How to mark a video as made with AI using C2PA

Content credentials are a signed note inside a video file that says who made it and how. Video by Zaweba can add one when you export: open Export > More options and turn on the C2PA content credential, which records who made the video, that it was made with Video by Zaweba, and whether it contains AI-made material. MP4, MOV and M4A exports carry it inside the file; other formats get it beside the file as a .c2pa file.

C2PA is the name of the open standard behind content credentials, drawn up by a group of camera makers, software companies and news organisations. The idea is simple: rather than relying on a caption or a line in a description, the facts about how a piece of media was made travel with the file, and tools that understand C2PA can read them.

Why mark a video at all

Some platforms and publishers ask creators to say when a video uses AI-generated material, and labelling it yourself is clearer than having a viewer guess. If you make series from AI-generated clips with the Episode Builder, a content credential is a straightforward way to be open about it. It also works the other way round: a credential can state that a video contains no AI-made material, which matters for news, documentary and evidence footage.

Credentials also record authorship. Your name is attached to the file in a structured way, which is harder to lose than a watermark in a corner.

Adding the credential on export

Finish the edit as normal. Press Ctrl+E to open the export window and choose your format and preset.

Open More options. Turn on the content credential and fill in who made the video. Say whether it contains AI-made material, honestly and plainly.

Export. For MP4, MOV and M4A files the credential is written into the file itself. For other formats a .c2pa file is written beside the video, and the two should be kept together when you share them.

Check it. Tools that read C2PA can show the credential. If you upload to a site that reads them, the site may display a label of its own.

What the signature does and doesn't mean

A credential is signed so that changes to the file can be detected. Video by Zaweba signs with its own signer, and without a purchased certificate from a recognised provider that signer is shown as untrusted by checking tools. The facts are still recorded and the file is still marked, but a reader is told the signer is not one it can vouch for. For most personal and creator work that is fine; organisations that need a trusted signature would look at a certificate of their own.

A credential is a statement, not a detector. It records what you said about the video at export. It does not analyse the pictures to find AI material, so the value of the label rests on you filling it in truthfully.

Some services strip metadata when they re-encode uploads. If a credential matters, keep the original exported file as your record.

Other ways to be clear

A credential works best alongside plain words. A line in the description or an on-screen title stating that a video uses AI-generated clips reaches every viewer, whatever player they use. Video by Zaweba can burn text or a picture into a corner of the export from the same More options window, which is a simple visible label to pair with the signed one.

Video by Zaweba is free software that runs offline with no account, so adding credentials doesn't involve sending your video anywhere.