Direct answer

They are using the draft. The dated record turns that from a feeling into a fact.

They never hired you, but the draft is live in their launch. Here is what actually helps: the dated record that shows the draft existed, in this form, before any hire, the three written steps that name it, price the use, and set the boundary, and the sharing habits that close the door next time.

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Updated October 21, 2026. The two delivery records quoted below are real and public, with their client decision states read back from the live service on publication day.

Early drafts are the exposed stage of the work

Finished-work theft is a payment problem: there is a hire, a delivery, and an unpaid bill. Draft misuse is earlier and quieter. You shared early work to win the job: concepts, sketches, sample pages, a first cut. No contract was signed, no deposit landed, and then the conversation cooled, except the draft did not. It shows up in their launch, their deck, their site, finished by someone else or used as it stood. What makes this stage exposed is the combination: they hold usable files, you hold no paperwork, and the whole exchange lived in friendly messages. The response that works is not outrage and it is not a legal threat you have not priced. It is a short sequence that turns what you do hold, the dated drafts themselves, into a clear written position, and then prices the use so the easiest next step for them is paying you.

What actually helps: the draft, its date, and the sequence

Your strongest asset is that drafts carry their history with them. The file you sent has a creation date. The message that carried it has a date. And a saved record of the draft fixes the important fact in a form anyone can check later: this draft existed, in this form, on this date, before any hire, before their launch, before the other person's version. That sequence is what separates "they used my work" from a resemblance argument. So before you write to them, assemble the sequence: the earliest saved version of the draft, the message or record showing when you shared it and with whom, any reply from them acknowledging it, and a dated capture of their use as it stands today, the page, the post, the file, with the date you captured it. Keep your raw working files out of this packet for now; the dated draft and the sharing record are the evidence, and the working files are your workshop, which stays home until there is a hire.

The three steps: name it, price the use, set the boundary

Step one, name it in writing, briefly and without heat. One message, in the same thread where the draft was shared if there is one, that identifies the draft, the date you shared it, where you have seen it used, and attaches the dated record. Facts only; the record does the accusing. Step two, price the use. Give them a clean way to make it right that costs less than a dispute: licence the draft as used, at a stated fee, or hire you to finish the work properly at your normal rate, with the draft use folded into the engagement. A priced option converts your message from a complaint into an invoice-shaped decision, and businesses pay invoices far more readily than they apologise. Step three, set the boundary for anything further: the remaining drafts, concepts, and files from the pitch are not licensed, not to be used, adapted, or passed to another provider, and any further use needs a written agreement first. Then stop. One clear message with a record attached outperforms a thread of escalating ones, and everything after it is their move.

The message, ready to adapt

"I am writing about the draft I shared with you on [date], [describe it briefly]. I have seen it in use at [place] on [date]. I have attached the dated record of the draft as I sent it, which shows the work in this form on that date, before any engagement between us. Two ways to settle it: license the draft as used for [fee], payable by [date], or engage me to complete the work at [rate], with this use included. The other concepts and files from my pitch are not licensed and are not to be used or passed on. Please reply by [date] with which option you are taking."

What a dated record looks like in practice

The records below are the shape to aim for whenever work changes hands, including at pitch stage: the work saved step by step, each step with its time, and the other side's decision recorded on the same page. One is accepted, with the decision and its date on the record. One is still pending, which documents the other half of the lesson: work sitting in someone else's hands with no decision recorded is exactly where drafts get absorbed. A pitch shared this way starts with the date already fixed, so if the draft surfaces later, the sequence is a link, not an excavation through old messages.

Accepted: this stage is a settled fact, not a claim

Still open: delivered, checked, and waiting on the client

Note the fields that matter for a draft dispute in the accepted record: the steps were checked, the decision was the client's, it is dated 2026-10-16, and the release state is ok_to_release. A record like that for your pitch draft gives your message its spine: existed, in this form, on this date, seen by you. It does not decide ownership on its own, and the honest-limits section below is plain about that. It makes the timeline undeniable, and timelines are what these disputes actually turn on.

Share early work safely from now on

Prevention here is cheap because the exposure is a habit, not a hazard. Share early work as dated previews: a view-only record or a flattened preview that shows the thinking without handing over the workshop. Keep raw working files, layered files, source files, editable masters, at home until there is a hire and a deposit; a client evaluating a draft needs to see it, not to hold its parts. Put one sentence in the pitch message itself, every time, while it still feels friendly: shared for evaluation, not licensed for use. That sentence, sitting in the thread above the draft, does more work than any watermark. And save each pitch version as you send it, so the version they saw is the version you can produce, dated, unchanged, on demand. The goal is not suspicion. Good clients never notice these habits. The clients who would misuse a draft are precisely the ones the habits are for.

What this page does not settle

This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not decide who owns anything. Ownership and rights in drafts depend on your agreement, on any pitch or competition terms you accepted, and on the law where you work, and some clients will have a genuine claim that work was developed independently or under terms you agreed to. A verifiable receipt proves the saved draft was not changed since it was saved, and a dated record proves the draft existed in that form on that date. Neither proves legal ownership by itself. If the sums are serious, take the dated packet you assembled to a lawyer; it is exactly the evidence they will ask for first. Zambo never holds your money or the client's.

Frequently asked questions

My client is using my early drafts without hiring me. What can I do?

Work the sequence, in writing. First, assemble the timeline before you contact them: the draft as you sent it, the date and message you sent it in, their reply if any, and a dated capture of their use as it stands today. Second, send one clear message that names the draft and the date, attaches the dated record, and states where you have seen it used, without heat and without threats you have not priced. Third, price the use: offer a licence for the draft as used at a stated fee, or a proper engagement to finish the work, so paying you is the easiest decision on their desk. Fourth, set the boundary: the remaining pitch material is not licensed and is not to be used or passed on. A record proves the draft existed in that form on that date, which is the fact these disputes turn on. It does not by itself decide legal ownership, and for serious sums a lawyer reads the packet next; but most draft misuse ends at the priced letter, because the timeline leaves nothing to argue with.

How does a dated record help when there was no contract?

The missing contract is exactly why the record matters. Without an agreement, the dispute collapses into competing memories: whose idea it was, what was shared, when, and in what form. A dated record answers three of those four from outside both memories. It shows the draft existed, it shows the draft in the exact form you claim, and it shows the date, which you can set against the date of their use and the absence of any hire in between. What it cannot do is supply the legal conclusion: ownership, licence, and infringement are decided by your agreement, any pitch terms you accepted, and the law, not by a record. Think of it as the difference between saying "we spoke in March" and producing the dated file both sides can open. Lawyers, mediators, and honest clients all work from the second kind of fact.

What should the message to them actually say?

Four things, in this order, in one message. Name the work: the draft, described briefly, and the date you shared it, with the dated record attached so they can check it themselves. Name the use: where you saw it, and when, stated as fact without adjectives. Price the settlement: a licence fee for the draft as used, payable by a stated date, or a proper engagement to complete the work with the use included, so the reply you are asking for is a choice between two payments, not an admission. Set the boundary: the rest of your pitch material is not licensed, not to be used, adapted, or handed to another provider. Close with a reply date. Ready-to-adapt wording sits on this page. What the message must not contain: accusations about character, threats of exposure, or legal conclusions you have not taken advice on. The record makes you sound certain; the tone should match it, calm and priced.

Should I send raw working files when I pitch or share early drafts?

No. Raw working files, layered files, source code, editable masters, are the workshop, and the workshop transfers when there is a hire and a deposit, not when there is an evaluation. A client deciding whether to hire you needs to see the draft clearly, and a dated preview or a view-only record shows it completely: the design, the text, the thinking, at reading quality. What it does not hand over is the ability to finish, adapt, or rebuild the work without you, which is the practical line misuse has to cross. Two habits complete the protection. Save every version you send, exactly as sent, so the pitched version is producible later, dated and unchanged. And keep one sentence in the pitch message itself: shared for evaluation, not licensed for use. Neither habit reads as distrust to a genuine client. Both of them read, later, as professionalism to anyone reviewing the thread.

How do I share early work on a dated record from the first draft?

Put the pitch itself on a record, the same way finished work is delivered. When early work runs through Zambo, each version is saved with its time, the prospect views it on the record, and any decision they make sits on that record too, accepted and ok_to_release, or still pending and hold, so the sequence of what existed, when, and who saw it is one link you hold from day one. If the draft ever surfaces in their launch, your message attaches that link and the timeline argues itself. For $0.99, share the next pitch that way: https://zambo.dev/day-pass/ A Day Pass covers 24 hours, no subscription. Ongoing use is the Zambo Pass at $29 a month or $290 a year, and $19 a month for $ZAMBO holders, which adds private handover links, your branding, and the approval record as PDF and JSON files.

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