44 U.S.C. § 2116 : US Code - Section 2116: Legal status of reproductions; official seal; fees for copies and reproductions

Search 44 U.S.C. § 2116 : US Code - Section 2116: Legal status of reproductions; official seal; fees for copies and reproductions

(a) When records that are required by statute to be retained
indefinitely have been reproduced by photographic,
microphotographic, or other processes, in accordance with standards
established by the Archivist the indefinite retention by the
photographic, microphotographic, or other reproductions constitutes
compliance with the statutory requirement for the indefinite
retention of the original records. The reproductions, as well as
reproductions made under regulations to carry out chapter 21, 29,
31, and 33 of this title, shall have the same legal status as the
originals.
(b) There shall be an official seal for the National Archives of
the United States which shall be judicially noticed. When a copy or
reproduction, furnished under this section, is authenticated by the
official seal and certified by the Archivist, the copy or
reproduction shall be admitted in evidence equally with the
original from which it was made.
(c) The Archivist may charge a fee set to recover the costs for
making or authenticating copies or reproductions of materials
transferred to his custody. Such fee shall be fixed by the
Archivist at a level which will recover, so far as practicable, all
elements of such costs, and may, in the Archivist's discretion,
include increments for the estimated replacement cost of equipment.
Such fees shall be paid into, administered, and expended as a part
of the National Archives Trust Fund. The Archivist may not charge
for making or authenticating copies or reproductions of materials
for official use by the United States Government unless
appropriations available to the Archivist for this purpose are
insufficient to cover the cost of performing the work.