Many teams keep the final image, audio file, or video but lose the record of how it was made. In a copyright dispute, the finished work shows an outcome. It may not show who made the creative choices, which model terms applied, or where the input materials came from. For projects created under the legal framework of mainland China, evidence preservation should begin when the project is opened.
Start with a master project record
Give every project a unique ID. Record the client, creators, production date, tools, intended use, and delivery scope. Keep the creative brief, script or copy, IP and reference sources, contracts, permissions, and team responsibilities in one controlled folder. Use a consistent filename such as project ID, stage, version, and date. Do not rely on temporary chat messages as the only record.
What to preserve for image creation
Save the model name and version, account information, generation date, positive and negative prompts, parameters, seed, reference images, raw outputs, and each selection round. Record why an image was chosen. Preserve layer files and operation records for inpainting, outpainting, masking, background removal, colour work, compositing, and retouching. Keep source files and uncompressed inputs alongside the final PNG or JPG.
What to preserve for audio creation
For voice work, keep script versions, consent or licence for the speaker or voice model, commercial model terms, generation settings, raw audio, rejected samples, and selection notes. For music, archive lyrics, melody or arrangement sources, sample and sound-effect permissions, stems, the digital audio workstation project, waveform edits, and the final mix. A licence for a real person's voice should state whether training, generation, editing, public release, territory, and duration are covered. A verbal approval alone is difficult to verify later.
What to preserve for video creation
Link the storyboard, shot list, character and environment designs to the prompt and generation ID for each shot. Archive raw clips, rejected clips, selection reasons, editing projects, timelines, colour work, effects, captions, voice, music, compositing files, and the final master in separate versions. After export, keep the project file intact and create separate caption-free, delivery, and acceptance versions. Record who requested and approved every material revision.
Keep model rights and third-party assets in a separate register
Save the official terms, commercial policy, account plan, order or invoice, webpage capture, and access date that applied when content was generated. Register the source, permission scope, term, territory, and media for reference images, fonts, music, effects, stock footage, trademarks, portraits, and voices. Commercial permission from a model provider does not automatically clear third-party rights in the output. The prompt, asset ID, and corresponding licence should be cross-referenced.
Finish with a verifiable archive
- Keep raw, working, project, export, and permission files. Do not retain only a compressed package.
- Calculate hashes for key files and record creation time, modification time, operator, and version relationships.
- Use read-only storage, off-site backup, trusted timestamps, blockchain evidence services, or another suitable electronic evidence method.
- Prepare a rights matrix and acceptance form covering the final work, source files, music, voices, assets, and model output.
A 2025 case published by the Beijing courts shows why prompts, iterations, sketches, selection, and modification records matter. China Supreme People's Court rules for internet courts also direct attention to how electronic data is generated, collected, stored, and transmitted. A preservation tool can strengthen proof, but it cannot replace the original production history. Publishing AI-generated and synthetic content also requires the applicable visible and metadata labelling.
When a production team is expected to create the work and organize the evidence package, compare AIGC production teams through AIGCSDM and include process records, rights documents, and archive delivery in the quotation and acceptance terms.
