Proof of creation

What it is

Copyright exists the moment a song is made. What is hard is proving it: who made it, when, and that it has not changed since. Aden does that for you.

When a version's audio lands, Aden takes its fingerprint (SHA-256) together with how it was made:

• the track's credits, marked confirmed when the person accepted them or signed the splits in Aden, and declared when only the uploader typed them;
• the session it came out of, who was in it and what was recorded;
• the project file the desktop synced, each file as it stood at that moment;
• the track's earlier versions, each with its own proof.

A qualified timestamp authority signs it: the Belgian Federal Government's time-stamping service, listed on the EU trusted list. Under EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS), Art. 41, a qualified timestamp is presumed accurate in its date and in the integrity of what it covers, in every EU member state.

It happens in the background. Nothing to click, nothing to pay.

Using it

• A stamped version shows a shield beside its time in the track's timeline (beside its name on a phone, or when a track has one version). Open it to see when it was timestamped and what the proof holds.
• Download certificate saves a zip with three files:
  • certificate.pdf: the readable record.
  • manifest.json: the exact text that was timestamped.
  • timestamp.tsr: the authority's signed timestamp.
• Versions from before this existed have no shield. Search Timestamp versions in ⌘K on the track to stamp them (dated today).
• Already proven elsewhere: when the exact same audio was already timestamped by another team, the upload gets no proof of its own. The earlier proof is the one that counts.
• Promo copy from another team: when you upload a file in the browser, Aden checks it for the inaudible watermark of promo links other teams sent you. A match gets no proof, and the team that sent the link is told.
• In the Aden app the shield sits on the version row. Tap it for the date and what the proof holds; the certificate downloads on the web or desktop.

Stamp before you send promos: the proof then predates anything a recipient could claim.

Verifying a proof

1. sha256sum your-file.wav matches the audio SHA-256 in the certificate and in manifest.json.
2. With Belgium Root CA6 (from repository.eidpki.belgium.be, SHA-256 fingerprint printed on the certificate): openssl ts -verify -in timestamp.tsr -data manifest.json -CAfile belgium-root-ca6.pem