Always remember that an original is never a copy because without an original there is nothing to copy. Copy however can be original and subsequently copied like for instance a newspaper story. The original text written by the journalist is the copy and every time it is reproduced in the newspaper a copy is produced. That said most people use words and phrases incorrectly on a daily basis but everyone knows what they mean.
Moreover, I am concerned, with the original document which is the document that is first produced, often with a handwritten signature. Any copy made from that by any means is a copy. I suppose the first copy could be called an original copy, but I would not do so, and I would ask for clarification were someone to reference it to me. I realize language evolves, but we all have our sticking points, and ‘original copy’ sounds like an oxymoron to me.
The term “original copy” can and does have several meanings. I will start with printed matter. When you print something and you photocopy it, you have an original and you have a photocopy. However, what happens when you print the same document several times, without ever photocopying? All of the documents from the printer, in this case, are original copies. They are all copies of a single document — the same document — but each one is an original.
A “Copy” is also a term used in Advertising. It refers to the written portion of an ad, as distinct from the visual portion. For example, look at this ad: "WE DID IT — The Partnership for Responsible Growth" You see a graph and you see an image of a thermometer. And the rest is just words. The part that is just words is the copy. What you are looking at is the original copy — the copy originated at some advertising firm. Any variation of this copy is a variation on the original copy.
But there is also another possible meaning of copy. The copy in the printed ad is, obviously, the copy that got printed, also known as “approved copy” or “final copy” which is, almost every single time, very different from the “original copy.” Similarly, there is the iconic milk ad: Got milk? That copy (Got milk?) is the original copy. When you say, for instance, “Got keys?” to see if your wife has the housekeys, before leaving the house, you’re mimicking the original copy.
The original copy also, often, refers to handwritten vs mechanically reproduced stuff. So, for instance, if you wrote a poem, on paper, using pen and ink, that’s the original copy of the poem. In this case, also, the word “copy” is being used to indicate, not that it has been copied, but that it is the original, handwritten text of the poem. If someone were to etch the poem on metal, then the metal etching would also be an original copy of the poem since the method of transcription is different.
Similarly, if you were to produce a volume of poetry, including that one poem that you wrote by hand, the first book that rolled off the press would be the first, the original copy of the book. There are thousands of possible variations on the idea of “original copy” in re print. Let’s move on to non-print materials. Some types of sculptures uses casts. In other words, the sculptures aren’t carved or chiseled. The sculptor makes a mould and pours metal into it. In a sense, the mould alone is the original work.
Everything produced from that is a copy. The first sculpture to come out of the mould is the original copy. Even every subsequent sculpture that emerges from the same mould is an original copy. With today’s technology, of course, one can re-create a mould an infinite number of times, even thousands of years after the sculptor’s death. But then copies from those moulds would not be original copies in re that particular sculpture.
Of course in films, there are celluloid copies and digital copies. I don’t think people use celluloid to film stuff any more. I don’t know. I do know, though, that people still sell “cels” of the celluloid version of Disney’s animated movie, “Snow White.” There are, of course, several copies of each frame (on celluloid). Each of these copies is an original copy, stemming from the original celluloid version of the movie. If you were to transfer a digital version of the movie to celluloid on your own, then you would not have the original copy. I don’t even know if this is possible. I’m just explaining the difference, here, between original copy and non-original copy.
In short, there are many contexts in which the term “original copy” means something different from the sum of its parts (“original” & “copy”) just as a waterfall or a river or an ocean is different from the sum of its parts (parts = drops of water, in this case). There are, of course, times when people use the term incorrectly, just as there are times when people walk or dance or swim incorrectly. But there are many contexts in which the term (original copy) is used correctly also. Cheers!
