ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number)

ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number) is a voluntary numbering system and metadata schema enabling the identification of any audiovisual work , including films, shorts, documentaries, television programs, sports events, advertising and also their related versions.

Developed by major players of the audiovisual industry such as producers, authors and collection societies and under the auspices of the International Standards Organization (ISO), ISAN is registered as ISO:15706-1 and 15706-2.

ISAN is recommended or required as the audiovisual content identifier of choice for studios, broadcasters and Internet media service providers who need to encode, track and distribute video in a variety of formats. ISAN provides a unique, internationally recognized and permanent reference number for each audiovisual content registered.

Among its many benefits, ISAN is being used in production and distribution systems, facilitating interoperability and information exchange, that contributes to improving rights management. ISAN is key to content tracking and monitoring, and has been integrated in several watermarking and fingerprinting technologies. ISAN has been made mandatory as a Content Identifier by the AACS, the encryption technology used in Blu-ray discs for the copy management and for all online transactions.

Founded by AGICOA , CISAC and FIAPF , ISAN-IA (the ISAN International Agency) is a not-for-profit Swiss association based in Geneva, mandated by ISO for implementing, running and managing the ISAN standard, the ISAN system and central database.

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NEWS Latest News

ISAN IA Statement of Clarification Regarding Registration of Serial Works. (More)

An ISAN code has been allocated to all films screened at the 45th Solothurn Film Festival (21st-28th January 2010). The ISANs, assigned to each film, can be retrieved on the Online Program. (More..)

A new online ISAN Registration platform connected to the central ISAN Repository has been launched by Procirep (French Society for Producers of Cinema and Television) to provide the French producers a suitable tool to register their works within the ISAN French Agency. (More..)

The ISAN number has been made mandatory by EGEDA, the Spanish Audiovisual Producers’ Rights Management Association. Aribsan, Agencia Iberoamericana del Registro ISAN, has just released its new Newsletter. (More..)

The Iranian Alliance of Motion Picture, also known as House of Cinema, has submitted an Expression of Interest for implementing an ISAN Registration Agency in the coming months serving the Iranian audiovisual market. House of Cinema is an assembly of 29 different Motion Picture Guilds in Iran. (More..)

ISAN-IA is saddened by the passing of its good friend and colleague, Lawrence Safir, who died on August 5th, in a London hospital after a long illness. He was 62. Lawrence has served the ISAN Standard since its creation. (More..)