Every week, creators come to see me at my law firm — graphic designers, developers, photographers, musicians… — after something has gone wrong.
Their client used their work without telling them, modified their creation, resold it, or simply refused to pay, claiming that “nothing had been signed”.
Every time, the same question comes up: “But I’m the one who made it, aren’t I?”
And my answer is always the same: “Yes, perhaps. But can you prove it?”
Under French law, the author of a work is protected automatically from the moment it is created.
But be careful: this protection only works if you can show that you really are the author. Without proof of date, without a written record, without a contractual framework, you are vulnerable, and if a dispute arises, the judge has nothing to rely on. Legally, you need two things: proof of prior existence (that you created the work, on a given date) and a clear assignment contract if you want the client to use the work legally.
A motion designer recently consulted me: a major brand had included his animations in a national ad campaign. He thought he had “sold the rights”, but no assignment contract had ever been signed.
The result: the client believed it had all the rights, and the freelancer could prove neither the scope of the rights assigned nor the exact date of creation. He lost credibility and time… and recovered nothing. Timestamping is a creator’s first line of defence. It makes it possible to officially date a creation (visual, audio, written, software…) through a trusted third party. In concrete terms, if someone disputes that you authored a piece of work, you can show indisputably that you had proof of it on [date/time].
Tip: timestamp a work as soon as it is finished, even before sending it to the client. That way, you can prove prior existence in the event of copying, theft or a dispute.
My 3 tips for all freelancers: Systematically timestamp your creations (files, mock-ups, demos…).
Draw up a clear assignment contract specifying what you assign (and what you do not), for how long, in what context and at what price. Store your proof securely. Creating is your job. Protecting you is mine. That is why we created Rightkeeper, the accessible solution for protecting your creations at a reasonable cost.
And in 2025, in a world where AI copies and everything is shared, remixed and forgotten… Not protecting yourself means leaving the door open to abuse.
