the existing inventory if available, or if not available, generating a new portable copy on-demand to correspond with the selection and outputting the new portable copy.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the output portable copy is retrieved from the inventory housing in response to receiving the selection. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the output portable copy is generated on-demand from the blank media in response to receiving the selection. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising transmitting, from a particular one of the media generation and destruction devices to the central database, storage information on identification of the media stored by the particular media generation and destruction device, digital watermark values contained in the generated portable copies, and digital watermark values associated with those ones of the portable copies that were destroyed by the particular media generation and destruction device. 
     
     
         16 . An article of manufacture comprising a tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 transmitting sales information from a media generation and destruction device over a network to a central location, the transmitted sales information delineating sales volume on an individual media title basis of inventory housed by the media generation and destruction device and to be aggregated by the central location with transmitted sales information from other media generation and destruction devices; and   in response to receiving back at the media generation and destruction device a particular inventory level request from the central location, automatically generating new portable copies of media by copying media onto blank media and automatically destroying existing portable copies of media as needed to match the inventory housed by the receiving media generation and destruction device to the particular inventory level request.   
     
     
         17 . The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 displaying, at the media generation and destruction device, a list indicating available titles that are either currently stored on the media generation and destruction device or network accessible from the media generation and destruction device; and   in response to receiving a selection from the list, outputting a particular one of the pre-generated portable copies from the existing inventory if available, or if not available, generating a new portable copy on-demand to correspond with the selection.   
     
     
         18 . The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 transmitting, from the media generation and destruction device to the central database, storage information on identification of the media stored by the media generation and destruction device, digital watermark values contained in the generated portable copies, and digital watermark values associated with the portable copies that were destroyed by the media generation and destruction device.   
     
     
         19 . A media generation and destruction apparatus, comprising:
 a memory to store content;   a communication interface to download inventory level information from a remote central database over a network;   a burner component to generate portable copies of the content stored in the memory according to the inventory level information;   a storage area to house the generated portable copies;   a destruction component to remove selected ones of the portable copies housed in the storage area for destruction according to the inventory level information; and   a tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 tracking a local inventory of the portable copies housed in the storage area; 
 in response to receiving the inventory level information, comparing the downloaded inventory level information to the local inventory level; and 
 in response to receiving the inventory level information, controlling the burner and destruction components to add or remove the portable copies to or from the storage area according to the comparison. 
   
     
     
         20 . The media generation and destruction apparatus of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 a blank media housing to house blank media to be used by the burner component;   a waste housing to house waste media output from the destruction component;   a first security mechanism to control access to the storage area; and   a second security mechanism to control access to the blank media and waste housings;   wherein the security mechanisms operate so that access to the blank media and waste housings for replenishing and emptying media can be provided without providing access to the storage area that contains the local inventory.