PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATING A MEDIA ASSET BASED ON AUDIT TRAIL INFORMATION INCORPORATED INTO THE ASSET ITSELF

An enhanced metadata structure and associated process is provided which captures and stores metadata gathered about the source and usage of a media asset or file. The source and usage metadata is integrated, such as by encoding within the enhanced media file, as the media asset is transferred and used. The integrated metadata accumulates, as a trail of source information and usage information in the enhanced media asset, and can be extracted upon arrival at a target computer system.