1003 Admissibility of duplicates

**What This Rule Means**

If you have a copy of a document instead of the original, you can usually use that copy in court just like it was the real thing. Courts generally trust copies as much as originals these days, since photocopying and scanning are reliable and common.

There are two situations where a copy won't be allowed in place of the original. First, if someone raises a real doubt about whether the original document is genuine, the copy won't cut it. Second, if using the copy instead of the original would be unfair to one side in the case, the court can require the original instead.

In practice, this means you don't always need to track down the original document to prove your point in court. A clear photocopy, scan, or printout will usually work fine. But if there's a real fight brewing over whether the original is authentic, or if skipping the original would hurt someone's ability to challenge the evidence fairly, the judge can insist on seeing the real document instead of a copy.