Tracking the reproduction of documents on a reprographic device

Abstract

An apparatus for capturing and recording the content, ownership, and/or bibliographic source of documents reproduced on a reprographic device, and more particularly for tracking the reproduction of specified information, especially copyrighted documents, is connected, preferably detachably, to any of various reprographic devices. The apparatus includes a digitizer for digitizing desired pages (such as those containing title and author information) output from a main portion of the reprographic device, a recording device and medium for storing said digitized pages, a counter for counting the number of reproductions made and optionally inferring the number of originals, a controller for controlling the operation of the apparatus and, optionally, a control panel for interacting with the operator of the reprographic device. When reproducing copyrighted information, an operator makes a reproduction of the pages containing title and author information, digitized images of these pages being stored on the recording medium. The counter counts the total number of copyrighted and other reproductions made, the counted number of reproductions also being recorded on the recording medium. The recording medium is then used to determine the number and nature of copyrighted reproductions made by the reprographic device. The device may also be used for other applications where reproduction of particular types of documents is restricted, or for storing document contents as part of an information storage and retrieval system.