Personalization of mass-duplicated media

Abstract

A process and facility supports recipient-specific customization of mass-duplicated tapes. Video from a master tape is passed through a VBI encoder whose output feeds two or more overlay units, each associated with a tape recorder. Recipient-specific watermarking instructions and address information for each tape are fed to the VBI encoder where they are encoded into the VBI of the video. Each overlay unit reads the VBI and decodes the address, and if relevant for that unit, applies the overlays to the video, which is recorded by its associated recording deck. Optionally, each tape and overlay unit includes a barcode that is scanned into a database where associations between tapes and the overlays are stored. Alternatively, high-density barcode labels that include the overlay instructions are printed and applied to tapes. The barcodes are scanned into the overlay units and applied following the receipt of a timecode or other trigger.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to multimedia content distribution, and, more specifically, to customization and personalization of multimedia content during mass duplication. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Currently, videotapes (e.g., VHS, Sony Betamax™, DV, and digital-8) are duplicated by playing back one “master tape” to many recording decks to make hundreds of simultaneous (and substantially exact) copies of the master. [0005] In some instances, in particular, where it is of interest to minimize piracy or misuse of the copies, it is desired to personalize the copies so that each copy contains some unique identification, potentially related to the intended recipient's identity and usage rights. [0006] For example, in a traditional tape duplication facility, such as that illustrated by FIG. 1, master tape 102 is played back by a master-tape player 104 whose output is routed through character genera...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a tape duplication and customization facility that allows for unique customization of each tape with recipient-specific information while allowing concurrent recording of multiple tapes from a master playback-deck. The facility includes a master-tape player, a vertical-blanking interval (VBI) encoder, and overlay units. The VBI encoder encodes the watermarking instructions into the video output from the master-tape player. The overlay units read the VBI and decoder instructions, and generate the recipient-specific watermarks that are overlaid onto the video and audio that is fed to the overlay unit's associated tape recorder. The unique identifier for each tape and overlay unit is captured at the time the tape is inserted into the recorder and stored in a database. The method also includes encoding two or more different sets of customization data into the content stream, with each set of customization data including an identifier for a different set of customization devices and modification information associated with the identifier. The customization device extracts the information from the customization data and modifies the content stream based on the modification information to generate the customized content stream. The invention also includes combining a set of customization data with a storage medium to create a combined storage medium adapted to store the customized content stream.

Problems solved by technology

As can be appreciated, duplication facility 100 of the prior art cannot support simultaneous insertion of a different overlay on each tape copy.

Either of these approaches is inefficient and subject to human error associated with overlaying personalization data onto the wrong tape or shipping a tape to the wrong recipient.

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