I am in the federal sector - backups are considered records in the absence of the original.  Though they are created to meet continuity of operations standards and requirements, they serve as the record in the event the original cannot be found or considered inaccessible.  Just ask Oliver North - his perjury case was decided based on a copy of a two-word email that was deleted upon sending by the sender, deleted by him upon receipt, and was discovered on a backup tape and then used in court.  Just like a hard paper copy in the absence of a signed original - see e-Sign Act of the late 1990s I think.  So, to make a blanket statement that backups are not records is dangerous - I would advise that as a standard practice, backups should not be the only records maintained, and should not serve as the record set, but can be used as a record if needed.

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