Definition
A copy is a reproduction or transcript of an original document, writing, or record. In legal contexts, the term carries specific evidentiary weight: a copy's admissibility and probative value depend on the method of its production and the authority behind it. The general principle is that an original is preferred, and a copy is admissible only where the original is unavailable or where the copy meets a recognized standard of authentication.
Legal usage distinguishes several grades of copy by reliability and formality:
1. Examined copy: A reproduction that has been compared, line by line, with the original document or an authorized official record. Admissibility rests on attestation that the comparison was made.
2. Office copy: A copy produced by an officer legally entrusted with custody of the originals and authorized to make reproductions. Carries the institutional authority of the office.
3. Exemplification: The highest-grade copy — a certified, authenticated reproduction verified under an official seal, such as the great seal or the seal of a court. Treated as presumptively authentic without further proof.
In intellectual property and publishing, copy takes on a distinct meaning: a single unit of a printed work (a book, newspaper, or other publication), or the text itself as prepared for reproduction.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To produce an object identical to a given object; to imitate; to place a reproduction in memory for later use; to receive a transmission successfully.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): An imitation, transcript, or reproduction of an original work; an individual book or single set of books containing the works of an author. Also used (now obsolete) to mean abundance or plenty.
The common meaning of copy captures the general idea of reproduction and is not wildly distant from the legal meaning. The significant gap is one of gradation: in ordinary use, a copy is simply a copy. In law, not all copies are equal. The evidentiary value of a copy turns entirely on how it was made, by whom, and under what authority. A photographic reproduction and a sealed exemplification may both be "copies" in everyday speech, but they occupy entirely different positions in the hierarchy of documentary evidence.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Examined Copy: Compared directly to the original; authenticated by the testimony or certificate of the person who conducted the comparison.
Office Copy: Made by an authorized custodial officer from originals in official keeping; authority derives from the officer's role, not from personal attestation.
Exemplification: Certified under seal of a court or sovereign authority; the strongest form of a copy for evidentiary purposes. Treated in many jurisdictions as equivalent to the original for purposes of proof.
Why It Matters in Research
The practical research challenge with copy is that the term appears across multiple legal domains — evidence law, real property, intellectual property, records law, and pleading — and the standards governing admissibility and meaning shift substantially by context and era.
In historical sources, copy is almost entirely an evidentiary concept: the question was always whether a document could substitute for a missing original and, if so, under what conditions. Researchers working with pre-20th century materials should pay close attention to which grade of copy is being discussed; sources often use the term generically when the argument hinges on the specific subtype.
The rise of mechanical and then digital reproduction changed the practical stakes without immediately changing the legal vocabulary. Courts and legislatures had to develop new frameworks for photocopies, microfilm reproductions, electronic records, and digital files — often reaching back to the examined copy / office copy / exemplification taxonomy and adapting it. The Federal Rules of Evidence in the United States addressed this evolution with the "duplicate" concept (FRE 1001–1003), which effectively modernized the examined copy doctrine without using historical terminology.
In intellectual property research, copy shifts meaning almost entirely. Here the term describes a unit of a protected work or the act of unauthorized reproduction. Researchers should be alert to false cognates when moving between evidentiary sources and copyright sources in the same research session: an "infringing copy" and an "examined copy" share a word but inhabit entirely different legal frameworks.
Jurisdictional variation in what qualifies as a self-authenticating copy (and thus needs no further proof) is significant and has changed over time. Researchers relying on historical cases about the admissibility of copies should verify whether the rule applied was a common-law rule, a local court rule, or an early evidence statute — all three sources existed simultaneously in the 19th century.
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries are in close agreement on the core definition: a copy is the transcript or double of an original writing. Burrill, Black (both editions), Bouvier, and Anderson all lead with this formulation, and Rapalje & Lawrence structure it similarly. The consensus is notable given how much these dictionaries diverge on contested terms.
Where the sources add value is in their taxonomy of copy types. Bouvier's is the most practically organized, distinguishing examined copies, office copies, and exemplifications cleanly and noting that the last are verified by official seal. Burrill adds the further distinction between copies under seal and copies not under seal, which maps directly onto the evidentiary hierarchy. Rapalje & Lawrence provides a useful catalogue of the principal sorts of copies admitted for proof of documents and is worth consulting when the specific authentication method is at issue in a historical source.
What the historical dictionaries do not address — because they predate it — is the entire modern apparatus governing duplicates, electronic records, and certified reproductions under rules-based evidence systems. They also give no treatment to copy in the intellectual property or publishing sense, which had not yet developed its modern legal significance at the time most of these dictionaries were compiled.
Jurisdictional Note
American federal practice modernized and largely superseded the common-law copy taxonomy through the Federal Rules of Evidence, particularly the "best evidence" or "original document" rules (FRE Article X). Many states follow similar codified approaches. However, in matters involving foreign records, older property documents, and certain court certifications, the traditional examined copy / exemplification framework still surfaces. Researchers working in civil law jurisdictions will encounter different but parallel hierarchies for authenticated document copies.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Evidence — Documentary Evidence and Authentication; Intellectual Property — Copyright and Reproduction Rights; Records Law — Official Copies and Certification.