METHOD AND SYSTEM TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL WATERMARKS IN A DATABASE

Abstract

A method, computer program and database system are disclosed for protecting data using a relational database management system supporting digital watermarking. The support for digital watermarking in a database provides an additional means for protecting copyrighted data. Having the support built-in to a database simplifies the development of applications that manage the copyrighted data and provide an extra level of security and traceability for the data once it leaves the database.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of a computer system used to implement an RDBMS.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the RDBMS as part of a data distribution system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a table in the RDBMS.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart that illustrates receiving and storing an image in the table.

FIG. 5A is a flow chart that illustrates execution of a query to read digital watermark information.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart that illustrates execution of a query to store and to associate digital watermark information with the image.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart that illustrates execution of a query to read the image.

Claims

1. A method for use in protecting data using digital watermarking in a computer-implemented database system, the method comprising: storing a data object in a table in the database system;identifying whether a first digital watermark is associated with the data object; andwhen the first digital watermark is identified, storing the first digital watermark in the table separate.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a query requesting an indication of whether the data object has an associated digital watermark; andin response to the query, sending a reply indicating that the first digital watermark is associated with the object.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing a second digital watermark in the table.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving a query requesting a copy of the data object.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: in response to the query, returning a copy of the data object when the first digital watermark is identified.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising; in response to the query, returning a copy of the data object digitally watermarked using the second digital watermark, when the first digital watermark is not identified.

7. The method of claim 6, where dynamic information is embedded in the returned digitally watermarked copy.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising: digitally watermarking the data object using the second digital watermark, when the first digital watermark is not identified.

9. The method of claim 8, where digitally watermarking the data object includes embedding dynamic information.

10. The method of claim 1, where the data object comprises multimedia data.

11. The method of claim 1, where the data object comprises image data.

12. The method of claim 1, where the data object comprises audio data.

13. The method of claim 1, where storing the data object includes storing the data object outside the table and storing a pointer to the data object inside the table.

14. A program storage device, readable by a computer system, tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer systems to perform a method for executing a query, the query being performed by the computer to store and retrieve data from a database that supports digital watermarking and is stored in one or more electronic storage devices coupled to the computer system, the method comprising: storing a data object in the table;detecting the presence of a first digital watermark associated with the data object; andstoring the first digital watermark associated with the data object in the table when the first digital watermark is present.

15. The program storage device of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a query requesting an indication of whether the data object has an associated digital watermark; andin response to the query, sending a reply indicating that the first digital watermark is associated with the object.

16. The program storage device of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: storing the second digital watermark in the table.

17. The program storage device of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a query requesting a copy of the data object;

18. The program storage device of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises: in response to the query, returning a copy of the data object when the first digital watermark is present.

19. The program storage device of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises: in response to the query, returning a copy of the data object digitally watermarked using the second digital watermark when the first digital watermark is not present.

20. The program storage device of claim 19, where dynamic information is embedded in the returned digitally watermarked copy.

21. The program storage device of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises: digitally watermarking the stored data object using the second digital watermark when the first digital watermark is not present.

22. The program storage device of claim 21, where digitally watermarking the stored data object includes embedding dynamic information.

23. The program storage device of claim 14, where the data object comprises multimedia data.

24. The program storage device of claim 14, where the data object comprises image data.

25. The program storage device of claim 14, where the data object comprises audio data.

26. The program storage device of claim 14, where storing the data object includes storing the data object outside the table and storing a pointer to the data object in the table.

27. A database system including: one or more processors,a storage accessible by at least one of the one or more processors; andinstructions executable by at least one of the one or more processors, enabling the system to: store a data object on the storage;detect the presence of a first digital watermark embedded in the data object;store the first digital watermark embedded in the data object in the table when the first digital watermark is detected.

28. The database system of claim 27, further comprising instructions to: receiving a query requesting an indication of whether the data object has an associated digital watermark; andin response to the query, sending a reply indicating that the first digital watermark is associated with the object.

29. The database system of claim 27, further comprising instructions to: store the second digital watermark in the table.

30. The database system of claim 29, further comprising instructions to: receive a query requesting a copy of the data object.

31. The database system of claim 30, further comprising instructions to: in response to the query, return a copy of the data object when the first digital watermark is present.

32. The database system of claim 30, further comprising instructions to: in response to the query, return a copy of the data object digitally watermarked using the second digital watermark when the first digital watermark is not present.

33. The database system of claim 32, where dynamic information is embedded in the returned digitally watermarked copy.

34. The database system of claim 29, further comprising instructions to: digitally watermarking the stored data object using the second digital watermark when the first digital watermark is not present.

35. The database system of claim 34, where digitally watermarking the stored data object includes embedding dynamic information.

36. The database system of claim 27, where the data object comprises multimedia data.

37. The database system of claim 27, where the data object comprises image data.

38. The database system of claim 27, where the data object comprises audio data.

39. The database system of claim 27, where storing the data object includes storing the data object outside the table and storing a pointer to the data object inside the table.