TITLE TEN — CONTENTS OF WRITINGS AND RECORDS
Rule 1001. Definitions That Apply to This Article
The following definitions apply under this Rule:
Writings and Records. “Writings” and “records” are documents that consist of letters, words, numbers, or their equivalent. Photographs, composite pictures, tape recordings, videotapes, and digital images are not writings or records.
Electronic Writings. A writing or record may exist in electronic form. A message posted in a Discord server channel or thread, a direct message, an in-game chat message, an entry in an in-game system, a log or export of any of them, and a document filed through the electronic filing system are writings or records within this Title.
Items That Are Not Writings. A screenshot, screen capture, screen recording, video capture, GIF, photograph, or audio recording is not a writing or record within this Title, and its admission is governed by Rule 1108 and not by this Title. Where such an item is offered to prove the content of a writing or record which it displays, this Title applies to that use of it.
Original. An “original” of a writing or record means the writing or record itself or any copy intended to have the same effect by the person who executed or issued it.
Electronically Stored Records. For a writing or record stored electronically, the original is the record as it exists in the account, channel, server, or system in which it was created or is maintained. Any printout, export, or other output readable by sight, shown to reflect the information accurately, is also an original.
Records of the Electronic Filing System. For a document filed through the electronic filing system, the original is the document as that system received and maintains it. The system does not permit a document to be amended, withdrawn, replaced, or redacted; a second transmission to a document already received does not replace the bytes received.
Duplicate. A “duplicate” is a copy of a writing or record that is not intended to be an original, the copies being no more than secondary evidence of the original.
What May Be a Duplicate. A duplicate includes a copy produced by any process or system that accurately reproduces the original, including a photocopy, a scan, a printout, an export, a re-transmission, a forwarded message, and a capture of a screen displaying the original.
Capture. A “capture” means a still image, screenshot, screen recording, video recording, or GIF made of a display, of gameplay, or of a screen.
In-Game Record. An “in-game record” means a record, log, entry, or system message generated or maintained by an in-game system of the State or of an agency of the State, including an arrest record, a warrant entry, a citation, a licence, an employment record, a transaction record, and an inventory record.
Scope of This Title. This Title governs proof of the content of a writing or record where the content is itself in issue or where a party seeks to prove what a writing or record says. It does not govern proof of an event which happened to be recorded, and a witness with personal knowledge of an event may testify to it without producing any record of it.