How to prove you made a design

Evidence worth keeping

• Original files: high-resolution photos and layered or source files, which a copier usually doesn't have.
• Process photos: sketches and work-in-progress shots, ideally dated.
• First publication: links to where you first posted or listed the work, and the date.
• Related records, such as commissions, licences or orders for materials, if you have them.

Copyright registration

In the US, registration is optional, because copyright exists once a work is created and fixed. But it creates a public record and a certificate, and you must register a US work before suing for infringement. Registered works may also qualify for statutory damages and attorney's fees. Registering within five years of publication counts as prima facie evidence in court.

Other countries have their own rules, so check with your national copyright office.

What a timestamp does and doesn't show

A trusted timestamp, such as the RFC 3161 standard, shows that a file existed unchanged by a certain time. That's useful evidence, but it has limits: it doesn't prove who created the file, or that nobody had it earlier.

So treat it as one strong piece of a wider record, alongside your originals and process photos.

How Madeproof fits in

Madeproof keeps your originals in a private vault, records a SHA-256 fingerprint and timestamp for each, and produces a signed certificate you can attach to a report. It's evidence and paperwork, not a legal ruling, and you always file reports yourself. Platforms decide the outcome. This guide isn't legal advice.