A content management system according to an example of the invention accepts a storage request including a content ID to identify a content, records reference data which is used to make reference to the content and the content ID in a recording unit in association with each other when the content has been already recorded in the recording unit, and requests the content for a storage request issuer and records the content and the content ID in the recording unit in association with each other when the content is not yet recorded. The content management system accepts an acquisition request including the content ID, reads the content from the recording unit, and distributes the content to an acquisition request issuer.