The Bluebook requires citation to printed material (provided it is available), unless there is an authenticated, official, or exact digital copy of the printed sources. See R. 18.2.1
Example: The Ohio Supreme Court has designated the Supreme Court website as the Ohio Official Reports for opinions of the courts of appeals and the Court of Claims. See Ohio Rep. Op. R. 3.2, http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/LegalResources/rules/reporting/Report.pdf [https://perma.cc/772J-5ALP]. These opinions are in PDF format and bear a watermark.
When an authenticated, official, or exact copy of a source is available online, citation can be made as if to the original print source with no need for a URL BUT if the print is obscure or if adding the URL will help someone find it, add the UR at the end of the citation and provide for the archival preservation of the source.
If there is no print format or if the print format is obscure and is, for all practical purposes unavailable, cite to the most stable Internet source available.
Eric Goldman, When Should Search Engines Ignore Court Orders To Remove Search Results?,Tech. & Marketing L. Blog (Sept. 4, 2013), http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2013/09/when_should_sea.htm [https://perma.cc/U2AN-2TXE].
Ryan Thoreson, Trump Administration Moves to Reject Transgender Identity Rights, Hum. Rts. Watch: Dispatches (Jan. 23, 2025 5:00AM EST), https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights [https://perma.cc/Q22L-CSPL].
Bill Ong Hing, Understanding SB1070 from the Lens of Institutionalized Racism and Civil Rights, Legal Services N. Cal.: Race Equity Project, http://www.equity.lsnc.net/understanding-sb1070-from-the-lens-of-institutionalized-racism-and-civil-rights (last visited Sept. 9, 2015) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130215000000*/http://www.equity.lsnc.net/understanding-sb1070-from-the-lens-of-institutionalized-racism-and-civil-rights].
A parallel citation to an Internet source may be provided if it substantially improves access to the source. Follow the regular rules for citing the source and then add the parallel Internet citation.
Commission on Women in the Profession, American Bar Association,From Visible Invisibility to Visibly Successful: Success Strategies for Law Firms and Women of Color in Law Firms (2008), http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/wome/woc/VisiblySuccessful.authcheckdam.pdf.
D. Andrew Austin & Mindy R. Levit, Cong. Research Serv., The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases (Aug. 27, 2013), http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/213995.pdf [https://perma.cc/RM46-46PS].
Rule 18.3 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) requires authors citing output from AI or Google search results save a screenshot capture of that output as a PDF to be stored on file.
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