Is Protect My Work legit?A real private registry, not the official UK copyright office

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes.

The file stays on your device. Your browser makes a digital fingerprint of the file. TimeBinder records the fingerprint and the time, not the file.

Short answer

Protect My Work is a real UK company that records work you upload and issues a certificate, currently from £44.15 a year plus £1 tokens (checked 12 November 2026). It is not the official UK copyright office — there isn’t one. Copyright in the UK arises automatically. A private record can help show timing; it does not grant copyright.

What Protect My Work is, and what it is not

Protect My Work is a private UK service. You upload work, it keeps a record, and it issues a certificate for a subscription and extra tokens. Fees checked on its site on 12 November 2026 were £44.15 a year, plus £1 tokens. The UK Copyright Service is a similar private registry, with its own fees.

Neither is a government office. GOV.UK states that there is not a register of copyright works in the UK, and that copyright protection is automatic. Paying a private registry does not create copyright, and it does not put your work on an official register that does not exist. For the country page, see copyright registration in the UK. For a side-by-side with a dated file record, see Protect My Work alternatives.

When a private record helps, and when to use something else

A dated private certificate can still be useful evidence that a particular file or description was recorded on a date. A TimeBind does a related job in a different way: it records a SHA-256 fingerprint of a file you keep, with a time anchored to Bitcoin. The file is not uploaded. It shows that exact file existed no later than the recorded time and still matches. It does not grant copyright, show authorship, or replace official registration in a country that has one.

Make a TimeBind: first one free →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

Frequently asked questions

Is Protect My Work a government copyright office?

No. It is a private company. GOV.UK states that there is not a register of copyright works in the UK. Copyright arises automatically.

Does signing up give me copyright?

No. In the UK, copyright arises automatically when an original work is created. A private record or a timestamp does not grant, transfer or enlarge copyright.

Is the UK Copyright Service the official register instead?

No. It is also a private registry. There is no official UK register of copyright works.

How is a TimeBind different?

A TimeBind records a fingerprint of a file you keep, with a time, and does not require you to upload the file. It shows timing of that exact file. It does not replace a private registry certificate or official registration where a country has one.

Sources

GOV.UK, Copyright (no register of copyright works in the UK; protection is automatic).
Protect My Work, official site and fees, checked 12 November 2026: £44.15 a year plus £1 tokens.

Related guides and tools

Your file’s fingerprint, anchored to a global network secured by real electricity and cryptography.

Editing a file—including with AI—changes its fingerprint, not its existing network record.

How this works

Your file’s SHA-256 fingerprint, a short code worked out from its exact contents, is made in your browser, and the file itself stays on your device. A cryptographic commitment to that fingerprint, which may be combined with others, is then anchored in a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is secured by proof of work: computers around the world spend real electricity to add each block, and changing an earlier block would mean redoing that work faster than the rest of the network. Until that block is confirmed, your proof is pending. Once the Bitcoin anchoring is confirmed, you can verify the proof against that recorded commitment. The confirmed record can then be checked; Pooled TimeBinds are checked through TimeBinder, while ASAP TimeBinds can also be checked independently. If you check the file later and its fingerprint still matches, that shows the file existed no later than the recorded time. The record doesn’t show who made the file, whether AI was used, or that its contents are true.

Your filestays on your device
FingerprintSHA-256
Network timestampon Bitcoin

Record a fingerprint of the file you rely on

Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact file you hold.

Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
Add your files. They stay on your computer.
Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.

Open TimeBinder →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.