Are photocopied contracts legal?

I was just wondering if they were. In the past I have taken the contract, scanned it, and kept the paper copy as well. In an effort to go somewhat paperless, I was thinking of digitizing all my contracts in PDF form and uploading them to my web server. I had been doing this already in the event my house burns down or something, but when I reprint it out, is it legal?

It seems to me it should be, but I just wanted to make sure before I start shredding my old contracts.

Thanks!

Well Canonlaw, I've always assumed a signed contract, photocopied or original, was a binding legal document.

For every wedding or social event I shoot, I sign the original, have the client sign next to mine name, I keep the original and scan a copy for them. My thought is that I am bound by both. They would also have legal recourse if I failed to perform according to the terms of the original or photocopied contract. - Stu

sapearl wrote in post #5882925
Well Canonlaw, I've always assumed a signed contract, photocopied or original, was a binding legal document.

For every wedding or social event I shoot, I sign the original, have the client sign next to mine name, I keep the original and scan a copy for them. My thought is that I am bound by both. They would also have legal recourse if I failed to perform according to the terms of the original or photocopied contract. - Stu

Thanks for the input. Kinda what I was thinking.

Of course, I'm no attorney... just an engineer/photographer.​... so hopefully wiser folks than I will chime in soon .

CanonLaw wrote in post #5883363
Thanks for the input. Kinda what I was thinking.

I'm no lawyer, but I would have thought it more likely to stand up in court if there is an original signature on the document. It is very easy to photocopy a document with a pasted on signature, which would be hard to spot. Therefore if someone contests it .....

Just my thought, I am happier with an original signature just in case.

My legal advice however, is worth exactly what you paid for it.

I believe if you have to appear in court that the only presentable documents are originals, so you better hang on to them.

Well you gotta have your source located somewhere. Whether it's a doc, pdf, handwritten note, or crayola scribble, doesn't really matter.

As far as copies go, I print out one for each member involved and just have them sign each one, and do so myself. No one has complained so far and since my office is the local coffee shop, it gives everyone a copy already signed and dated with inky signatures to walk out the door with in hand. Peace of mind all the way around.

Okay, I'm not an attorney either.... But I did work in real estate for quite a few years, as well as other businesses that used legal agreements... and I stayed at a Holiday Inn last nite.

It was drummed into us that only the original signature and document could be expected to hold up in court, if it ever came to that. Often faxes were used in real estate transactions for speed and efficiency in back and forth negotiations. But all those documents needed to be re-signed later before the deal could close. A copy should only be used in court if necessary, and was far more open to challenge.

Oh, and we also only used blue pens.

I was talking with a friend last evening who has run into a problem with copied documents... in particular her birth certificate. She's trying to have shares of a mining stock that she inherited some years ago but just recently found out about transfered over to her. Her grandfather bought them when they were literally penny stocks and no one knew suspected were diamonds in Canada! At this point, she can't even find out how many shares of stock are involved (probably a lot, because her grandfather invested in a number of other penny stocks, too), because the company and courts won't accept her birth certificate due to it being a copy of a copy that's barely legible, and no original has been found so far.

You can get original birth certificates from your state capitol's department of vital records. I had to get one for my passport application in April.

cdifoto wrote in post #5886694
You can get original birth certificates from your state capitol's department of vital records. I had to get one for my passport application in April.

Unless you were born in Louisiana, as was my mom. The building that held her birth certificate was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina

I'm not an attorney, but I took a Intro to Bus. law course 22 years ago.

I'd suggest keeping contracts for a year or two after the event. Then shred them, and retain digital copies.

Tom

amfoto1 wrote in post #5886674
Okay, I'm not an attorney either.... But I did work in real estate for quite a few years, as well as other businesses that used legal agreements... and I stayed at a Holiday Inn last nite.

HAHA! I will take your advice above all others only because you stayed in a Holiday Inn last night.

Well, it seems that I probably should just hang on to the original, plus a scanned copy. Until the Attorney General of Washington State tells me I don't need to keep it, I think I will just do it.

Thanks for the input!

CanonLaw wrote in post #5886726
Unless you were born in Louisiana, as was my mom. The building that held her birth certificate was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina

Mine was printed on-demand. Well not quite on-demand. I had to kill an hour.

cdifoto wrote in post #5886745
Mine was printed on-demand. Well not quite on-demand. I had to kill an hour.

Were you born in Louisiana?

CanonLaw wrote in post #5886756
Were you born in Louisiana?

Oh yeah I forgot. Louisiana doesn't have technology.