Lighting systems with a plurality of lighting units are being used today for various applications, for example for room lighting applications to create defined lighting scenes. US 2007/0258523 A1 discloses a lighting system with controllable lighting units. A PC is provided for controlling the lighting units through the addresses of the lighting units, stored in a signal control unit.
The recent development of controllable light sources increases the possibilities for a lighting designer. Due to this, the design of lighting scenes rises in significance by allowing to apply various effects and atmospheres without a change in the lighting units. Consequently, such a lighting design can be regarded as a complex work product and thus intellectual property of the designer.
A lighting design is usually implemented in programs or scripts for operating the respective lighting units. An undesirable side-effect of such programs is that copying is generally possible without much effort, enabling use of such lighting design without consent of the designer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a lighting system and a method for operating a lighting system which allows an efficient commercial use of lighting designs.