Method and apparatus for recording information on optical disc

1. An apparatus for recording information on a removable optical disc having a plurality of recording layers including first and second recording layers, the recording layers having management areas respectively, the optical disc being of one of a recordable type and a rewritable type, the apparatus comprising:

an optical pickup for emitting a laser beam, wherein the first recording layer is the closest to the optical pickup while the second recording layer is the farthest from the optical pickup;

first means for controlling the optical pickup to apply the emitted laser beam to the optical disc to implement arbitrary-information recording on the recording layers in an order from the first recording layer to the second recording layer;

second means provided in the first means for controlling the optical pickup to apply the emitted laser beam to the second recording layer through a used area in the first recording layer to record arbitrary information on at least a part of the second recording layer, wherein the used area in the first recording layer has been used for arbitrary-information recording;

third means for generating positional information of a blank area in the second recording layer which occurs due to the presence of an unused area in the first recording layer, the blank area adjoining the unused area; and

fourth means for recording the positional information generated by the third means on the management areas in an order from the management area in the first recording layer to the management area in the second recording layer.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

fifth means for reading out the positional information from the optical disc in cases where the optical disc is removed from the apparatus and is then inserted in the apparatus again; and

sixth means for recording predetermined information on the blank area in response to the positional information read out by the fifth means.

3. A method of recording information on a removable optical disc while using an optical pickup for emitting a laser beam, the optical disc having a plurality of recording layers including first and second recording layers, the recording layers having management areas respectively, the optical disc being of one of a recordable type and a rewritable type, wherein the first recording layer is the closest to the optical pickup while the second recording layer is the farthest from the optical pickup, the method comprising the steps of:

controlling the optical pickup to apply the emitted laser beam to the optical disc to implement arbitrary-information recording on the recording layers in an order from the first recording layer to the second recording layer, and controlling the optical pickup to apply the emitted laser beam to the second recording layer through a used area in the first recording layer to record arbitrary information on at least a part of the second recording layer, wherein the used area in the first recording layer has been used for arbitrary-information recording;

generating positional information of a blank area in the second recording layer which occurs due to the presence of an unused area in the first recording layer, the blank area adjoining the unused area; and

recording the generated positional information on the management areas in an order from the management area in the first recording layer to the management area in the second recording layer.

4. A method as recited in claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:

reading out the positional information from the optical disc in cases where the optical disc is removed from a disc drive apparatus and is then inserted in the disc drive apparatus again; and

recording predetermined information on the blank area in response to the read-out positional information.