The guide for the sceptical creator who hesitates to make use of a copyright filing.
1) Intellectual property is an abstract, intangible concept; how can a legal certificate attest to my links to my creation?
It is technically impossible to demonstrate that an idea comes out of my intellect rather than someone else’s. No material trace connects my mind to what it produces. The proof of my link to my creation must therefore be established in the material world. In time and space. That is what the time-stamped legal certificate is for. In the area of intellectual property, to prove your relationship with a creation, it is necessary to ratify in time the trace of this connection by means of a filing procedure. This filing is credible to the extent that it is attested by a specialised legal official. Proof of the relationship becomes proof of the anteriority of the creation. Anteriority must be served by a dating system (time-stamping) which indisputably attests to the date of the filing by granting your copyright, which is your legal link to your creation. In summary, this creation is my intellectual property and I can really prove it because I established the proof first.
2) What real proof does the proof of my paternity of the work give me in reality?
The copyright issued by Copyright.uk irrefutably proves an author’s rights by the simple fact of the existence of the creation, the work of my hands. When your mind conceives a creation, expression in the reality of this conception: its existence, in and of itself, grants you rights. That is if and only if the proof of copyright is established. That is to say, if your work is filed. This filing confers your author’s rights and attests to the anteriority of your creation. This is the exclusive right to exploit the work.
3) What good would a legal certificate do me if someone has copied me?
A legal certificate is proof unchallengeable in court. Proof that constitutes your only means of asserting your copyright, i.e., your author’s rights. But the legal certificate comprising the copyright issued by our court bailiff for each filing also constitutes a deterrent against any copiers. If you undertake a court case at the advice of one of our expert attorneys, the certificate is the proof necessary and sufficient that you will need.
4) How is it that a local court bailiff can guarantee virtually international security?
The Berne Convention stipulates that your copyright is assured throughout the 163 signatory countries that it covers. Therefore, your legal certificate has an inalienable value in each of these countries, in the same way and continuously. This prerogative derives from the legal certification conferred at the time of filing by our court bailiff.
5) Is it possible to falsify the time-stamped date so as to alter proof of anteriority?
It is technically impossible to undermine the time-stamping system in any way whatsoever. It is completely incorruptible. The anteriority of a filing cannot be manipulated, since it gives the copyright all of its value.
6) Why time-stamp your documents when you can send them to yourself through the post?
The postmark does not constitute completely admissible proof in court because the mark (which is irrefutable) does not assume the integrity of the envelope’s contents. This mailing is not irrefutably valid in court because the envelope is not connected to the letter, unless we are talking about a registered letter, which is an excellent proof. What is required is compliant legal proof established by a ministerial official such as a court bailiff or notary. This type of mailing is not a filing; it does not prove the anteriority of your creation and does not guarantee your copyright.
7) What if I filed a file that had already been filed previously by someone else, what would happen??
In terms of intellectual property, the only means of proving your paternity of a work is to prove that you created it first. I obtained my copyright first, and I can prove it thanks to the system that guarantees its anteriority. The time-stamping system and the legal certification of Copyright.uk provide you this proof, which is called proof of anteriority. In the event that the same work was filed at two different times, it is obvious that the older one demonstrates the authenticity of the author. And that the other one is a copy. In this case, it is an original creation, and not a simple creative idea.
8) What is a time-stamping system and how does that show the anteriority of my work?
Time-stamping is a time mark generated by synchronisation with atomic clocks and GPS. This time-stamping system is the most reliable guarantee of the anteriority of a filing. This means that the precise instant of the filing of your creation is authenticated by an imprint in time that is unfalisifiable, irrefutable and inalterable. Only by this means does your copyright guarantee its value by virtue of its anteriority.
9) How can I be 100% certain that my works will reach you as I sent them and that they will not undergo any alteration in time and space?
Each of your filings is marked in time by means of a time-stamping system that attests to the anteriority of your creation. This is an imprint that tracks your copyright. But this imprint is not enough to preserve the integrity of your document by itself across the immense communication domain of the Internet. To make up for this danger, there is a way to create an ID for the file and its author, which associates the digital imprint (digital sealing function) with an electronic signature (signature authentication). More than the digital equivalent of a handwritten signature, the electronic signature seals your document, guaranteeing that it will not undergo any alteration during any Internet operation. But most of all this digital imprint is an infallible virtual shield, designed to protect the content and integrity of your files during the filing procedure and for life.
10) How does that work from my screen?
You want to file a creation in order to preserve your copyright with legal proof that demonstrates its anteriority. (register here for Copyright+File a creation-)
(1) Registration on Copyright.uk; you want to send us your creation as quickly as possible in order to certify your anteriority. That is, to have a court bailiff certify your act of creation and COPYRIGHT filing at a specific moment.
(2) Once you are connected to your Copyright.uk account, you enter your works under the heading “File Now”. The multitude of formats accepted by the site means there are absolutely no restrictions on what you upload. Only the upload size is limited. Help for this is available here
(3) When your file has loaded, just one click will file your entire file.
For your filing, this one click will execute the filing in less than two seconds:
-Time-stamp your document “For certified anteriority”
-Certification by court bailiff “For an unfalsifiable copyright”
-Immediately send the certificate and accompany it with a copy “For a secure filing”
12) I work for the Defence Ministry and want to file a highly encrypted file; is that possible?
It is entirely possible. Any copyright filing done by Copyright.uk is subject to the highest security and confidentiality. In all cases, our mission consists of registering a file of your choice; nothing prevents you from encrypting your file before it is filed (128 Bits, 256 Bits or more). This will increase the confidentiality and secrecy of your copyright filing. Without changing its force, validity or use. Of course, you will need to carefully keep the decoding keys so that you can retrieve the protected content when you need to prove anteriority.
13) I have just manufactured the prototype of a machine for industrial use in the area of textiles based on leaves and bamboo; is a filing enough to protect my discovery?
Your creation is an invention. It can all be filed and enjoy the protection inherent in each Copyright.uk filing. However, as this is an invention, you should give your creation a patent, since copyright alone is necessary but may not be enough. A patent is a title of industrial property, in addition to the title of intellectual property obtained through the filing, in order to benefit from an exclusive right of exploitation. However, the patent requires public disclosure of your invention.
14) Kind of creations that i can register?
Copyright.uk does not place any restrictions whatsoever on you regarding the content of your filings but we exclude violence and sensible content. Your copyright is also proof of temporal and material authenticity, but especially of preservation of valuable documents that must be archived in extreme security. In addition, the filing and registration of your documents bearing your copyright are kept secret and archived in the form of encrypted files. Nothing can intercept them during the filing and no one can read them once they are filed. Without our having any right of inspection, this secrecy and confidentiality make it possible to offer the filing of a vast array of creations. Proof of copyright covers everything that can be created or archived, so that you can assert your right (in the manner of “to serve and avail” and “for the appropriate legal purposes”) when proof is needed, to prove anteriority, copyright and conservation for probative purposes.