You’ve likely heard it in creator circles: “Put your work on a permanent record and it’s safe forever.” The idea is that if your work is registered on an unchangeable, decentralised ledger, it becomes tamperproof — and no one can ever steal your credit.
As a creator, that sounds like a dream. But if you actually end up in a room with a lawyer or a judge in Mumbai or Delhi, “it’s tamperproof” is just the start of the conversation, not the end of it. The honest legal reality in 2026 is a bit more grounded — and still very much in your favour.
The Core Answer: It’s Evidence, Not a Magic Wand
Permanent digital records are incredibly powerful, but they work because of evidence law, not just technology. In an Indian court, a record is only as good as its ability to satisfy a judge that it hasn’t been altered. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 gives us the roadmap — but it comes with a procedural requirement creators should understand.
The Legal Reality: The Section 63(4) Certificate
Under Section 63(4) of the BSA, any electronic record brought into court needs a certificate alongside it. This is a signed statement that does three things: identifies the record, describes how it was produced, and confirms the system was functioning correctly.
This certificate has two parts. Part A is signed by the person in charge of the system that produced the record. Part B is signed by an independent technical expert who can verify the integrity of the data.
Here is where it gets interesting for decentralised systems: if no single company or person owns the servers, who signs Part A? This is a question Indian courts are actively working through. The law was written with a traditional IT operator in mind, and the legal community is now building the frameworks to apply it to newer, distributed systems.
This doesn’t mean your records are inadmissible — it means the procedural path to court is still being refined. For most creators, this procedural detail will never come up. Where it does, the platform that generated the record is the right starting point for any Part A documentation, and NAK-ID is working on exactly this kind of support for creators who need it.
What the Arijit Singh Case Tells Us
In Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP (2024), the Bombay High Court came down hard on a company that used AI tools to clone the singer’s voice and likeness without permission. While the case was primarily about personality rights, it sent a clear signal: Indian courts are now tech-literate, they understand that digital integrity matters, and they are willing to act decisively when creative IP is exploited through technology.
For independent creators, this matters. The judicial system is catching up fast.
The Practical Reality
For most creators, a court case will never happen. Your timestamped record is most useful for DMCA takedowns, platform disputes, brand negotiations, and settlement conversations — and for all of these it is extremely strong. Having a third-party, tamperproof record of your work is a powerful deterrent long before a judge is ever involved.
When your work is permanently recorded on NAK-ID, you are creating a record that is mathematically designed to detect any tampering. Even if the procedural law around decentralised systems continues to evolve, having this record is infinitely stronger than a file sitting on your own hard drive that anyone could claim you modified yesterday.
Creator’s Checklist
- Integrity is everything. A screenshot is not proof. A record that ties your file to a unique fingerprint is what a judge actually wants to see under Section 63.
- Third-party records are stronger. If you provide your own proof from your own computer, it’s easy to challenge. If a neutral, permanent system provides the proof, it’s much harder to pick apart.
- Protect your drafts, not just your finals. Having a record of your original, human-created early work is your best defence against someone claiming an AI-generated copy predates yours.
- Don’t wait for the perfect law. The BSA 2023 is already being used. Start your paper trail now so that when you need it, you have years of evidence — not one panicked file.
Your IP deserves a paper trail. Register your work on NAK-ID — it’s free to start.
Legal References
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 — Section 63, Section 63(4) (certification requirement for electronic records)
- Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP, Bombay High Court, 2024