Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Your question is not very specific as to the kind of document or the purpose for which you need an original, so I'll have to give you a kind of general answer.

First, technology has kind of muddied the concept of what an original is, if it ever was clear. Even the monks in middle-ages monasteries were considered to be making "copies" of the Bible as they sat at their desks with quill pens in hand. As recently as ten years ago, some court clerks wanted originals presented for filing to bear blue-ink signatures, so the signed "originals" could be told from Xerox copies. Now we have color copiers and filing by FAX is permitted, so neither requirement is germane anymore.

Indeed, the number of purposes for which "originals" in the usual sense are required is shrinking. Wills, certain filings with the Secretary of State, and most instruments presented for recording require original signatures of the principal (or his/her agent authorized thereto in writing). See Government Code section 27201(b) requiring an original signature on any "instrument, paper or notice" presented for recording. 27201(b) also authorizes recording of certified copies of originals.

There is a pilot program for recording digital or digitized documents, but it isonly available to high-volume users like governmental units, lenders and escrow companies.

If your notary can provide you with a certified copy based on whatever you have, that may be sufficient to have it accepted for recording (if that's what you are trying to accomplish).

So, I don't think you can get an "original copy" out of an original document. The copy would lack original signatures