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TL/DR: The Screenplay Vault PROVES that the files was uploaded and exists on the date and time it was uploaded. This timestamp CANNOT be forged and is saved on the Blockchain forever. This protection is about as good as it gets when it comes to burden of proof.
The Screenplay Vault is a deposit service offered by London Screenwriters' Festival as part of LSFConnect. This guide explains in plain language what the vault does, what it protects, what it does not protect, and how it fits into copyright law in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It is not legal advice, and you should speak to a qualified lawyer about your specific situation.
When you deposit a file, we compute its SHA-256 fingerprint — a cryptographic code unique to the exact contents of your file. Changing a single character in the file produces a completely different fingerprint, and the fingerprint cannot be reversed to reveal any of your writing. That fingerprint is then anchored into the Bitcoin blockchain through the OpenTimestamps standard, creating a public, tamper-proof record that this exact file existed at the moment of deposit.
Your file itself is encrypted the moment it reaches us and stored encrypted. No member of staff can read it: the Service contains no feature for anyone other than you to open, view, or download your deposited file. We store the file, its fingerprint, the deposit time, and the blockchain proof.
Deposits are permanent. You cannot edit or delete a deposit, because permanence is what makes it credible evidence. You can download your file, the blockchain proof (.ots file), and a certificate of deposit at any time. The proof can be verified by anyone, independently of us, using the free open-source tools at opentimestamps.org — it remains verifiable even if the Service ceases to exist, provided you keep your original file and the proof file.
The vault provides strong evidence of two things: that a file with this exact content existed at the deposit date, and that it was deposited from your account. In a dispute about who wrote something first, independent dated evidence of possession can be genuinely useful.
The vault does NOT prove that you wrote the work, that the work is original, or that you own the rights in it. We do not review deposits (we cannot — they are encrypted) and we make no assessment of authorship or ownership. A deposit is one piece of evidence a court may weigh; it is not a judgment, a registration, or a guarantee of any legal outcome.
In the UK, copyright arises automatically when an original work is fixed in material form (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988). There is no official copyright register and nothing you must file. Disputes therefore often turn on evidence: who can show the earlier dated copy. A vault deposit gives you independent, blockchain-anchored, dated evidence of your script, considerably stronger than the traditional "post yourself a sealed envelope" approach, which UK courts have never given much weight.
In the US, copyright also arises automatically when the work is created. However, to file an infringement lawsuit in the United States for a US work you must first register the work with the US Copyright Office, and registering promptly (before infringement, or within three months of publication) is what unlocks statutory damages and attorney's fees — often the difference between a case being economic to bring or not.
A Screenplay Vault deposit is NOT a substitute for registration with the US Copyright Office. Neither is registration with the Writers Guild of America. If your screenplay may need to be enforced in the United States, register it with the US Copyright Office as well — see the step-by-step guide below.
Under the Berne Convention, which covers more than 180 countries, copyright protection is automatic and may not be made conditional on any formality. Your work is protected in member countries from the moment of creation, and independent dated evidence of the kind the vault provides can assist in a dispute in any of them. Some countries operate voluntary national deposit or registration schemes; where you expect to exploit a work commercially in a particular country, local advice is worth taking.
Step 1 — Go to copyright.gov, choose "Register", and create a free account on the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) portal.
Step 2 — Choose your application. A screenplay is registered as a Work of the Performing Arts. The Standard Application covers most situations; the cheaper Single Application is available only when there is one author who owns everything and one work, not made for hire. If you have several unpublished screenplays, the "Group Registration of Unpublished Works" option covers up to ten works for one fee.
Step 3 — Complete the form: title, author, claimant (usually you), year of completion, and whether the work has been published.
Step 4 — Pay the fee (typically in the tens of dollars — check the current fee schedule at copyright.gov, as fees change).
Step 5 — Upload your deposit copy electronically; a PDF of the screenplay is accepted.
Step 6 — Keep the confirmation. Your effective date of registration is the day the Office receives your completed application, fee, and copy — the certificate itself can take months to arrive, and that delay does not affect your rights.
Deposited files are encrypted with a unique key per file before being written to storage, and stored with a specialist cloud-storage provider. Staff cannot view deposit content and the Service deliberately contains no administrative feature to do so. Deposit metadata (file name, size, fingerprint, deposit time) is visible to us for operating the service. Deposits are retained for as long as your account exists; closing your account removes your deposits, so keep your own copies of your files, proofs, and certificates.
The vault is an evidence-preservation tool, nothing more. To the fullest extent permitted by law: we give no warranty that a deposit will achieve any particular legal effect; we are not responsible for the outcome of any dispute, negotiation, or claim in which you use (or cannot use) a deposit; we do not verify authorship or ownership; and we accept no liability for loss said to arise from reliance on the vault, including any failure, delay, or change in third-party systems such as the OpenTimestamps calendars or the Bitcoin network.
Nothing in this guide is legal advice, and nothing in it creates a lawyer-client or fiduciary relationship. For anything that matters, take advice from a qualified lawyer in the relevant country.
Questions about the Screenplay Vault can be sent to info@londonswf.com