SOFTWARE IP EVIDENCE PRESERVATION CHECKLIST
Version 1 | October 10, 2026 | Educational template, not legal advice
Educational resource. Downloading this checklist does not create a professional engagement.

1. Identify the concern without deciding the legal conclusion.
Record observable facts, dates, versions, and why the issue matters.
Separate facts, assumptions, and alternative explanations.

2. Contact existing counsel about preservation duties and deadlines.
Agree the scope, custodians, authorized collection, and any preservation hold.
Do not suspend or change retention on your own if that may alter evidence.

3. Inventory originals.
Locate released binaries, source history, build records, dependency manifests,
license terms, acceptance records, ownership assignments, and access logs.
Collect only materials you are authorized to access. Do not bypass controls.

4. Preserve context and integrity through a qualified procedure.
Record source, collector, date/time and timezone, artifact version, storage
location, access controls, and handling history. Ask a qualified practitioner
to determine integrity checks, acquisition methods, and working-copy procedures.
Avoid editing originals or conducting experiments on potential evidence.

5. Account for rights and alternative explanations.
Identify third-party and open-source components, authorized sharing,
independent development, and common industry requirements.

6. Establish an evidence register and access owner.
Document every transfer and authorized access. Use approved storage.
Do not send artifacts to public upload forms or general-purpose AI services
without an authorized confidentiality and handling review.

7. Agree a bounded next step.
Set the specific question, available evidence, limitations, deliverables,
budget, and stop conditions. Ask counsel to assess rights and response options.

Sources:
NIST IR 8387: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8387
U.S. Copyright Office: https://www.copyright.gov/register/tx-programs.html
18 U.S.C. 1839: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1839
No claim of NIST certification or legal sufficiency is made.