# Deduplicating and Merging Audiovisual Work Registrations Without an ISAN > Merge duplicate film, series and episode registrations into one trusted audiovisual work, even without an ISAN or EIDR, with under 0.018% error. - Segment: Audio Visual Rights Organization - Platform: Noctil Platform - Capabilities: MatchIQ, ProcessEngine - Author: Jacob Varghese - Published: 2026-11-02 - Source: https://www.noctil.com/use-cases/deduplicating-merging-audiovisual-work-registrations-without-isan **In short:** Noctil's MatchIQ engine finds every registration of the same audiovisual work, down to the exact series, season, episode and version, even without an ISAN or EIDR. It clusters them against each other and against the organization's existing records. ProcessEngine then merges each cluster into one complete work under the organization's own rules, sending only uncertain cases to human review. In benchmark testing, work-to-work matching produced fewer than 0.018% false positives or false negatives. 97% of duplicate registrations were clustered and merged automatically, and manual review fell by up to 32%. --- _Turn many registrations of the same film or episode into one complete, trusted work. For audiovisual (AV) rights societies and CMOs that receive the same film, series or episode from several producers, directors, screenwriters and other rightsholders._ ## The Situation Audiovisual rights societies represent the people and companies behind films and TV series: producers and co-producers, directors, screenwriters, playwrights and authors of adapted works, and other contributing authors. Each of them, or their agents and partner societies abroad, registers the works they have rights in. Those registrations arrive separately, at different times and in different formats. One feature film can be registered by its producer, each co-producer, the director and every screenwriter. A TV series multiplies this across every season and episode. The society receives many partial versions of the same work, each with its own view of the contributors, roles and shares. ## The Problem Audiovisual registrations are harder to combine than music ones, because the works themselves are more complex: - **No reliable identifier at first.** Many registrations arrive without an ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number) or EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry) ID. Others carry an identifier at the wrong level, such as a series ID on an episode registration. - **Series, season and episode hierarchy.** One registrant may record a whole season while another registers single episodes, with different numbering or episode titles. Each must be resolved to the right level. - **Titles that don't match.** Original, working, translated and localized titles vary between registrants, and remakes or unrelated works can share a title. - **Versions and cuts.** Theatrical releases, TV edits, director's cuts and dubbed versions may be registered separately and need to be linked correctly, not merged by mistake. - **International co-productions.** Co-producers in different countries register the same film with their own credits, shares and local details. - **Conflicting contributor data.** Names, roles (director, screenwriter, dialogue writer, adapter) and shares differ between sources. The society must decide which source to trust and leave out unreliable data. A wrongly merged or incomplete work misstates who contributed and in what share. That delays royalties, or pays them to the wrong rightsholders. ## The Solution The Noctil Platform combines MatchIQ for matching with ProcessEngine for workflow, to build one source of truth for every audiovisual work. 1. **Ingest from every registrant.** Registrations from producers, co-producers, directors, screenwriters, authors, agents and partner societies are loaded in their native formats. 2. **Hierarchy-aware matching with MatchIQ.** MatchIQ models films, series, seasons, episodes and versions as linked records. It deduplicates incoming registrations against each other and against existing works using original and alternate titles, contributors and their roles, production companies, year, country of origin, runtime, and episode numbers or titles. Every registration of the same work, at the right level, is linked into one cluster, even without an ISAN or EIDR. 3. **Identifier reconciliation.** ISAN and EIDR are used wherever they exist, including their series, episode and version levels, along with broadcaster and producer IDs. Identifiers recorded at the wrong level are corrected. 4. **Rule-based merging.** Each cluster is merged into a single work using the society's own rules for ownership, source authority, contributor roles, data quality and completeness. Separate versions stay linked but distinct. 5. **Workflow orchestration with ProcessEngine.** ProcessEngine runs the end-to-end merge workflow. It sends clusters to human review only when confidence is low or contributor shares conflict, and records every decision for audit. 6. **Continuous enrichment.** New registrations, episodes and identifiers, such as a newly assigned ISAN, are matched to existing works and enrich them rather than creating duplicates. ## The Result - **Fewer than 0.018% false positives or false negatives** in work-to-work deduplication, based on a 100,000-pair matching benchmark - **97% automatic clustering and merging** of duplicate registrations in benchmark testing - **Up to 32% less manual review**, through fewer candidate matches and an automated enrichment workflow - **Episode- and version-level accuracy**, so every film, episode and cut is a distinct, complete record - **Complete contributors, roles and shares** on every work, so royalties flow without delay ## Frequently Asked Questions **How do AV rights societies deduplicate film and TV registrations?** Noctil's MatchIQ compares each incoming registration with the others and with existing works, using titles, contributors and roles, production companies, year, country, runtime and episode details. It clusters every registration of the same work, and ProcessEngine merges each cluster into one record. **Can audiovisual works be matched without an ISAN or EIDR?** Yes. MatchIQ matches on the combination of work attributes, so registrations without an identifier are still clustered correctly. When an ISAN or EIDR is assigned later, it is linked to the existing work. **How are series, seasons and episodes handled?** MatchIQ models them as a linked hierarchy. Season-level and episode-level registrations resolve to the right level, even when numbering or episode titles differ between registrants. **Are different versions of a film merged together?** No. Theatrical cuts, TV edits, director's cuts and dubbed versions are linked to the same work but kept as distinct versions, so rights and usage can be tracked for each. **How accurate is audiovisual work deduplication?** In benchmark testing, false positives and false negatives were below 0.018%, and 97% of duplicate registrations were clustered and merged automatically. Manual review fell by up to 32%. **Who is this for?** Audiovisual rights societies and CMOs, producer, director and screenwriter collecting societies, and AV rights administrators that maintain a film and TV repertoire built from many registration sources.