Intellectual Property

Creative People:

Don't let anyone claim your work.

Protect intellectual property in seconds with e-TimeStamp.

What you'll need to do

Protecting your intellectual property has never been this cheap or this easy:

First, you'll need to have a digital file of your created works. If your work was not created digitally, this can be a scan, recording, or any other digital file that substantially represents your work. If you have a file on your computer that is unmistakably your work and includes your name, we can protect it with a timestamp.

Next, you'll need to make an account with DigiStamp. There is a minimum charge of $10 to use the service, but timestamps cost only $.40. Ten dollars allows you to protect 25 files of your work.

Now, you'll need to choose which software you'll be using to make your e-Timestamps. We recommend our web applications or downloadable software, the IP Protector. We make these recommendations because we can support the software and they are format agnostic; your work can be an image, document, recording, or any other type of file. Alternatives are available, including Adobe Acrobat and Emeraz, our partner specifically for musicians.

Finally, it's time to make your first e-Timestamp.

Video demonstrations of how to use our web applications and the IP Protector are available.

What you'll need to do

How is copyright protection provided by an Internet / online notary?

Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed by 167 countries, all works are automatically protected from the moment they are created. This protection requires proof of creation; you must be able to prove that your work originated with you. Proving you had your work at the time of creation, before anyone in the world has seen it yet, is that proof. A trusted digital timestamp provides significant evidence for the creator. The U.S. Federal government's thoughts on this subject are available here.

can I prove ownership of my work with a digital timestamp?

"Ownership" involves binding a person's identity and their content into the digital timestamp. A timestamp proves that your creative work existed at a point-in-time. We recommend the creator include their name in/on their work so that it is timestamped with your work. Consider if someone steals the music or art and the timestamp, by possession of these two things, does the thief prove it is theirs? Our recommendations for binding your name to your work are available here.

How often do I need to timestamp a file that I'm working on?

As often as you create, you timestamp your work. A creative work may undergo many revisions. Each time you feel your work has been significantly enhanced, you make a copy to a unique name. Then, digitally timestamp the file and it will be saved in its current status (no more changes to that copy). At a minimum, use a digital timestamp before you publish or send your work out to anyone.

Do I send you my work or do you keep a copy of it?

No, we do not need to see your work; you keep a copy of it and the digital timestamp. You retain complete confidentiality. Only the file's digital fingerprint is sent over the Internet. From the fingerprint, it is not possible to discover the contents of your file. More details here.

Yes, but how do you prove you created it first? A digital timestamp will give you unequivocal proof that the contents of your data file existed at that point-in-time. By also including your identity in the data file, you can provide additional evidence that the work is yours. The U.S. Copyright Law regulates the protection of authors, artists, musicians, photographers, and other creative people. According to the Law, the creator is the owner of the work. To see more questions and answers, click here.

Why you can trust it

DigiStamp provides strong legal evidence for authentication

Simply put, you need proof of what you've done and when you did it. Our service provides strong evidence for both.
In fact, we provide uniquely strong evidence, in part because we have implemented internationally standardized methods.

No one can use our service to produce a false timestamp. Even we can't produce false timestamps. If someone offered us a million dollars, we still couldn't produce a false timestamp.

Why not? A DigiStamp timestamp offers you three layers of security:

An audit trail from two independent authorities proving that our equipment does exactly what we say it does.
State-of-the-art software that meets the highest established standards.
Uniquely customized hardware that cannot be tampered with.

Details on this security are available here.Details on why our product works are available here.

Our timestamps have not been successfully challenged in 10 years of operation. Many organizations have trusted us to protect intellectual property and records of great value to their operations.

Our customers include: