Generally speaking, the original contract shall prevail, that is to say, the original contract has legal effect, that is, the contract with a red seal. Copies, commonly known as black seal documents, generally have no legal effect. If the copy is consistent with the original, it has certain legal effect, but it is lower than the original. Unless the two parties to the contract re-sign the copy, and indicate that "the copy, after being signed by both parties through consultation, has the same effect as the original".

Legal analysis

A copy of the signed document has legal effect. After the contract is established, whether it can produce the legal effect and legal consequences expected by the parties depends on whether the contract has the effective elements. The contractual effect meets the following requirements. (1) The parties to a contract have corresponding capacity for civil rights and capacity for civil conduct. The parties to a contract must have corresponding capacity for civil rights, capacity for civil conduct and capacity for contracting, so as to become qualified contract subjects. If the subject is unqualified, the contract cannot have legal effect. (2) The parties to the contract expressed their true meaning. The party's expression of will is true, that is, the actor's expression of will should truly reflect his inner meaning. After the contract is established, it is often difficult to judge whether the parties' expression of will is true from the outside, and the law generally does not take the initiative to intervene. The lack of elements of true expression of will, that is, the expression of will is untrue, does not absolutely lead to the invalidity of the contract. (3) It does not violate the law or public interests. A contract does not violate the law and social public interests, which mainly includes two meanings: First, the contents of the contract are legal, that is, the rights and obligations agreed in the contract terms and the objects they point to, that is, the subject matter. , should comply with the provisions of the law and the requirements of public interest. Second, the purpose of the contract is legal, that is, the reasons for the parties to conclude the contract are legal, the direct internal reasons are legal, and there is no fact that the illegal purpose is achieved by legal means and the law is circumvented.

legal ground

People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code

Article 490 Where the parties conclude a contract in the form of a contract, the contract is formed when the parties sign, seal or fingerprint it. Before signing, sealing or fingerprinting, one party has fulfilled its main obligations, and the contract is established when the other party accepts it. A contract shall be concluded in written form as stipulated by laws, administrative regulations or agreed by the parties. If the parties do not do this in writing, but one party has fulfilled its main obligations and the other party accepts it, the contract is established.

Article 491 The parties entered into a contract in the form of data messages. It is also required to sign a confirmation letter, and the contract is established when the confirmation letter is signed. If the information of a commodity or service released by one party through information networks such as the Internet meets the conditions of the offer, the contract is established when the other party successfully selects the commodity or service and submits the order, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.