Patent ID: 8103681

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving information associated with a work; accessing a database comprising a plurality of first identifiers, each of the plurality of first identifiers uniquely associated with one of a plurality of specific works; performing a first search to determine if the information includes a second identifier matching one of the plurality of first identifiers; generating a first match indicator in response to the first search determining that the information associated with the work includes a second identifier matching one of the plurality of first identifiers; performing a second search in response to the first search determining that the information associated with the work does not include a second identifier matching one of the plurality of first identifiers, the second search determining if the information includes a first attribute of the work matching a second attribute of one of the plurality of specific works; generating a second match indicator in response to the second search determining that the information associated with the work includes a first attribute of the work matching the second attribute of one of the plurality of specific works; generating a no-match indicator in response to the first search failing to yield a match and the second search failing to yield a match; associating the work with a new identifier in response to the no-match indicator; and adding the new identifier to the plurality of first identifiers.