procedure

a. Creation of a registration

A registration can be created on-line and free of charge. The user fills in a form with following data:
1. Title of the work (poss. Work’s title)
2. Genre of the work
3. The data (name, e-mail, phone) of co-authors can be added (optional)

Afterwards, 4 digital files can be matched to the registration.

The digital files must meet following conditions:
• At the most 40Mb / file
• Only following formats are allowed: pdf (Adobe), ppt (Powerpoint), pptx (Powerpoint), xls (Excel), xlsx (Excel), gif (image), jpeg (image), jpg (image), png (image), heif (image), doc (Word), docx (Word), zip, rar, mdb (database), json, xml, openoffice, openxml, rtf, odt, ods, odp, cdf, ogg, avif (image), bmp (image), svg (image), tiff (image), webp (image), x-msvideo (video), mp4 (video), mpeg (video), ogg (video), mp2t (video), webm (video), 3gpp (video), 3gpp2 (video), acc (audio), midi (audio),x-midi (audio),mpeg (audio),ogg (audio),opus (audio), wav (audio), webm (audio), 3gpp (audio), 3gpp2 (audio), csv (text), plain (text).
After validation of the form the files will be uploaded.

b. Confirmation of the registration

After creation of the depot, the user will receive a confirmation by e-mail. The user can create a PDF of the depot in his account with the following details:
• Name
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Date of the depot, expiry date of the depot
• Depot status
• The registration’s unique reference number
• Work’s title
• Genre depot
• Name, file’s size and type of each uploaded file
• MD5 & SHA256 checksum of each file (see below: encryption)

c. Asking for a proof of registration: the certificate

In case of a jurisdiction or dispute, the user can ask SABAM to provide a 'written proof' of the deposit: the certificate.
How to apply for a certificate?
1. Log into your account and go to the Depot overview. Select the depot from which you wish to obtain a certificate. Click on 'certificate'. Note: certificates can only be created from active depots.
2. If you do not have any 'Credits certificate', you need to buy them in advance. A credit costs 15 euro and can be ordered online in the Shop.
3. After clicking 'certificate' you will get a pop-up stating that a certificate costs 1 credit. After confirmation, the 'certificate' button changes to the date of certificate creation. Click on the date to view the certificate.
4. You can now create a PDF of the certificate. Click 'Download PDF' in the top right corner. The PDF file will be downloaded in the browser to the downloads folder.
The certificate contains the following information:
• Name
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Date of the depot, expiry date of the depot
• Depot status
• The registration’s unique reference number
• Work’s title
• Genre depot
• Name, file’s size and type of each uploaded file
• MD5 & SHA256 checksum of each file (see below: encryption)
At the bottom of the certificate, you can find a stamp from SABAM with the date of creation of the certificate.
* The files on the certificate can be downloaded a maximum of 100 times. If you reach the limit, you can delete the certificate (click on 'Delete certificate' in the top right-hand corner) and create a new certificate at the cost of 1 credit.

d. Duration of the registration

Registrations remain valid during 5 years. The author automatically receives an e-mail mentioning the registration’s expiration 3 months before the expiry date. SABAM reserves the right to permanently remove expired depots.

e. Registration’s extension

Extension’s duration: 5 years
Procedure:
1. The user opens the account and goes to the depot overview. Here, click on 'extend'.
2. An extension costs 5 euros and can be activated by purchasing 'Credits Extension' in the OnlineDepot shop. Per extension, 1 credit is used and the depot is extended by 5 years.
3. The user receives a popup confirming the renewal of the depot (incl. info duration).
4. The dates in the 'Depot overview' have been changed.

f. Encryption

In order to preserve the system from any fraud, two digital check numbers will be calculated for each file: MD5 and SHA256. The method for calculating these two check numbers has been properly documented, is extremely safe and has been accepted worldwide as a standard. The probability that two files with a different content would generate identical check numbers is zero. Each modification of these files’ content, whatever small, results in completely different check numbers. You receive these check numbers by e-mail (see: confirmation registration). In case of a dispute, whereby the authenticity of the files put at disposal by SABAM is being put into question, this can be checked by recalculating the check numbers of the files put at disposal and by comparing this with the numbers that the applicants have received for confirmation at the time of their application for registration. Because these check numbers are easy to calculate by oneself, it is possible to forge the confirmation e-mail. In order to completely exclude this possibility, the digital confirmation e-mail will be signed in accordance with the RSA-principle. Each modification of the email’s content will result in an invalid signature check. This digital signature is unique per e-mail and cannot be forged. The combination of the check numbers and the digital signature guarantees the files’ authenticity.