Swiss Trust Layer protects screenwriters, producers, and co-writers with ZertES and eIDAS-certified cryptographic timestamps. Court-admissible proof of authorship — sealed before you pitch, co-write, or submit to studios.
The film and television industry is built on ideas, and ideas travel fast. A screenplay submitted to a production company today can reappear in a slightly modified form months later — with no paperwork trail to prove your original authorship. Traditional copyright protection exists the moment you create a work under the Berne Convention, but proving when you created it is a separate challenge entirely.
Emailing yourself a screenplay or uploading it to a cloud drive are common workarounds, but courts have repeatedly found these methods legally contestable. The timestamp on a Gmail attachment can be altered; cloud metadata can be manipulated. What you need is a cryptographic timestamp that is mathematically impossible to backdate.
Swiss Trust Layer applies a qualified electronic seal under ZertES SR 943.03 and the European eIDAS Regulation (EU No 910/2014). The result is a tamper-proof record that proves your screenplay, treatment, pilot script, or production document existed at a specific moment in time — before you shared it with anyone. This certificate is accepted as court-admissible evidence in Switzerland, all 27 EU member states, and the 181 countries that have signed the Berne Convention.
For international co-productions — which now represent a growing share of streaming content — the Berne Convention mutual recognition framework means your Swiss Trust Layer seal carries the same weight in Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Paris, and Mumbai as it does in Zurich.
ZertES SR 943.03
Swiss Federal Law
eIDAS EU 910/2014
27 EU Member States
Berne Convention
181 member states
From solo screenwriters to international production houses, every creative professional in the film and television industry generates IP that needs protecting before it enters the development pipeline.
Seal your feature screenplay, pilot script, or TV bible before sharing with agents, managers, or production companies. Cryptographic timestamps provide irrefutable proof that your draft existed before any pitch meeting.
Protect treatment documents, development slates, and production briefs. A sealed timestamp prevents disputes with co-producers and demonstrates clean chain of title to financiers and distributors.
Multi-author creative projects are prime territory for ownership disputes. Seal each draft as it is completed, creating an immutable timeline of contributions that courts can rely upon.
Protect shot lists, storyboards, and directorial treatments. A cryptographic seal proves your visual concept existed independently — essential when a studio produces something strikingly similar after reviewing your pitch.
Without studio legal departments, independent creators are most vulnerable to IP theft. Affordable from CHF 5 per document, Swiss Trust Layer gives you enterprise-grade protection before you submit to festivals or funding bodies.
No legal expertise required. No software to install. Seal your creative work before your next pitch meeting.
Upload your screenplay, treatment, TV bible, production brief, or any other creative document to Swiss Trust Layer. Supports PDF, DOCX, FDX (Final Draft), ZIP archives, and all common formats up to 500 MB.
Within seconds, Swiss Trust Layer applies a qualified electronic seal under ZertES SR 943.03. An immutable cryptographic hash and timestamp are permanently bound to your document. No one — not even Swiss Trust Layer — can alter or backdate this record.
You receive a sealing certificate showing the exact timestamp, document hash, and cryptographic signature proof. This certificate can be publicly verified by any court, lawyer, or third party without requiring a login.
Sealed in under 60 seconds — before your next meeting
Sealing your screenplay takes less time than brewing a coffee. Cryptographic computation runs on secure Swiss infrastructure. The resulting certificate is immediately available for download and can be emailed to your attorney, agent, or co-producer as proof of prior art.
Three complementary legal frameworks combine to give your Swiss Trust Layer seal broad, internationally recognised protection across the markets where film and television IP is most frequently contested.
ZertES governs qualified electronic signatures and seals in Switzerland. Under Art. 2 ZertES, a qualified electronic seal from an accredited Swiss QTSP (Swisscom Trust Services) is legally equivalent to a handwritten signature. For Swiss-based productions and co-productions with Swiss partners, this provides the highest domestic evidentiary standard. ZertES →
eIDAS is the EU framework for electronic identification and trust services. Swisscom Trust Services holds both ZertES accreditation and eIDAS QTSP certification. This means a seal issued through Swiss Trust Layer is legally recognised in all 27 EU member states — covering Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the major European film production territories. For international co-productions structured across EU borders, eIDAS provides seamless cross-border enforceability. eIDAS →
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886, as amended) obligates all 181 signatory states — including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Japan — to recognise each other's copyright protections. A screenplay sealed with a Swiss Trust Layer cryptographic timestamp is treated as proof of authorship in any Berne Convention territory. This is critical for international co-productions where multiple jurisdictions may be involved in a dispute.
Important: Swiss Trust Layer provides technical sealing services. This page offers general legal context but does not replace advice from a qualified entertainment or intellectual property attorney. For specific disputes, consult a specialist in your jurisdiction.
Answers to the most important questions about protecting film and TV intellectual property with cryptographic seals.
Seal your screenplay, treatment, or production document now. Cryptographic proof of authorship from CHF 5. No subscription required for a single seal.
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