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Data Supplier Handbook

Maintaining Your Declarations (Updates & Corrections)

Declarations stored in CommonsDB are immutable. Once a specific declaration record is accepted by the registry, it cannot be modified, overwritten, or deleted.

However, rights information changes (e.g., a copyright expires and enters the Public Domain) and cataloging typos happen. To correct a record, your organization simply submits a new declaration that officially overrides the old one using the supersedes field.

How to Execute an Update:

1. Find the Original ID: You must locate the cryptographic Content ID (declarationId / CID) of the previous declaration you wish to correct (this usually starts with bbqj...).

  • Approach 1 (Integrated Workflow): Query your internal CMS or database where you logged the original API success responses.
  • Approach 2 (Declarer Tool): Open your local MASTER_LEDGER.csv (or your previous _DECLARED.csv batch output file) and copy the value from the declarationId column.

2. Update Your Metadata & Link the Records: Prepare your new, corrected data and link it to the old record.

  • Approach 1: In your new JSON-LD payload, include the supersedes field containing the old ID, alongside your corrected rights or descriptive information.
  • Approach 2: In your active metadata.csv preparation sheet, locate the existing supersedes column. Paste the old ID into that column for the specific asset you are updating, and ensure the rest of the row contains your corrected data.

3. Submit: Process and sign the new submission as usual (via your automated API pipeline or the Declarer tool).

The registry will detect the supersedes link and maintain a chronological provenance chain. When registry users query that ISCC fingerprint, CommonsDB will automatically return your most recent, authoritative statement while safely preserving the history of earlier declarations.