Court transcripts.

Existing law authorizes a superior court to appoint official reporters and prescribes the fees for their services. Existing law requires that transcripts prepared by a reporter using computer assistance and delivered on a medium other than paper be compensated at the same rate set for paper transcripts, except as specified. Existing law establishes certain fees for second copies of transcripts, as specified, including transcripts in computer-readable format. Existing law authorizes a court, party, or person who has purchased a transcript to reproduce a copy or portion thereof as an exhibit, pursuant to court order or rule, or for internal use, without paying a further fee to the reporter, but prohibits otherwise providing or selling a copy or copies to any other party or person. This bill would limit the reproduction provisions described above to computer-readable transcripts. This bill would additionally authorize, in the case of transcripts that are not computer-readable, the purchaser of a transcript to reproduce the transcript for internal use or in response to a request for discovery, a court order, or subpoena, or as permitted by rule of court or statute, without paying a further fee to the reporter, but would prohibit otherwise providing or selling a copy or copies to any other party or person.