Free. No account. Nothing uploaded.
Timestamp your screenplay and prove the day it existed
Drop in any draft. Your browser makes a fingerprint of it, and that fingerprint is written into the Bitcoin blockchain, the most widely copied public record there is. Anyone can check the date for years without asking us, and the script never leaves your computer.
- Free, every time
- Works without an account
- Checkable without Scriptopus
Drop your script here
PDF, Final Draft, Fountain, Word, or any other file
Nothing is uploaded. This page reads the file in your browser to make its fingerprint, and only the fingerprint, mixed with a random number, is sent.
- Making the fingerprint on this computer
- Sending it to the public timestamp servers
- Your proof, ready to download
Sealed
Fingerprint (SHA-256)
Save it now. It holds your script exactly as sealed and the proof of this seal, which can't be made again later. The .zip is made here in your browser.
Keep the .zip as it is. Until the blockchain confirms it, the proof inside can be checked only through the timestamp servers. In a few hours, drop the .zip on Check a proof for the finished pack, which anyone can check against the blockchain alone.
Drop the .zip from your seal on either box, or the file and its .ots proof one in each. Everything stays in your browser.
Checking the proof against the blockchain
Anyone can check a proof here, without an account. A producer or a contest can do it as easily as you can.
- File
- Recorded in
The file matches. The blockchain hasn't confirmed it yet.
Confirmation usually takes two to six hours after sealing. Nothing is wrong with the proof: check again later and this page will finish it.
This file doesn't match its proof
The proof was made for a different set of bytes. That usually means one of these:
- the file was opened and saved again, even without changes
- it's an export of the same draft made on another day
- the proof belongs to a different draft
Look for the copy you kept next to the proof when you sealed it.
This proof doesn't check out
The file matches the proof, but the proof doesn't lead to the blockchain block it names, or uses steps this page can't follow. Try checking it with the OpenTimestamps tools, or ask whoever gave it to you for the original.
Never uploaded
Your browser reads the file. Only a fingerprint leaves it, and nobody can turn that back into text.
Written into the blockchain
A public record copied onto thousands of computers, so a date in it can't be quietly changed.
An open standard
Proofs follow OpenTimestamps, so free tools anywhere can check them.
Yours to keep
The proof still works if Scriptopus disappears. It depends on nobody, us included.
How it works
A few seconds now, and a date nobody can move later
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Step 1
Your browser makes a fingerprint
A 64-character code worked out from every byte of the file. Change one comma and the code is completely different. Nobody can rebuild the script from it.
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Step 2
The fingerprint goes into the blockchain
We hand it to OpenTimestamps, a free public service that writes thousands of fingerprints into the Bitcoin blockchain at once. No wallet and no fee, for anyone.
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Step 3
Anyone can check it, for years
Keep the file with its proof. Years from now anyone can drop both on this page, or use the OpenTimestamps tools, and see the date. Neither needs Scriptopus to exist.
The poor man's copyright
What the poor man's copyright should have been
The old habit is to post yourself a copy of the script and never open the envelope, so the postmark dates what's inside. The US Copyright Office says the law makes no provision for it, and anyone who disputes your date will point out that an envelope can be posted empty, or unsealed, and filled later.
Posting it to yourself
- Dates the envelope, not the pages inside
- Can be posted empty or unsealed and filled later
- Checked once, by tearing it open
- Postage for every draft
A timestamp
- Dates the exact file, byte for byte
- Can't be dated backwards or filled in later
- Checked by anyone, as often as they like
- Free for every draft
Source: US Copyright Office, Copyright in General.
What a timestamp proves, and what it doesn't
How to copyright a screenplayIt proves
- This exact file existed no later than the date on the proof.
- It hasn't changed since. Edit a single word and the check fails.
- The date doesn't depend on trusting us, or on any company staying in business.
It doesn't
- Say who wrote the script. Your drafts, emails and notes show that.
- Replace a copyright or WGA registration, which add legal steps of their own.
- Cover later drafts. A rewrite is a new file, so seal each draft you send out.
What you take away
A certificate you can file with the draft
Every seal comes as one .zip, made in your browser: your file exactly as sealed, its .ots proof, and a one-page certificate that explains it to anyone who asks. Keep it with the draft, or attach it to a submission.
- 1The exact file, by name and size
- 2Its fingerprint, the code only this file produces
- 3The blockchain block that holds it, and when it was added
- 4How anyone can check it, with us or without us
Made by Scriptopus
Write your next draft in Scriptopus
The people behind this tool make a screenwriting app. Start on Free, which is totally free, and move up to Pro when you want your drafts on every device and a dramaturg to talk them through with.
Free
Totally freeThe desktop app for Mac and Windows, on a free account. Your scripts stay on your computer.
- Screenplay editor, Beat Board, Treatment and Story Canvas
- No watermark, and no limit on pages or projects
- Export to PDF, Final Draft and Fountain, ready to seal here
- Local backups of every project
Sign up once in the app and it stays signed in. No card, now or later, and you can still try Pro free for two months.
Pro
Free while we're in betaEverything in Free, and it goes where you go: the browser, the desktop app and your phone, on one account.
- Sync, automatic backups and version history
- Share links that producers and readers open without an account
- Say a scene out loud and it lands in screenplay format
- Dramaturg chat, smart reports and Table Read
When the beta ends, Pro is $9 a month billed yearly, or $15 month to month, and new members get their first two months free. No card needed to start.
This timestamp tool stays free, whether or not you ever sign up.
Questions writers ask
Is it really free?
Yes. OpenTimestamps, the public service that writes the fingerprints into the Bitcoin blockchain, charges nothing, and neither do we. Each visitor can seal ten files a day, so the shared servers aren't flooded. Checking a proof has no limit.
Do I need a wallet, coins or any crypto?
No. The Bitcoin blockchain is used only as a public record that is copied onto thousands of computers worldwide, so a date written into it can't be changed later. You never touch a coin.
What do I need to keep?
One file: the .zip the page gives you. It holds the exact file you sealed, its .ots proof and the certificate, and it's made in your browser, so the script still never reaches us. Keep it as it is, ideally in two places, and swap it for the finished pack that Check a proof gives you a few hours later. If you do unzip it, keep the file and its .ots together.
What if I edit or re-save the file?
Then it no longer matches. Even saving the same PDF again can change its bytes, which is why the pack keeps its own untouched copy. Seal the new version separately.
Why does the proof take hours to finish?
The blockchain adds a block about every ten minutes, and the timestamp servers wait to put a batch of fingerprints into one. Until then your proof is valid but points to the server that will finish it. Check it here after a few hours and the page completes it and gives you an updated pack, which no longer depends on any server.
Will it stand up in a dispute?
It's evidence of a date, and courts weigh it alongside everything else you have. It can't promise an outcome. If you're ever in a real dispute, a lawyer will know how to use it.
Do you keep my script?
No. The script never leaves your browser. What goes out is its fingerprint mixed with a random number, so not even the timestamp servers can match it to your file. Our server passes it on and keeps no record of it. The proof exists only in the files you download. If you ask for the email, we keep your address and the proof, which holds fingerprints and no script, until the email goes out, a week at most.
Can I check a proof made somewhere else?
Yes. Any OpenTimestamps proof can be checked here, and a proof made here checks with the OpenTimestamps tools too, for example ots verify "Low Tide.pdf.ots".
Seal your next draft before you send it
Free, private and yours to keep. It takes less time than writing the email.