Saving evidence while the facts are still available

A page changes. A message is deleted. Someone replaces a product photograph. The facts of an online dispute get harder to reconstruct while everyone is still deciding how to respond, so save what you can see today, before you write to anyone. A good record gives you breathing room and lets you explain the situation to someone who was not there when you found it.

Do not wait for the dispute to settle into shape. An infringement claim at the U.S. Copyright Claims Board (CCB) has to be brought within three years from when the infringing activity took place 5, and the page you are looking at now may be gone long before then.

Save the surrounding scene

A close crop shows the copied-looking image clearly but leaves out whose page it was on, what was being sold, and whether a credit or license notice sat nearby. Save both:

1. The whole page. In Chrome, press Ctrl + P (⌘ + P on a Mac) and save the page as a PDF 6. Also take a full-window screenshot with the address bar visible.
2. The details you need. Crop or zoom only in a copy; keep the full capture as well.
3. Who and where. The full web address, the account or seller name, the listing or post title, and the date and time you looked.
4. Each version. If the page changes, capture it again and keep the earlier capture. Note when you saw each version.
5. The actual file, if you can download it lawfully. Keep it beside the capture. For a video, note the time within it where the material appears.

A search-result thumbnail, the page it links to, and the original uploaded file are three different things. Name each file for what it is, for example 2026-10-21_seller-page_full.pdf and 2026-10-21_seller-page_photo-crop.png.

Keep originals and your interpretation apart

Arrows, highlighted passages and side-by-side comparisons are useful working copies. Make them in copies. Never overwrite an original capture with an annotated version, and never "clean up" an unclear screenshot in a way that hides the change. In a CCB proceeding, each party signs a certification that the documents it produces are genuine and unaltered to the best of its knowledge 1. Intentionally destroying or altering evidence can bring sanctions there, including an adverse inference, monetary sanctions and a finding of bad faith 3.

A dated file or a timestamp is one piece of information. It does not prove authorship, ownership, or the date another person first used something (see what timestamps can and cannot prove). In your notes, separate three things: what you saw yourself, what someone told you, and what you concluded. "The page was unavailable when I checked again at 4 p.m." is an observation. "They deleted it because they knew they were wrong" is a conclusion, and that observation does not establish it.

The permission history may matter as much as the image

The CCB's standard document requests show what a decision-maker asks for, and it is much more than a side-by-side comparison. Each party must produce the documents it will use, the documents it is reasonably aware of that conflict with its own position, its communications with the other side about the work, and any agreements or licenses between the parties 1 2. You cannot withhold relevant information because it hurts your case 3. Save the unhelpful material now along with the rest.

If you believe your work was copied, keep 1:

• a copy of your work that matches the copy you deposited with the Copyright Office, your registration, and your correspondence with the Office about it;
• where you published the work, and anything showing the other party could have seen it;
• every agreement showing how you came to own the rights or how you transferred or licensed them, including employment and work-for-hire agreements;
• royalties or payments anyone has paid you for the work, and records of the harm the use caused you;
• what you did to make the use stop, including every takedown notice you sent to a platform.

If you are the person accused, keep 2:

• every version of your work that is said to infringe, and the records of how you created it;
• the license, permission or source you relied on for the material, in the version you obtained;
• where you published your work, and whether you had access to theirs;
• revenue and profit from the work, the costs of producing it, and what part of the profit came from your own contributions;
• every takedown notice or counter-notice you sent.

Preservation does not mean publishing a dossier

Keep confidential contracts, customer details and private messages in a private folder. Posting a public accusation, or uploading a client's records to an AI tool, is a different act from preserving evidence for yourself. The person helping you usually needs a one-paragraph summary first, not the archive.

Assume anything you later file becomes public. Evidence filed with the CCB is part of the public record; you redact personally identifiable information, and you need the Board's permission before filing truly confidential material under seal 4. Make redacted working copies properly: replace the sensitive text or use a real redaction tool, because white text or black highlighting can be undone 3. Keep the unredacted original stored separately. Confidential messages with your lawyer seeking legal advice are privileged and are not produced 3.

Use only access you are entitled to. Do not log into another person's account, pose as a customer, or ask someone to obtain private material by deception. Do not tidy up in a panic: in a CCB proceeding you must preserve all documents relevant and significant to your case, and must not ask anyone else to destroy or alter evidence 1 3. Once you receive a demand letter, a CCB claim or a lawsuit, ask a copyright litigation attorney which records you must keep and whether automatic deletion, such as email retention settings or disappearing messages, has to be switched off.

Make the record understandable to a stranger

Use five folders: the work you created, the material you found, permissions and agreements, correspondence, and a timeline. Beside each item, add one line saying where it came from and why it matters. The CCB asks for the same thing when you present your case: a list that identifies each piece of evidence, describes it briefly and says how it relates to your claim 4.

Search the places a reasonable person would search: paper files, email and computer files, including those held by anyone acting for you, such as an assistant or agent 1. You do not need a forensic vendor; the CCB expects a manual search a non-lawyer can do 1. In a CCB case the parties typically exchange documents about 45 days after the pre-discovery conference, and the documents shared then are generally the only ones you can use later 3. A folder you build now saves you that scramble.

If something is missing, write it down. "The original license email has not been found" is more useful than quietly treating an assumption as a document. When you find it later, add it and note the date; a CCB party must update its production as soon as practical after finding new responsive documents 1. A careful record leaves room for the facts to change your understanding.