Embedded payment tokens in digital media objects
A token specifying a payment account is issued to a party to which payments are to be made and the token is installed in a specially configured camera. Whenever a photograph is captured by the camera, a copy of the token, among other things, is embedded in the photograph's metadata. The metadata may also include photo-specific information and a selling price. When a buyer selects the photo for purchase, the token may be used to facilitate a payment to the party, such as the photographer. The buyer may initiate the transaction by simply dragging the selected photograph or photographs onto a purchase application which automatically extracts price and the token for initiating the purchase transaction. The seller can view the purchase details in the payment account.
1. A method of capturing and distributing a media object, the method comprising:
receiving, via a user interface of a device, a payment token associated with a payee;
requesting, via the user interface of the device, the token via a communication with a token service;
storing the payment token in a secure memory of the device;
storing a media object in a memory of the device separate from the secure memory, the media object including a media item and metadata;
adding the payment token and a price to the metadata; and
exporting the media object to a site accessible to third parties.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein requesting the token further comprises:
receiving, via the user interface of the device, a personal account number (PAN) of the payee; and
sending the PAN to the token service.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising capturing a media item with the device.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the payment token is associated with the media item.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
retrieving, at a computer, the media object; extracting the payment token from the media object;
generating a payment object using data from the payment token; and sending the payment object to a payment processor.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating the payment object comprises:
receiving a user interface command causing the movement of the media object onto an icon of a payment application;
extracting, via the payment application, the payment token from the media object; and
formatting the payment object, via the payment application, using information stored in the payment token.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata includes at least a date and time that the media item was captured.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media item is at least one of a digital image, a digital video, or a sound recording.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media item was captured by the device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata follows an extensible metadata platform (XMP) format.
11. A method of distributing a media object, the method comprising:
retrieving, at a computer, a media object from a site, the media object including:
a media item,
a payment token, wherein the payment token conceals a personal account number of a copyright owner of the media item, and
a price associated with the media item;
presenting, by the computer, the media object on a user interface;
detecting, by the computer, movement of the media object onto an icon of a payment application;
extracting, via the computer, the payment token from the media object;
generating a payment object using data from the payment token; and
sending the payment object to a payment processor via the payment application.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the payment object includes formatting the payment object via the payment application using the payment token.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the payment token is associated with a payee associated with the media item.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the media item is associated with a payee of the payment token.
15. A method of providing a payment token, the method comprising:
receiving, at a token server, a token request from a device associated with a user, the request including a personal account number (PAN) of the user;
in response to the token request, generating, by the token server, a new payment token;
transmitting the new payment token to the device for installation into a secure memory of the device and for adding to metadata of a media item;
receiving, from a payment processor, the media item from a media database uploaded by the device associated with the user, wherein the media item comprises the metadata and the new payment token; and
in response to receiving the new payment token from the payment processor:
identifying the PAN of the user based on the new payment token, and
transmitting the PAN to the payment processor for completing a transaction associated with the media item.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the new payment token follows an ISO numbering standard.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the new payment token is extracted from a media object including the media item and the new payment token.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the extraction of the payment token is performed using a payment formatter.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the PAN represents a user account to which payments will be made for the media item.