🚨 A scanned handwritten signature has no legal value for several reasons: electronic signatures (electronic signatures) that show a person`s consent to an agreement are not new. Their acceptance and use in many countries of the world has been widespread for years. More than one billion users worldwide are familiar with electronic document signatures. But are electronic signatures legal? Decades ago, when fax machines and PCs were much rarer, so many jurisdictions (courts) refused to accept fax signatures that very few companies accepted them as acceptable originals. As technology became more mainstream, this rule changed, industry by industry. But it wasn`t until Utah acted (1995) that electronic documents and signatures began to be accepted as authentic. As a rule, in handwritten signatures, validity and attribution are established by comparing copies of signatures and presenting statements by handwriting experts or witnesses present at the time of signing. It is not only expensive and time-consuming, but also less reliable due to the human element. By eliminating human error and automating the entire data collection process, audit trails make it easier to establish authenticity and resolve signature disputes in state and federal courts. An electronic signature, such as the one supported by DocuSign eSignature, is typically all it takes to create a legally binding document.
In cases where enhanced authentication is required in the United States (for example, certain transactions in regulated industries such as life sciences), tools such as signatures based on DocuSign standards can be used to digitally sign a document. This also applies to regions such as the European Union, where digital signatures are more common. The most important question when signing a faxed or scanned document is whether it can be proven that the party who allegedly signed the contract actually signed it. Since the parties were not common when they signed, fraud is slightly more likely than when signing original contracts jointly. Now that technology has established its future-proofing, the use of electronic documentation has crossed the threshold of legal reliability. There remain questions of proof or evidence that do not lead to the fundamental validity of electronic contract processing. For each document, DocuSign eSignature automatically generates and stores a complete, time-stamped history of each sending, viewing, printing, signing, or rejecting action. Information about the signer, signing event, and documents is maintained by the system in a certificate of completion. The certificate of completion includes a summary of the signing event or envelope that includes: Interestingly, this is an old law, the Statute of Frauds, originally enacted in 17th century England and still in force in 48 states, which allows you to use scanned signatures. The Fraud Act covers a number of types of contracts, including the sale of goods over $500.
Although it was developed nearly 400 years ago, the elements of the law can still be used to determine the validity of a modern signature. Before the days of digital records, the standards for what was an original document and what was a copy were clear. With regard to the legal validity of a copy or fax, an institution had to determine whether the electronic file constituted evidence of a contract and whether the signatures contained therein served as proof of acceptance of the contact. As fax machines became increasingly popular, few courts and companies accepted faxes with signatures as “originals” until 1995. Today, documents and faxes transmitted electronically are often sufficient to prove an agreement or at least serve as provisional evidence until the original is available. The credibility or value of a scanned or electronic document depends on the company`s document management procedures and the document in question. In the absence of proof, a scanned signature is considered a copy and not an authentic signature! It is therefore not legally valid, especially when it comes to contractual documents. Again, electronic records (with the laws of each state) should not be confused with electronic signatures (which vary greatly by industry). There are laws and – often recognized in the contract – private agreements between the parties to allow the electronic signature (e.g. by computer or via the Internet) of many documents.
Contractual formalities still need to be completed, as well as certain technical capabilities (e.g. encryption software). Therefore, in order to give your electronic signatures a valid framework, it is essential to have a solution that guarantees the reliability of your signature as well as your identity as a signatory. Depending on the market solution, different processes exist, more or less secure. For this reason, it is important to use a sovereign partner whose qualifications and certifications attest to the level of security. It actually happened to a colleague who was CTO of a software development company. The CTO signed a contract with various clauses, none of which mentioned the intellectual property of existing products. The worst happened and there was a dispute over various property rights. The original contract had scanned the signatures at the insistence of the original company.
When his day came to court, the other company had added additional pages to the contract without his consent. However, he had to prove that they had inserted them, and that they were not part of the original – for all intents and purposes, they looked like they were. The litigation was long and costly and involved a forensic analysis of the contract – it ended well for my colleague, but came at a price. Similarly, records required by government agencies can be managed in document imaging systems. Each time the government agency requests information, it creates duplicates from the document imaging system. The government agency may require that original records be retained or that your document imaging system meet certain standards. Government agencies in the United States may also use document imaging systems to manage and retrieve information. Original paper records in the short term could be destroyed after the images have been accurately stored in a document imaging system.
Since records of records are not archived, long-term (10-year retention) or permanent records must usually be retained as paper microfilm or archives. State and federal archives are not supposed to allow long-term destruction of paper records after digitization in a document imaging system, even if document imaging systems are certified for archival purposes. The scanned documents that are most likely to stand up in court are the paper copies that a company scans and stores electronically because they record handwriting. To increase the credibility of a document, a company should retain the original document, as the rules of evidence place the burden of proof on the party who loses the original document. Scanned documents are also more likely to be considered credible if companies have records management policies in place. The digitization process has become an integral part of employees` lives. For actions that are as frequent as they are essential, such as signing a contract, the electronic signature offers a significant gain in productivity. Although this process of dematerialization of signatures is familiar to companies, especially due to the Covid-19 health crisis, many companies still use scanned signatures. However, the legal value of this type of signature should be questioned. What weight does it carry? What does that mean? In short, this means that copies, microfilms and other reproductions, documents are the same as physical documents and are equally legally valid. 2.
The Uniform Rules of Evidence (US 128‐0060‐00 to 0170‐00) – the other important uniform law, “The Uniform Rules of Evidence”, has been passed by the federal courts of the United States and 34 states. The rules of evidence allow a duplicate to be admissible as evidence “to the same extent as an original” and define a duplicate as consideration produced by a technique “that faithfully reproduces the original.” It is obtained by scanning a previously signed paper document by hand and converting it into digital format (doc, pdf, etc.). Companies must establish records retention policies based on state and federal laws and industry-specific regulations. The guidelines should describe the procedures for scanning, storing and retrieving documents. It should also indicate when “handwritten” signatures (handwritten signatures) are required and when electronic signatures are permitted. Before we dive into the details of this article, I want you to keep something in mind. If you`ve spent centuries working hard, building your reputation, and you`re currently working with clients and building a successful business, you`d risk it because you couldn`t find the time to do one small thing right – which is to make sure your online contracts and electronic documents have valid signatures from all parties.