Timestamp

Time attached to the work: when it was made, changed, published. The quiet spine of versions, rights and trust.

Timestamps are the work's alibi and its history: which cut existed when, who saw what before whom, whether the licence had lapsed on the day the file aired. In production they order the takes; in archives they date the masters; in disputes they are frequently the only witness both sides accept.

Publishing adds a public face: the dated page, the visible last updated, each a small statement that the publisher stands in time and expects to be checked. Search and AI engines read dates as freshness signals; readers read them as honesty. Undated work floats; dated work testifies.