The technology described herein is generally directed towards relating inconsistent identifiers of the same entertainment data entity (such as a movie) to one another. A global identification service, given an entertainment data entity identifier, returns identifier information and related data according to other naming conventions. Canonicalization rules and standards provide a consistent identifier for variously named/identified entertainment entities. A canonicalized identifier (or another identifier) may be part of a URN-based naming convention that identifies the entertainment data entity, as well as the organization that owns the entity and an authority within the organization that is responsible for that entertainment data entity.