California Evidence Code 1563: Copy Charges, Payment, and Witness Fees

California Evidence Code Section 1563 sets the rules for what a non-party business can charge when it produces records in response to a subpoena, and when the party who issued the subpoena has to pay. The short version: the subpoenaing party pays every reasonable cost of compliance, several categories are capped by statute, the business must give an itemized bill, and only one witness fee is owed per subpoena.¹

What a Business Can Charge Under Section 1563

Section 1563 shifts the cost of producing subpoenaed business records onto the party who served the subpoena. The statute caps several categories so a custodian cannot bill whatever it wants for pulling files and running a copier.

Standard copying: $0.10 per page for documents 8½ by 14 inches or smaller.
Microfilm copying: $0.20 per page.
Oversize or special-processing documents: actual reproduction costs.
Clerical time to locate and make the records available: up to $24 per hour per person, billed in quarter-hour increments at $6 per quarter hour or any fraction of one.
Postage: actual charges.
Offsite retrieval: the actual cost a third party charges to retrieve the records and return them to storage.

Anything the business bills has to tie back to one of those categories or qualify as a reasonable cost actually incurred. Charges that go beyond the statutory caps are vulnerable to challenge.

When Payment Is Due

The custodian cannot demand money up front as a condition of starting the work. What the custodian can do is demand payment at the moment of actual delivery, and until that payment is made, the business has no obligation to hand the records over. The business must provide an itemized statement showing reproduction and clerical costs, so the subpoenaing party can see what they are paying for.¹

Challenging an Inflated Bill

If the charges look excessive, the party who paid can petition the court to recover overpayments or reduce the charges. Once the court issues an order to show cause, it has jurisdiction over the witness and can take testimony about whether the costs were reasonable.¹

On-Site Inspection and Copying

When the subpoenaing party’s attorney or representative goes to the business’s location to inspect or copy records on-site, Section 1563 sets a different ceiling. The compliance fee drops to a maximum of $15, plus whatever a third party actually charges for retrieving offsite records. If the on-site records happen to include microfilm, the standard microfilm rates apply instead of the flat $15 cap.¹

Sending someone to inspect in person is often the cheapest route when the volume of records is large, because the per-page copy fees and clerical-time charges that drive up a mailed production do not apply the same way.

One Witness Fee Per Subpoena

Section 1563 is explicit that the entire article requires only one witness fee and one mileage fee per subpoena, unless the witness and the requesting party agree to something different. A business that tries to stack multiple witness fees onto a single records production has no statutory basis for it.¹

How 1563 Fits with the Rest of the Business-Records Subpoena Process

Section 1563 is the fee statute inside a four-section framework. The others set the timeline, packaging, and admissibility rules that the custodian is being paid to follow.

Deadlines Under Section 1560

In a civil case, the custodian has 15 days from receipt of the subpoena to deliver the records. In a criminal case, the deadline is five days. The requesting party and the custodian can agree to a different schedule if it works better for both.²

Deposition subpoenas for business records under Code of Civil Procedure 2020.430 run on a parallel track: the custodian delivers to the deposition officer named in the subpoena, and the records cannot be released before the date and time stated on the subpoena unless all parties stipulate otherwise.³

Packaging Under Section 1560

Compliance means delivering a true, legible, and durable copy of every record described in the subpoena, together with the custodian’s affidavit. The copies go into a sealed inner envelope or wrapper labeled with the case title, case number, the witness’s name, and the date of the subpoena. That inner envelope goes inside a sealed outer envelope addressed to the correct recipient: the court clerk if the subpoena requires court attendance, the deposition officer if it is a deposition subpoena, or the officer or tribunal conducting the hearing in other situations. The package stays sealed until the judge or presiding officer directs that it be opened, with the parties present.²

The Custodian’s Affidavit Under Section 1561

The affidavit is what lets copies substitute for the custodian’s live testimony. It must state that the signer is the authorized custodian or another qualified witness, that the copies are true copies of all records described in the subpoena, that the records were prepared by business personnel in the ordinary course of business at or near the time of the act or event they document, that the records are identified, and how they were prepared. If the business has none of the requested records, or only some, the affidavit must say so, and whatever records exist go with it.⁴

When the subpoenaing party’s attorney or representative picks up records at the business and copies them, that attorney or representative must provide a separate affidavit confirming the copies are true copies of what was delivered for copying.⁴

Admissibility Under Section 1562

Copies produced this way are admissible to the same extent the originals would have been if the custodian had appeared and testified to the contents of the affidavit. The affidavit itself is admissible, and its statements are presumed true. The presumption affects the burden of producing evidence, so an opposing party can rebut it by showing the records are untrustworthy, but the records come in until that happens.⁵

Section 1562 also sets a notice step the subpoenaing party cannot skip. Each adverse party must get written notice at least 20 days before trial that business records are being subpoenaed under this procedure. An adverse party who serves a written demand within 10 days of receiving that notice can force production of the originals and live testimony from the custodian instead of copies with an affidavit.⁵

What Section 1563 Does Not Cover

Section 1563 deals with compliance costs and witness fees. It does not create the separate notice rights that attach when the subpoena targets a consumer’s personal records or an employee’s employment records. Those come from Code of Civil Procedure 1985.3 and 1985.6, which require the subpoenaing party to serve the consumer or employee with the subpoena and a written notice about their right to object, with specific timing windows before the business can release anything. If health records are involved, HIPAA adds its own notice-or-protective-order requirements on top of the Evidence Code procedure. A reader focused only on the fee rules should know those regimes exist before serving or responding to a subpoena that touches personal, employment, or medical records.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code EVID 1563 – Producing Business Records
2
California Legislative Information. California Code EVID 1560 – Production of Business Records
3
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2020.430 – Deposition Subpoena for Business Records
4
California Legislative Information. California Code EVID 1561 – Affidavit of Custodian
5
California Legislative Information. California Code EVID 1562 – Admissibility of Copies