Evidentiary Considerations
Evidentiary issues may arise if the person who authored a work has only his word to prove that the work is original and is his own work. The author of an unpublished manuscript or little-known publication, that is remarkably similar to a popular novel, will have an uphill battle convincing a court that the popular novel infringes the copyright in his obscure work.
Taking some precautionary steps might help to establish independent creation and authorship.
A common practice to obtain evidence in favour of authorship is to place the copyright material in an envelope or package together with a document signed by several people stating that they have examined the work prior to it being sealed and that in their opinion it is original. Once this is done the package is mailed to the owner (or, more usefully, his solicitor) by recorded delivery, which helps to establish when the work was created, who the originator of the work is, and that there are signatory validators prepared to state that it is original.
Once this process is complete the package and contents might be usable in a court of law as evidence of date of creation (and so priority), if the envelope had been in the custody of a solicitor throughout. However, the process is not a reliable one, and cannot create irrefutable evidence in a legal dispute, due to the simplicity of sealing the envelope at a date later than is recorded, or breaking the seal of the envelope and replacing the contents.
Read more about this topic: Copyright Law Of The United Kingdom