Internet System for Facilitating Human User Advisement and Licensing of Copyrighted Works of Authorship

Abstract

An Internet system for disseminating information regarding works or authorship, including a server and a client device connected to the Internet and wherein when any one web page out of a set of web pages is displayed on the client device and when a work of authorship is displayed as part of the web page, an image is also displayed near the work of authorship, as part of the webpage and when a user clicks on the image, copyright information concerning the work of authorship is presented in a user perceivable manner.

1 . An Internet implemented system for enabling peer-policing for copyright compliance and enforcement, including at least one server and one client side computer, the server having a processor and a memory, and being connected to a first client device viewed and controlled by a first user that is displaying a work of authorship, said memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the steps of:
 (a) sending, from said server, license terms, to authorize a further publication of said work of authorship, and payment information to said first client device;   (b) receiving assent to said license terms and payment from said user at said client device;   (c) creating a license record evidencing the issuance of a license according to said license terms;   (d) creating said further publication of said work of authorship, said further publication having embedded within it human-perceivable indicia indicating existence of said license, such that a second user who is viewing said further publication will have confirmation of said first user's valid license to republish said work of authorship;   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said indicia is in the form a link to said license record. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said indicia is a human-readable statement attesting to the existence of a license authorizing republication. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said server acts as a catalog of Internet available works of authorship, maintaining a list of said works of authorship and license terms for each work of authorship. 
     
     
         5 . The server of  claim 1 , further performing the steps of responding to an Email address received from the first client device by sending an Email, having a message displaying license and indemnification terms, to said address. 
     
     
         6 . The server of  claim 5 , wherein the Email includes a button which a user may click to automatically accept the final license and payment terms presented. 
     
     
         7 . The server of  claim 1 , wherein the work of authorship is sent in portable document file (PDF) format form. 
     
     
         8 . The server of  claim 1 , wherein the license record includes a display of said license, an indication of its current validity, and allows the user to initiate a new license to use the work.