Establishing and managing a comprehensive electronic records management program, with its all-important retention and disposition policies, typically leads most organizations to consider converting many of their active paper records to electronic records – by scanning the paper into electronic files and creating “digital image copies.”

This white paper addresses key legal questions associated with the conversion process, including:

• Are digital image copies legally as acceptable as “writings” and “original” paper records?
• What evidentiary hurdles must be overcome so that digital image copies are admissible in court?
• Can original paper records that have been digitally copied be destroyed?
• How does a company integrate the rules of evidence and case law into the management of records in a way that increases the admissibility and credibility of digital image copies?

In exploring the associated legal, technical and operational issues, this white paper seeks to help organizations make informed and favorable decisions to convert their paper records into digital image copies.

This paper was prepared in 2008 by Cohasset Associates, Inc. and reviewed by the Law Department at IBM.  Permissions were given for distribution in support of Paper Free Day.