Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

This information processing device comprises: a storage unit that stores information relating to content; a management unit that manages a user who owns the content, a group that created the content, and a plurality of users included in the group; a sale and purchase processing unit that performs sale and purchase of the content; and a distribution processing unit that, upon accepting an instruction to transfer the owner of the content, distributes, to the plurality of users, an amount to be paid when transferring the content, on the basis of a group contribution degree associated with the group and a user contribution degree associated with each of the plurality of users.

Description

Information processing device, information processing method, and program CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-031445, filed on March 1, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

[0003] Currently, for digital content that is easily copied, such as digital images, ownership is verified using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) issued on a blockchain. Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for managing digital content using NFTs.

[0004] Patent No. 7043672

[0005] Currently, digital content with NFTs attached is traded on online markets. Furthermore, digital content is often produced jointly by multiple users (creators). Therefore, in order to stimulate digital content trading, it is considered important to have a mechanism that allows users who jointly create digital content to receive appropriate compensation. Such a mechanism is considered important not only for digital content with NFTs attached, but also for digital content trading in general. Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide technology that enables profits from the sale of digital content to be shared among multiple users.

[0006] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a memory unit that stores information related to content, a management unit that manages users who own the content, groups that created the content, and multiple users included in the groups, a buying and selling processing unit that buys and sells content, and a distribution processing unit that, when instructed to transfer ownership of the content, distributes the amount paid when transferring the content to multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a technology that enables profits from the sale of digital content to be shared among multiple users.

[0008] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a content trading system according to the present embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a trading management server; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block configuration of a trading management server; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a smart contract; FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when creating a group account; FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when selling digital content on a market; FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when digital content is sold on a market; FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when creating a group account; FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when selling digital content on a market;

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals denote the same or similar components.

[0010] <System Configuration> Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a content trading system 1 according to this embodiment. The content trading system 1 includes a trading management server 10, a terminal 20, an information server 30, a blockchain network 40, and a content management server 60. The trading management server 10, the terminal 20, the information server 30, the blockchain network 40, and the content management server 60 are connected to a communication network N and can communicate with each other.

[0011] The content trading system 1 is a system that enables the buying and selling of digital content (which may simply be referred to as content) created by users (creators), such as photographs and digital art. Digital content includes, for example, images, videos, music, text data, etc. In this embodiment, the content trading system 1 may be a system that enables the buying and selling of digital content using a blockchain, or may be a system that enables the buying and selling of digital content without using a blockchain.

[0012] The transaction management server 10 is a device that provides a marketplace over the Internet that enables users to buy and sell digital content. The transaction management server 10 takes into consideration cases where multiple users jointly create digital content, and manages multiple users as a group that creates digital content.

[0013] Furthermore, digital content jointly created by multiple users is displayed together with the price on a market provided by the transaction management server 10. A user wishing to purchase digital content can purchase the desired digital content by paying any amount or the amount displayed on the market.

[0014] When multiple users belonging to the same group jointly create digital content, it is desirable that the profits from the sale of the digital content be shared among the multiple users. Therefore, the transaction management server 10 manages the group that created the digital content in association with the digital content, and when the digital content is purchased, automatically distributes the profits from the sale to the multiple users in the group.

[0015] When buying and selling digital content using blockchain, the transaction management server 10 realizes the buying and selling of digital content by providing a market where NFTs associated with digital content stored in the content management server 60 can be bought and sold. On the other hand, when buying and selling digital content without using blockchain, the transaction management server 10 stores the owner of the digital content stored in the transaction management server 10 itself or the content management server 60 in a database or the like. In addition, the transaction management server 10 sells digital content in the market, and when the digital content is purchased, changes the owner in the database, thereby realizing the buying and selling of the digital content.

[0016] The terminal 20 is a terminal used by a user who uses the market provided by the transaction management server 10. The terminal 20 may be any terminal equipped with a communication function, such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a mobile phone, a personal computer (PC), or a laptop PC.

[0017] The information server 30 is a device that provides various types of information available on the Internet to the transaction management server 10 and the blockchain network 40. When providing information to the blockchain network 40, the information server 30 may be a server that provides a service called an "oracle," or may be a server independently provided by the company that provides the transaction management server 10. An oracle is a mechanism for providing information that cannot be determined or obtained on a blockchain, such as real-world information, to a smart contract.

[0018] The blockchain network 40 is a distributed computing network in which multiple computers participating in the blockchain network 40 are connected via P2P (Peer to Peer), and each of the multiple computers that accepts a transaction verifies the legitimacy of the transaction and records only legitimate transactions in a ledger in units called blocks. Note that if buying and selling of digital content is realized without using a blockchain, the content trading system 1 does not need to include the blockchain network 40.

[0019] The blockchain network 40 can execute a program called a smart contract 50. A smart contract 50 refers to a program executed by multiple computers participating in the blockchain network 40. The transaction management server 10 issues a transaction to call a method included in the smart contract 50, thereby causing multiple computers participating in the blockchain network 40 to execute the specified method.

[0020] An NFT is realized by a smart contract 50. Unlike a fungible token (FT) such as Bitcoin, an NFT has an identifier (hereinafter referred to as a "token ID") that allows it to be distinguished from other NFTs. Since the token ID is different for each token, each NFT is a token that exists only once in the world.

[0021] The content management server 60 is a server that manages actual data of digital content. Note that the actual data of digital content may be managed by the transaction management server 10 instead of the content management server 60.

[0022] <Hardware Configuration> Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the transaction management server 10. The transaction management server 10 has a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphical Processing Unit), a memory (e.g., RAM (Random Access Memory) or ROM (Read Only Memory)), a storage device 12 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and / or SSD (Solid State Drive), a network IF (Network Interface) 13 for wired or wireless communication, an input device 14 for accepting input operations, and an output device 15 for outputting information. The input device 14 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, and / or a microphone. The output device 15 is, for example, a display, a touch panel, and / or a speaker.

[0023] The transaction management server 10 may be configured using one or more physical servers, or may be configured using a virtual server running on a hypervisor, or may be configured using a cloud server.

[0024] <Functional Block Configuration> FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional block configuration of the transaction management server 10. The transaction management server 10 includes a memory unit 100, a management unit 101, a trading processing unit 102, and a distribution processing unit 103. The memory unit 100 can be implemented using the storage device 12 provided in the transaction management server 10. The management unit 101, the trading processing unit 102, and the distribution processing unit 103 can be implemented by the processor 11 of the transaction management server 10 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. The program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) memory or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).

[0025] The storage unit 100 includes an account management DB 100a and a content management DB 100b. The account management DB 100a is a database for managing group accounts and user accounts. A group account includes a group name, an identifier (group ID) that uniquely identifies the group, and user identifiers (user IDs) of multiple users belonging to the same group. A user account includes a user name, a user ID, the amount of currency held by the user, and the group ID of the group to which the user belongs. In other words, the account management DB 100a associates each account of multiple users with a group account. A user account may also include information (which may be referred to as a wallet) for managing the currency and amount of currency held by the user. When buying and selling digital content using a blockchain, the information (wallet) may include a wallet address (the user's public key itself or an address generated from the public key) and the user's private key, which are necessary for the user to use the blockchain network 40.

[0026] The content management DB 100b is a database for managing digital content created by users. Information about the digital content is stored in the content management DB 100b in association with the user ID of the user who created the digital content or the group ID of the group who created the digital content. The information about the digital content is, for example, the actual data of the digital content or the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) ​​of the content management server 60 where the actual data of the digital content is stored.

[0027] The management unit 101 manages users who own digital content, groups that have created the digital content, and multiple users included in the groups. The management unit 101 may also manage groups by using the account management DB 100a to associate each account of multiple users with an account of the group.

[0028] Furthermore, when using a blockchain to buy and sell digital content, the management unit 101 may deploy a contract that realizes a multi-signature wallet to the blockchain network 40. Furthermore, the management unit 101 may register the wallet addresses of multiple users belonging to a group as owners (co-owners) of the multi-signature wallet in the multi-signature wallet. A multi-signature wallet is a wallet that requires signatures using multiple private keys when issuing a transaction to the blockchain network 40. By using a multi-signature wallet, signatures from multiple users belonging to the group are required when issuing a transaction as a group, thereby improving security. Furthermore, by using a multi-signature wallet, it is possible to emphasize that ownership of digital content resides with the group.

[0029] The buying and selling processing unit 102 performs various processes realized in the market, such as buying and selling of digital content.

[0030] When the distribution processing unit 103 receives an instruction to transfer ownership of digital content from the user who currently owns it to the user who purchased the digital content, the distribution processing unit 103 distributes the amount paid by the user who purchased the digital content when the digital content is transferred to the multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users belonging to the group. Group contribution and user contribution will be described later.

[0031] In addition, the distribution processing unit 103 may distribute the amount (sales profit) paid by a user who purchased digital content to multiple users by associating the amount for each user with each of the multiple users' accounts (associating it with each user's wallet address), thereby distributing the amount (sales profit) to multiple users.

[0032] Furthermore, when buying and selling digital content using a blockchain, the distribution processing unit 103 may distribute the amount (sales profit) paid by a user who purchased digital content to each of the accounts of multiple users based on the group contribution degree and the user contribution degree by deploying the contract on the blockchain network 40. An example of the contract is shown in Figure 4.

[0033] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a smart contract 50. The smart contract 50 shown in FIG. 4 is a contract (hereinafter referred to as an "NFT contract") that realizes an NFT associated with digital content (hereinafter referred to as a "digital content NFT"). An NFT contract can hold a key-value format DB called a state that stores various variables, and functions called methods. Methods can rewrite variables included in the state and execute arbitrary processes.

[0034] The token ID is an ID that uniquely identifies the digital content NFT. The owner address stores the wallet address of the group or user who owns the digital content NFT. The group's wallet address may be the address of the multisig wallet described above (specifically, the contract address of the contract that realizes the multisig wallet). In this embodiment, since it is assumed that multiple users jointly create digital content, it is assumed that the initial owner address of the digital content NFT (i.e., the initial owner address before it is bought or sold) is the group's wallet address.

[0035] The group user address stores the wallet addresses of multiple users belonging to the group that created the digital content. The content URI indicates a URI that stores information regarding the storage location of the digital content associated with the digital content NFT. In this embodiment, the URI is assumed to indicate data on the content management server 60, but this embodiment is not limited to this. Note that actual content data may be stored instead of the content URI. The selling price stores the price at which the digital content is sold. The group contribution stores the degree of group contribution. Details will be described later.

[0036] The token generation method performs a process of generating a digital content NFT. The process of generating an NFT is also called minting. The token transfer method performs a process of transferring a user who owns a digital content NFT (i.e., a process of rewriting the "owner address" state). The token deletion method performs a process of deleting a digital content NFT. The process of deleting an NFT is also called burning. The price setting method sets or updates the value of the "sale price" state. The group user addition method adds a user's wallet address to the "group user address" state. The group user deletion method deletes a specified user's wallet address from the "group user address" state. The group contribution setting method sets or updates the value of the "group contribution" state. The external data acquisition method acquires data outside the blockchain network 40 from the information server 30 (oracle). The distribution processing method distributes the amount paid by users who purchased digital content to multiple users' wallets based on the group contribution and user contribution.

[0037] The NFT contract described above may be expressed as a program that causes a computer participating in the blockchain network 40 to execute the following processes.

[0038] 1. A process for storing information about content (e.g., a URI, etc.) in a storage unit; 2. A process for storing information about the owner of the content (e.g., a user or group wallet address) and information about each of multiple users included in the group that created the content (e.g., each user's wallet address) in a storage unit; 3. A process for distributing the amount paid when transferring content to multiple users, based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users, when an instruction to transfer the ownership of content is received.

[0039] <Processing Procedure> Next, the processing procedure performed by the content trading system 1 will be explained separately for a case where digital content is traded without using a blockchain and a case where digital content is traded using a blockchain.

[0040] (When buying and selling digital content without using a blockchain) Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing procedure for creating a group account. In the example of Fig. 5, it is assumed that each user account of multiple users belonging to the group is already managed by the transaction management server 10.

[0041] In step S10, one of the users belonging to the group starts creating a group by operating the terminal 20. For example, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 may display a screen for creating a group on the terminal 20 and accept input of information about the users belonging to the group, the group name, etc. The user information may be, for example, a user name or a user ID.

[0042] In this embodiment, the "users" belonging to a group may include not only individual users but also corporations such as brands and charities, non-profit organizations (NPOs), and the like.

[0043] In step S11, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 assigns a group ID and stores the information received in step S10 in the account management DB 100a in association with the group ID.

[0044] In step S12, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 notifies the terminal 20 that the creation of the group account has been completed.

[0045] 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure for selling digital content on the market. The processing procedure shown in FIG. 6 and the processing procedure shown in FIG. 9, which will be described later, may be repeatedly executed each time a group generates digital content and sells it on the market.

[0046] In step S20, one of the users belonging to the group operates the terminal 20 to register the digital content to be sold. For example, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 may display a screen for registering and selling digital content on the terminal 20, and may accept input of the group ID of the group that created the digital content and the digital content data. The management unit 101 may also accept a designation of the selling price of the digital content. The digital content data to be registered may be the actual data of the digital content or the URI where the digital content is stored.

[0047] The transaction management server 10 may be able to limit the users who can purchase digital content. For example, the management unit 101 may accept the designation of users who can purchase digital content on a screen for registering digital content. Users who can purchase digital content may be limited to users who have pledged to pay a certain amount or more for the digital content, or may be limited to users who own NFTs of digital content previously sold by the group that created the digital content to be purchased.

[0048] In step S21, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 assigns a content ID that uniquely identifies the digital content, and stores the information received in step S20 in the content management DB 100b in association with the content ID. In addition, the buying and selling processing unit 102 displays the registered digital content on the market, thereby accepting buying and selling of the digital content.

[0049] In step S22, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 notifies the terminal 20 that the registration of the digital content has been completed.

[0050] FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when digital content is sold in the market.

[0051] In step S30, the buying / selling processing unit 102 accepts a purchase of digital content from a user who wishes to purchase the digital content (hereinafter referred to as a "purchasing user"). For example, if the price of the digital content is set at 100 coins, the purchasing user can purchase the digital content by paying 100 coins (or 100 coins plus gas fees).

[0052] In addition, if a user who can purchase the digital content is specified in the processing procedure of step S20 of Figure 6, the buying and selling processing unit 102 will only allow the purchase of the digital content if the purchasing user is the specified user.

[0053] Furthermore, the buying / selling processing unit 102 may permit a purchasing user to purchase the digital content only if a condition specified in advance by a group associated with the digital content is met. The condition may be, for example, that a majority of users belonging to the group agree to the sale, or that a pre-specified user among the users belonging to the group agrees to the sale.

[0054] In step S31, the buying and selling processing unit 102 accesses the information server 30 to request transmission of user information relating to each of the multiple users who belong to the group that created the digital content for which purchase has been accepted.

[0055] In step S32, the information server 30 transmits the requested user information regarding each of the multiple users to the transaction management server 10.

[0056] In step S33, the distribution processing unit 103 distributes the amount paid by the purchasing user (sales profit) to the multiple users belonging to the group.

[0057] [Method of distributing sales profits] Next, a specific description will be given of a method of distributing sales profits by the distribution processing unit 103 in the processing procedure of step S33. The distribution processing unit 103 distributes the amount paid by the purchasing user (sales profits) to multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users belonging to the group.

[0058] Here, the group contribution level indicates the percentage of the profit from the sale of the digital content that will be distributed equally among all members of the group. The group contribution level may, for example, refer to the degree to which the value of the group contributes to the price of the digital content. The group contribution level is determined in advance by the transaction management server 10, and may not be determined by the users belonging to the group themselves.

[0059] The user contribution level is a degree indicating to which user the profits from the sale of digital content, excluding the group contribution level, are preferentially distributed. For example, it may refer to the degree to which the value of an individual user contributes to the price of the digital content.

[0060] Specifically, the distribution processing unit 103 may distribute the sales profits to multiple users by adding up, for each user, a first number obtained by multiplying the sales profits (amount) by the group contribution level and dividing the result by the number of users among the multiple users, and a second number obtained by subtracting the sales profits multiplied by the group contribution level from the sales profits and distributing the result to each user according to the user's contribution level.

[0061] For example, suppose there are four users, A to D, in a group. The group contribution rate is 60%, and the user contribution rates of users A to D are set to 10%, 20%, 20%, and 50%, respectively. The profit from sales is 100 coins.

[0062] First, calculate the first number. In this case, 100 x 60% ÷ 4 = 15, so the first number per user is 15 coins. Next, calculate the second number. 100 - (100% x 60%) = 40, so the second number for user A is 40 x 10% = 4 coins. Similarly, the second number for users B and C is 40 x 20% = 8 coins. The second number for user D is 40 x 50% = 20 coins.

[0063] Next, the first number and the second number are added up for each user, and the profits from the sale are distributed to each user. User A is distributed 15 + 5 = 19 coins. Users B and C are distributed 15 + 8 = 23 coins. User D is distributed 15 + 20 = 35 coins.

[0064] [Method for Determining User Contribution Level] The user contribution level may be determined using one or more external data. The number of items and the content of the items of the external data used to determine the user contribution level are not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the total amount of purchases and sales made by the user in a digital content market, the number of followers in the digital content market, etc. Furthermore, the number of items and the content of the items of the external data used to determine the user contribution level may not be determined by the users belonging to the group.

[0065] Here, we will explain a case where user contribution is determined using the total amount of buying and selling performed by users in the digital content market. Assume that the total amount of buying and selling performed by users A to D in the market is $100, $200, $400, and $300, respectively. In this case, user A's user contribution is 100 ÷ (100 + 200 + 400 + 300) = 10%. Similarly, user B to D's user contribution is 20%, 40%, and 30%, respectively.

[0066] Next, we will explain how to determine user contribution using the number of followers. Assume that the number of followers in the market for users A to D is 10, 20, 70, and 100, respectively. In this case, user A's user contribution is 10 / (10+20+70+100)=5%. Similarly, the user contributions of users B to D are 10%, 35%, and 50%, respectively.

[0067] Furthermore, a case will be described in which the user contribution level is determined using both the total amount of purchases and sales made by the user in the digital content market and the number of followers of the user. In this case, the distribution processing unit 103 may determine the user contribution level by adding up the user contribution levels for each level and dividing it by the number of levels. Specifically, the user contribution level of user A is (10% + 5%) ÷ 2 = 7.5%. The user contribution level of user B is (20% + 10%) ÷ 2 = 15%. The user contribution level of user C is (40% + 35%) ÷ 2 = 37.5%. The user contribution level of user D is (30% + 50%) ÷ 2 = 40%.

[0068] [Variations on Method of Distributing Profits from Sales] The distribution processing unit 103 may distribute to each user the amount remaining after deducting the market commission from the amount paid by the purchasing user.

[0069] When digital content is bought and sold for the second or subsequent time, the distribution processing unit 103 may distribute to each user the amount obtained by subtracting the share of the user who sold the digital content from the amount paid by the purchasing user. The share of the user who sold the digital content is arbitrary, but may be, for example, a predetermined percentage (e.g., 90%) of the amount paid by the purchasing user.

[0070] For example, a condition for purchasing digital content may be set to the purchase of a specific item other than the digital content. In this case, the distribution processing unit 103 may distribute a predetermined percentage of the sales profit of the specific item to each user in the group as an affiliate fee. The method of distribution to each user in the group may be the same as the method described in the section on distributing sales profits.

[0071] (When buying and selling digital content using a blockchain) Figure 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing procedure for creating a group account. In the example of Figure 8, it is assumed that the user accounts and wallet addresses of multiple users belonging to the group are already managed by the transaction management server 10.

[0072] In step S100, one of the multiple users belonging to the group starts creating a group by operating the terminal 20. For example, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 may display a screen for creating a group on the terminal 20 and accept input of information about the users belonging to the group, the group name, etc. The user information may be, for example, a user name, a user ID, a wallet address, etc.

[0073] In step S101, the management unit 101 transmits a transaction for generating a multi-sig wallet to the blockchain network 40. At this time, the management unit 101 specifies the wallet addresses of each user included in the group as arguments of the transaction.

[0074] In step S102, a computer participating in the blockchain network 40 generates a contract for the multi-sig wallet and notifies the transaction management server 10 of the contract address of the multi-sig wallet.

[0075] In step S103, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 assigns a group ID and stores the information received in step S10 and the contract address of the multi-signature wallet in the account management DB 100a in association with the group ID.

[0076] In step S104, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 notifies the terminal 20 that the creation of the group account has been completed.

[0077] FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when selling digital content in the market.

[0078] In step S200, one of the users belonging to the group registers the digital content to be sold by operating terminal 20. Points that are not particularly described may be the same as step S20 in FIG.

[0079] In step S201, the management unit 101 sends a transaction to the NFT contract instructing it to execute a token generation method, a group user addition method, a price setting method, and a group contribution setting method.

[0080] The arguments to the Add Group User method specify the wallet addresses of each of the multiple users who created the digital content. The wallet addresses specified as arguments to the Add Group User method may be the same as the wallet addresses specified when the multisig wallet was created. Note that the management unit 101 may also include wallet addresses that are not included in the wallet addresses specified when the multisig wallet was created, among the wallet addresses specified as arguments to the Add Group User method. This is because, for example, there may be cases in which other users (creators) who do not belong to the group temporarily participate in the creation of the digital content. In such cases, by including the wallet addresses of users who do not belong to the group in the digital content NFT, it becomes possible to distribute sales profits to users who temporarily participate in the creation of the digital content.

[0081] The argument to the price setting method is the selling price of the digital content NFT. The argument to the group contribution setting method is the value (%) of the group contribution. When using a multi-signature wallet, signatures from a specified number of users among the multiple users included in the group are required when sending a transaction to execute each method.

[0082] In step S202, the computer participating in the blockchain network 40 notifies the transaction management server 10 that the execution of various methods has been completed. At this time, the transaction management server 10 is notified of the token ID of the generated NFT.

[0083] In step S203, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 stores the information received in step S20 in the content management DB 100b in association with the token ID. In addition, the buying and selling processing unit 102 accepts buying and selling of digital content by displaying the registered digital content on the market.

[0084] In step S204, the management unit 101 of the transaction management server 10 notifies the terminal 20 that the registration of the digital content has been completed.

[0085] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure when digital content is sold in the market.

[0086] In step S300, the buying and selling processing unit 102 accepts a purchase of digital content from a purchasing user who wishes to purchase the digital content. Points that are not particularly described may be the same as step S30 in FIG.

[0087] In step S301, the buying and selling processing unit 102 sends a transaction instructing execution of a token transfer method. The token ID and the wallet address of the user to which the token is to be transferred are specified as arguments to the token transfer method. Note that when a multi-signature wallet is used, signatures from a specified number of users among the multiple users included in the group are required when sending a transaction to execute the token transfer method.

[0088] In step S302, the computer of the blockchain network 40 executing the NFT contract executes an external data acquisition method to request user information about each of the multiple users managed in the "group user address" state from the information server 30. Note that the number of items of user information requested from the information server 30 may be multiple.

[0089] In step S303, the information server 30 transmits the user information regarding each of the requested multiple users to a computer in the blockchain network 40.

[0090] In step S304, the computer of the blockchain network 40 executing the NFT contract executes a distribution processing method to distribute the amount paid by the purchasing user (sales profit) to the wallet addresses of multiple users belonging to the group.

[0091] In step S305, the computer of the blockchain network 40 executing the NFT contract notifies the transaction management server 10 that the token transfer method has been completed.

[0092] In the processing procedure of step S304 described above, the method of distributing sales profits and the method of determining user contribution level may be the same as the [Distribution of sales profits], [Determination of user contribution level], and [Variant example regarding distribution of sales profits] described above (when realizing the sale and purchase of digital content without using blockchain).

[0093] <Summary> According to the embodiment described above, when multiple users jointly create digital content, it becomes possible to distribute the profits from the sale of the digital content among the multiple users. Furthermore, by using a multi-signature wallet, it becomes possible for multiple users to manage the ownership or copyright of the digital content jointly created by the multiple users as a group, which was not possible until now, and it is possible to solve the psychological and economic problems of users.

[0094] The above-described embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. The flowcharts, sequences, elements included in the embodiments, and their arrangements, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc., described in the embodiments are not limited to those illustrated and can be modified as appropriate. Furthermore, configurations shown in different embodiments can be partially substituted or combined with each other.

Claims

1. An information processing device having: a memory unit that stores information related to content; a management unit that manages the user who owns the content, the group that created the content, and multiple users included in the group; a buying and selling processing unit that buys and sells the content; and a distribution processing unit that, when instructed to transfer the ownership of the content, distributes the amount paid when transferring the content to the multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users.

2. The information processing device described in claim 1, wherein the distribution processing unit distributes the amount to the multiple users by adding up, for each user, a first number obtained by multiplying the amount by the group contribution level and dividing the value by the number of users among the multiple users, and a second number obtained by subtracting the value obtained by multiplying the amount by the group contribution level from the amount and distributing the result to each user according to the user contribution level.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the management unit manages the group by associating the accounts of each of the plurality of users with the account of the group.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the distribution processing unit distributes the amount to the plurality of users by associating the amount for each user when distributing the amount to the plurality of users with each account of the plurality of users.

5. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the distribution processing unit distributes the amount to the plurality of users by deploying a contract on a blockchain network that distributes the amount to each account of the plurality of users based on the group contribution and the user contribution.

6. An information processing method executed by an information processing device, comprising: a step of storing information related to content in a storage unit; a step of managing a user who owns the content, a group that created the content, and multiple users included in the group; a step of buying and selling the content; and a step of, when an instruction to transfer ownership of the content is received, distributing an amount to be paid when transferring the content to the multiple users based on a group contribution associated with the group and a user contribution associated with each of the multiple users.

7. A program for causing a computer to execute the steps of: storing information related to content in a storage unit; managing the user who owns the content, the group that created the content, and multiple users included in the group; buying and selling the content; and, when instructed to transfer ownership of the content, distributing the amount paid when transferring the content to the multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users.

8. A program for causing a computer participating in a distributed computing network to execute the following steps: storing information about content in a storage unit; storing information about the owner of the content and information about each of multiple users included in the group that created the content in a storage unit; and, when an instruction to transfer the ownership of the content is received, distributing the amount to be paid when the content is transferred to the multiple users based on the group contribution associated with the group and the user contribution associated with each of the multiple users.

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