Associating metadata with media signals, and searching for media signals using metadata

1. A method of associating metadata with a media signal, the method comprising:

receiving an identifier for the media signal;

looking up, using a processor, metadata in a metadata database using the identifier;

validating the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata; and

providing the validated metadata.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier comprises a digital watermark extracted from the media signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein validating the metadata comprises comparing a content signature derived from the media signal with a content signature obtained using the identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

using the validated metadata to control processing of the media signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata is used to refer to an alternative version of the media signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata is used to specify copyright conditions.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating a file and includes the media signal and the validated metadata in the file.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

evaluating the identifier to resolve which of a set of metadata servers to route the identifier; and

forwarding the identifier to the metadata server.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

executing a search, using the validated metadata, for additional media signals with similar attributes of the media signal based on the validated metadata.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

executing the search across a plurality of metadata databases, wherein each metadata database stores metadata for media signals.

11. A method of associating metadata with a media signal, the method comprising:

providing, using a processor, an identifier for the media signal to obtain metadata in a metadata database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

receiving the metadata from the metadata database; and

creating an association between the metadata and the media signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising validating the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metadata is obtained from one of plurality of metadata servers to which the identifier is routed.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising conducting a search for metadata in a plurality of metadata databases using the identifier.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifier comprises a digital watermark.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifier comprises a content signature that is compared against a database of content signatures to obtain the metadata for the media signal.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metadata is used to retrieve a substitute media signal for the media signal.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metadata provides copyright conditions used to control the media signal.

19. A method of searching for media signals using metadata, the method comprising:

receiving an identifier for the media signal to obtain metadata in a first database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

searching, using a processor, for related media signals by using the metadata from the first database as a search query for a plurality of additional metadata databases; and

generating search results including identifiers of the related media signals obtained from the search results from the additional metadata databases.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein a content signature of the media signal is used to validate the metadata from the first metadata database.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving an identifier for a media signal;

looking up metadata in a metadata database using the identifier;

validating the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata; and

providing the validated metadata.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the metadata refers to an alternative version of the media signal.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , having further instructions that, if executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

creating a file that includes the media signal and the validated metadata in the file.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , having further instructions that, if executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

evaluating the identifier to resolve which of a set of metadata servers to route the identifier; and

forwarding the identifier to the metadata server.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , having further instructions that, if executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

executing a search, using the validated metadata, for additional media signals with similar attributes of the media signal based on the validated metadata.

26. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive an identifier for a media signal;

look up metadata in a metadata database using the identifier;

validate the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata; and

provide the validated metadata.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the metadata is used to refer to an alternative version of the media signal.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to create a file and includes the media signal and the validated metadata in the file.

29. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

evaluate the identifier to resolve which of a set of metadata servers to route the identifier; and

forward the identifier to the metadata server.

30. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute a search, using the validated metadata, for additional media signals with similar attributes of the media signal based on the validated metadata.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

providing an identifier for the media signal to obtain metadata in a metadata database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

receiving the metadata from the metadata database; and

creating an association between the metadata and the media signal.

32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31 , having further instructions that if, executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

validating the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata.

33. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31 , having further instructions that if, executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

conducting a search for metadata in a plurality of metadata databases using the identifier.

34. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the metadata is used to retrieve a substitute media signal for the media signal.

35. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31 , having further instructions that if, executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving an identifier for the media signal to obtain metadata in a first database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

searching for related media signals by using the metadata from the first database as a search query for a plurality of additional metadata databases; and

generating search results including identifiers of the related media signals obtained from the search results from the additional metadata databases.

36. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to:

provide an identifier for a media signal to obtain metadata in a metadata database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

receive the metadata from the metadata database; and

create an association between the metadata and the media signal

37. The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

validate the metadata by checking attributes of the media signal relative to a portion of the metadata to provide validated metadata.

38. The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

conduct a search for metadata in a plurality of metadata databases using the identifier.

39. The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the metadata is used to retrieve a substitute media signal for the media signal.

40. The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive an identifier for the media signal to obtain metadata in a first database, wherein the identifier is derived from perceptual content of the media signal;

search for related media signals by using the metadata from the first database as a search query for a plurality of additional metadata databases; and

generate search results including identifiers of the related media signals obtained from the search results from the additional metadata databases.