Under Rule 34, a party may request discovery of any document, 'including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, phono records, and other data compilations. . . .' The 'inclusive description' of the term document 'accords with changing technology.' Advisory Committee Note to Fed. R. Civ. P. 34. 'It makes clear that Rule 34 applies to electronics [sic] data compilations.' Thus, 'electronic documents are no less subject to disclosure than paper records.' Rowe, 205 F.R.D. at 428 (collecting cases). This is true not only of electronic documents that are currently in use, but also of documents that may have been deleted and now reside only on backup disks. See Antioch Co. v. Scrapbook Borders, Inc., 210 F.R.D. 645, 652 (D. Minn. 2002) ('It is a well accepted proposition that deleted computer files, whether they be e-mails or otherwise, are discoverable.'); Simon Property Group L.P. v. MySimon, Inc., 194 F.R.D. 639, 640 (S.D. Ind. 2000) ('First, computer records, including records that have been 'deleted,' are documents discoverable under Fed. R. Civ. P. 34.').
Under Rule 34, Fed.R.Civ.P., the party from whom discovery is sought has the burden of showing some sufficient reason why discovery should not be ...