A more thorough explanation:

The best evidence rule is a legal principle that applies when a party wants to use a writing, recording, or photograph as evidence in a trial, but the original is not available. In such cases, the party must provide a valid reason why the original is not available. If the court finds the reason acceptable, the party can use secondary evidence to prove the contents of the document.

The best evidence rule only applies when a party seeks to prove the contents of the document sought to be admitted as evidence. For example, if a witness testifies that they made a payment without entering a receipt for the payment into evidence, the best evidence rule does not require the receipt to be entered.

Most information is stored electronically these days, so the original of an electronically stored piece of evidence includes an archive or printout of that information. For instance, if a party would like to enter a series of emails into evidence, they can print out the emails and use the printout as an original for satisfying the best evidence rule.

Duplicates of written, recorded, or photographic evidence are also admissible in court unless a genuine question is raised about the authenticity of the original or it is unfair to admit the duplicates due to the specific circumstances. For example, a party can enter a copy of a lease contract in a landlord-tenant dispute. However, if the opposing party claims that the copy of the lease contract provided is fraudulent, the best evidence rule requires that the original lease contract must be produced in such a scenario.

Whether a proponent has met the requirement for “admitting other evidence of the content of a document” is determined by the court. In a jury trial, however, the jury determines whether an asserted writing, recording, or photograph ever existed, whether another writing, recording, or photograph produced at trial is the original, or whether other evidence of content correctly reflects the content.