Proof of creation (free tool)

What it is

Proof that a file existed on a given day: a song, a beat, a project, lyrics, artwork, anything. Open tools.aden.space/proof (or proof.aden.space). No account needed.

Your browser works out the file's fingerprint (SHA-256) and only that is sent. A qualified timestamp authority, the Belgian Federal Government's time-stamping service on the EU trusted list, signs it with the time. Under EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS), Art. 41, that timestamp is presumed accurate in its date and in the file being unchanged, in every EU member state.

It proves when, not who. Keep your project files and drafts too.

Using it

• Drop a file, or choose one. Its fingerprint shows under its name; click it to copy the whole thing.
• Title and names (optional): add a title and who made it. They go on the certificate as you type them and nobody checks them.
• Stamp. The time appears once the authority has signed.
• Download certificate: a zip with three files. Nothing is kept on our side, so download it before you leave the page.
  • certificate.pdf: the readable record.
  • manifest.json: the exact text that was stamped.
  • timestamp.tsr: the authority's signed timestamp.
• Save to Aden (audio files) opens Aden in a new tab to upload the song as a track: every version you upload there is stamped by itself, with its credits, session and project.
• Ten stamps a day, five an hour, without an account.

Checking a certificate

Drop the file and its certificate zip (or its manifest.json) on the page, together or one after the other. Dropping a certificate switches to Check a certificate by itself. The page says whether the fingerprints match, and when a match was stamped. It works for certificates downloaded from a version in Aden too. Everything happens in your browser.

Without Aden:

1. sha256sum your-file matches the 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