Using the Wayback Machine in Litigation

Lawyers Weekly USA: Feature Article:

Using an online database called the Wayback Machine and archived web pages collected by companies like Google, lawyers are unearthing a wide range of web-based evidence, including websites that no longer exist and old versions of current sites.

Intellectual property lawyers have been using these techniques for a few years to locate old websites that demonstrate that their clients' trademark or domain name has been misused.

But the practice is now expanding into other areas of the law, where archived websites are providing helpful evidence in a host of other cases, including criminal cases, family law matters and product liability cases, among countless others. Attorneys say it's only a matter of time before these tools become commonplace in law offices and courtrooms across the country.