The intention behind ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number) is that it will do for films and other audiovisual works what ISBN already does so successfully for books.

ISAN is a unique identification number for an audiovisual work. Once it is registered and inserted into the master (and subsequent copies), the work has a clear individualized numbering sequence to identify it.

So, what is ISAN good for? In the era of widespread piracy, it can remove any ambiguity or uncertainty about the identity of a work and help authorities who track down the pirates by giving them a useful tool for identification. The same holds true for works disseminated on the net without the authorisation of the producer or his successor in the chain of title.

Apart from being a very useful addition to the anti-piracy tool kit, the ISAN can help distributors in the management of their inventories, making the work both more accurate and more expedient.

To register for ISAN, you or your members need to contact any one of the Registration Agencies established in various parts of the world. For an update on the development of the Registration Agencies' network, contact the ISAN website: http://www.isan.org

ISAN is an ISO standard. Its delivery is supervised by ISAN International Agency. The partners and founding organisations of ISAN are the international producers’ rights collecting agency Agicoa, the International Confederation of Authors and Composers’ Societies (CISAC) and FIAPF.