The Grantor-Grantee Indices are maintained in California because they are mandated by statutory law as part and parcel to the government code.  As such, each page can be copied at the same fee as any Official Record on micorfilm or otherwise.  Also, as such, they can be certified under county seal to be a true and correct copy of the original; all with date stamp and official signature to boot.  As with a certified official record, the certified index page can then be relied upon for legal purposes as much so as the original. 

  I would hate to think that I could purchase property in another state, run into an Clerk error in the index, and not  be able to prove this by acquiring a certified copy of the index.  Seems kind of strange to me that they would stonewall in this manner. 

  Also seems to me that a good digitial camera (7.5 Megapixel or higher) would allow anyone to take a high resolution copy of the index page(s) in question and at no cost at all.  Might be a worthwhile solution.  

  We've dramatically reduced the cost of Official Records research to our clients by using a combination of hi-res digital camera imaging and portable document scanners, especially in counties where costs for documents run $9 for the first page and $5 for each additional page.  Gets kinda expensive otherwise.