Abstract: Provided is a system and method for safeguarding digital objects consisting of digital assets. The system includes a unique identifier in each digital asset and a database with a record of each unique identifier, the database further structured and arranged to correlate at least two digital assets as distinctly related. A client is in communication with the database. The client is adapted to receive a subset of the digital assets and analyze each digital asset to determine the unique identifier embedded therein. The client is further adapted to query the database with the determined unique identifier to validate each digital asset, the validation further including confirmation of distinctly related digital asset received. An associated method is also provided.

Abstract: Provided is a system and method for safeguarding digital objects consisting of digital assets. The system includes a unique identifier and an impairer in each digital asset, the impairer distinct from the unique identifier. A database is provided with a record of each unique identifier. A client is in communication with the database. The client is adapted to receive a subset of the digital assets and analyze each digital asset to determine the unique identifier embedded therein. The client is further adapted to query the database with the determined unique identifier to validate each received digital asset. In response to proper validation, the impairer is removed from the received digital asset. An associated method is also provided.

Abstract: Access to an audiovisual product is controlled by obscuring data. Cells 420 of audiovisual data A, B, C are reproduced by a sequence instruction 410 (e.g. a PGC or Program Chain). One such sequence instruction 410a correctly reproduces the audiovisual data A, B, C, but is hidden amongst many other sequence instructions 410b which incorrectly reproduce the sequence of cells 420 (e.g. as BAC, ACB, CAB, etc.).

Abstract: A copy deterrent is provided for an audiovisual product (400) such as a DVD-video format optical disk. User identities are allocated to each of a plurality of users. The audiovisual product (400) is then recorded including, for each allocated user identity, a section of playback content (421) unique to that allocated user identity, e.g. a video object (VOB) which prominently displays personal data of the user (such as their name) or which contains a discrete digital watermark. The user enters a user identity code (80) upon playback and the recorded audiovisual product (400) is reproduced including selecting a corresponding section of the unique playback content according to the received user identity. A single version of the disk is recorded and sent to all users, but playback is personalised to each of the users individually. This is a strong deterrent against copying of the audio and video playback e.g. with a VCR or other recording device.

Abstract: An audiovisual product (400) is recorded with a set of watermark characters (421, 701) as video or audio objects. A sequence of the watermark characters (421, 701) is selected and reproduced upon playback to uniquely identify a particular playback instance. Ideally, a user identity code is received upon playback amongst a predetermined set of user identity codes, and the sequence of watermark characters (421, 701) is selected and replayed according to the received user identity code. The sequence of watermark characters (421, 701) allows the user identity code to be traced should the audio and/or visual output of the audiovisual product (400) be recorded such as with a video cassette recorder (VCR).

Abstract: Access to an audiovisual product 40 is controlled by requiring a user to enter an access code 80. The audiovisual product 40 comprises cells 420 of data whose playback sequence is controlled by a plurality of sequence instructions 410 each having a predetermined structure location within the audiovisual product. A destination function is applied to the access code 80, in order to calculate a destination structure location. Jumping to the calculated location leads to a sequence instruction (e.g. a PGC—Program Chain) to initiate playback of the audiovisual product (e.g. a DVD-Video product).

Abstract: An authoring method for creating an audiovisual product. The method has three main stages. The first stage defines components implicitly representing functional sections of audiovisual content and transitions that represent movements between components. The second stage expands the components and transitions to provide a set of explicitly realised AV assets and an expanded intermediate datastructure of nodes and links. Each node is associated with one of the AV assets and the links represent movement from one node to another. The third stage creates the audiovisual product in a predetermined output format, e.g. DVD-Video, using the AV assets and the expanded intermediate datastructure of the nodes and the links.