Historical code provision
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Title] [Code] § [section] ([historical edition]).
Capture from the source
Historical edition; amendments; relevant event date; source copy
Check before you use it
Preserve the historical numbering and explain a current successor separately if useful.
Common error: Replacing a historical identifier with today's section can change the source.
Completed example
The official 2023 edition identifier and section 107's numbered text were directly inspected October 8, 2026. This is an archived-text locator example, not a complete effective-date reconstruction or current copyright opinion.
17 U.S.C. § 107(3) (2023).
Read the supplied source facts
GovInfo provides a United States Code, 2023 Edition, page for 17 U.S.C. § 107. Its page heading explicitly identifies the edition. The exercise is a historical research note reporting what that archived compilation printed, with particular attention to its numbered factor (3). A separate 2024 edition page is also available. The task does not stipulate that the 2023 edition alone proves the law applicable to every event during calendar year 2023, and the researcher has not reconstructed all enactments and effective dates for a specific event.
Why this works
The parenthetical preserves the identity of the historical compilation actually consulted. Do not silently replace it with a current edition just because the relevant words appear similar. The selected subdivision locates the factor assigned for discussion; it does not state the result of a fair-use analysis. A historical source card should distinguish the event date, edition date, source coverage, and any amendment's effective date. Those dates can differ. When the proposition is narrowly that the archived edition contains particular wording, the archived text verifies that proposition without requiring a claim about every later version.
When the facts change
If the assignment changes to whether section 107 governed conduct on a specified day, inspect the law in force on that date and investigate amendments or transition terms. If comparing 2023 and 2024 compilations, cite each edition beside the relevant comparison and record whether the selected text actually changed. A different edition label alone is not evidence of a substantive amendment, and identical wording alone does not resolve every temporal issue.
Official source material
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.