Black and white paper copies of printouts may not exceed 5 cents per page. 950 CMR 32.07(2)(e). The custodian is required to develop a program for segregating responsive electronic data from exempt data and only actual costs may be charged. SPR Bulletin 4-96, at 2. The fee may not include costs expended to develop the database, input data, create the original records or organize files; because a records custodian has an independent, affirmative obligation to maintain records in an orderly fashion, those costs cannot be passed along to a requester. SPR Bulletin 4-96 (June 7, 1996).
In some instances, statutes prescribe fees for specific types of records. See, e.g., G.L. c. 66, § 10(a) (pertaining to motor vehicle accident reports, fire insurance reports, and other records of police or fire departments); G.L. c. 262, § 38 (copies of Registry of Deeds records). The records custodian may charge the actual cost of reproduction (as defined below) for a copy of a record “not susceptible to ordinary means of reproduction.” Guide to Mass. Pub. Recs. Law at 11 (Sec’y of State, rev. Mar. 2020), https://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf; 950 CMR 32.06(1)(f).