1. A method comprising: identifying, by a processor, a transmission associated with a digital work, the digital work comprising at least one of audio content or video content; determining, by the processor, whether the digital work is a registered digital work based on comparing a feature of the digital work to a first assessment criterion of a hierarchy of assessment criteria, the hierarchy of assessment criteria comprising at least two of a file name, a file size, a source address, a metadata identifier, or a watermark; responsive to a determination using the first assessment criterion that the digital work is not a registered digital work, applying one or more next assessment criteria of the hierarchy of assessment criteria to determine whether the digital work is a registered digital work until one of the hierarchy of assessment criteria results in the digital work being identified as a registered digital work or all of the hierarchy of assessment criteria have been applied; and responsive to a determination that one of the hierarchy of assessment criteria results in the digital work being identified as a registered digital work, altering, by the processor, a functional behavior of a network device with respect to the transmission.