초록 ▼

Techniques to facilitate acquiring a media season, or a related series, of digital media assets from an on-line media store are disclosed. A user can view various media seasons that have been listed as available for purchase from the on-line media store. A user can choose to purchase a particular me

Techniques to facilitate acquiring a media season, or a related series, of digital media assets from an on-line media store are disclosed. A user can view various media seasons that have been listed as available for purchase from the on-line media store. A user can choose to purchase a particular media season, either before or during the season. Subsequent to the purchase of the particular media season, digital media assets of the particular media season can be delivered to the user once the digital media assets become available. Since the monitoring is computerized and the delivery is electronic, once a digital media asset becomes available, delivery can be automatically processed.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method for acquiring a related series of digital media assets from an on-line media store, said method comprising: causing related series information pertaining to a plurality of related series of digital media assets that are available for purchase on the on-line media sto

What is claimed is: 1. A method for acquiring a related series of digital media assets from an on-line media store, said method comprising: causing related series information pertaining to a plurality of related series of digital media assets that are available for purchase on the on-line media store to be presented on a display of a client device, at least a plurality of the related series having a plurality of episodes associated thereto; receiving a selection of one of the related series of digital media assets to be purchased; initiating purchase of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets; and permitting delivery of available ones of the digital media assets of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets from the on-line media store to the client device. 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets includes a plurality of episodes of a show. 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets pertains to a show. 4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets consists of a predetermined number of consecutive episodes of the show. 5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets includes those episodes of the show corresponding to a particular media season. 6. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the show is a television show. 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets includes episodes containing audiovisual content pertaining to a show. 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets includes episodes containing audiovisual content regarding highlights of one or more events, shows, or programs. 9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the highlights correspond to a particular media season. 10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at the time the purchase is initiated, none or only a portion of the digital media assets of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets are available. 11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein when the related series of digital media assets are available on the on-line music store, the number of digital media assets to be included in the related series of digital media assets is known or estimated. 12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein as one or more other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets become available, the one or more other of the digital media assets are made available to or provided to the client device. 13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the delivery involves downloading to the client device. 14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at the time of purchase only a portion of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets are available. 15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein at the time of purchase, the cost applied to a user account is a pro-rata amount of a total series cost. 16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the pro-rata amount of the total series cost is determined dependent on (i) the number of digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets that are available at the time of purchase and (ii) the total number of digital media assets expected in the related series of digital media assets. 17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein, as other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets subsequently are made available, an additional portion of the total series cost is applied to the user account. 18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the purchase of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets is at a total series cost, and wherein the total series cost is less than the sum of the individual costs of all the digital media assets, including available and expected, within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets. 19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises: determining whether one or more other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets have subsequently been made available; and sending an electronic notification to the client device or its user that the one or more other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets have subsequently been made available. 20. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises: subsequently receiving a request to cancel the purchase of a remaining portion of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets. 21. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein said method further comprises: processing at least a partial refund for the related series of digital media assets so long as not all of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets have not been made available or delivered. 22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the digital media assets include audiovisual content. 23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the audiovisual content is a video or movie. 24. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the purchase is performed by an electronic payment. 25. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises: processing at least a partial electronic payment for the purchase of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets after completion of delivery of one or more of the digital media assets of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets. 26. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for acquiring a related series of digital media assets from an on-line media store, said computer readable medium comprising: computer program code for presenting related series information pertaining to a plurality of related series of digital media assets that are available for purchase on the online media store, at least a plurality of the related series having a plurality of episodes associated thereto; computer program code for receiving a selection of one of the related series of digital media assets to be purchased; computer program code for initiating purchase of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets; and computer program code for permitting delivery of available ones of the digital media assets of the selected one of the related series of digital media assets. 27. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the selected one of the related series of digital media assets includes episodes containing audiovisual content regarding highlights of one or more events, shows, or programs. 28. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for determining whether one or more other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets have subsequently been made available; and computer program code for sending an electronic notification to the client device or its user that the one or more other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets have subsequently been made available. 29. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 28, wherein at the time of purchase only a portion of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets are available, wherein at the time of purchase, the cost applied to a user account is a pro-rata amount of a total series cost, the pro-rata amount of the total series cost being determined dependent on (i) the number of digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets that are available at the time of purchase and (ii) the total number of digital media assets expected in the related series of digital media assets, and wherein, as other of the digital media assets within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets subsequently are made available, an additional portion of the total series cost is applied to the user account. 30. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 29, wherein the total series cost is less than the sum of the individual costs of all the digital media assets, including available and expected, within the selected one of the related series of digital media assets. 31. A media server, comprising: at least one data storage device, said data storage device storing (i) season product information that contains characteristics on a plurality of related series, (ii) related series information, the related series, information relates a plurality of episodes to each of the plurality of related series, and (iii) the plurality of episodes or pointers thereto; and a data processing unit operatively connected to said at least one data storage device, said data processing unit performing a purchase process to enable users to select one or more of the related series for purchase, said data processing unit further performing a fulfillment process to deliver, to the user that has purchased such, the episodes for the purchased one of more of the related series as they become available. 32. The media system as recited in claim 31, wherein said media server further comprises: an import engine for receiving episodes from media content providers, the episodes include media content and descriptive information, wherein using the descriptive information, each of the received episodes can be automatically added to the data storage device in a manner so as to correspond to the appropriate related series.