3 ms·

I don't know about any special rules for marriage licenses, but for inks there's DIN/ISO 12757-2. Search for "Dokumentenechtheit". It's not that exotic, though.

by mhd 5y ago

I don't know about any special rules for marriage licenses, but for inks there's DIN/ISO 12757-2. Search for "Dokumentenechtheit". It's not that exotic, though. It gets a bit weird for printers. Laser and dot-matrix printers generally are okay, but you need a certified ink jet. Problem is that by the time they're certified, they might not be available. And then you only get the certification on proper paper, with the default inks, so don't cheap out on your old HP... As this is a ISO norm, too, I don't think this is something peculiar to Germany, after all, document storage isn't just a teutonic issue.

gumby 5y ago
I imagine there must be other countries with similar rules, just as the opposite is true. For example in the US, in general whatever two parties freely agree to is litigatable, even if scribbled with a pencil on the back of a shopping bag. The units or language used are not constrained. In California, and probably other states, a verbal contract is binding (though proving what was said can be tough).
- mhd 5y ago
  This is about archival, not contract law. You can seal contracts with handshakes in Germany, too. But for certain types of records, you need to ensure longevity, and there are norms for that regarding paper, ink or even digital storage. I would assume the NARA has some thoughts about that, but on the local/state level things will probably be a lot more mixed than in most European nations. Both for different attitudes towards independence (I regret ever mentioning the advantages of a federal ID in Ohio), and experience (outside of universities, Europe is littered with more old documents).
banana_giraffe 5y ago
I'm reminded of checks. They use (used? not sure if it's still a thing) MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition for the code at the bottom of the check. Back in the days before any bespoke product was a search away, tracking done printer ink and toner to print checks for a small business was a surprising chore. Heck, just finding the fonts was itself a bit hard.

by mhd 5y ago

gumby 5y ago

I imagine there must be other countries with similar rules, just as the opposite is true. For example in the US, in general whatever two parties freely agree to is litigatable, even if scribbled with a pencil on the back of a shopping bag. The units or language used are not constrained. In California, and probably other states, a verbal contract is binding (though proving what was said can be tough).

mhd 5y ago
This is about archival, not contract law. You can seal contracts with handshakes in Germany, too. But for certain types of records, you need to ensure longevity, and there are norms for that regarding paper, ink or even digital storage. I would assume the NARA has some thoughts about that, but on the local/state level things will probably be a lot more mixed than in most European nations. Both for different attitudes towards independence (I regret ever mentioning the advantages of a federal ID in Ohio), and experience (outside of universities, Europe is littered with more old documents).

banana_giraffe 5y ago

I'm reminded of checks. They use (used? not sure if it's still a thing) MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition for the code at the bottom of the check. Back in the days before any bespoke product was a search away, tracking done printer ink and toner to print checks for a small business was a surprising chore. Heck, just finding the fonts was itself a bit hard.