Recording Guest Speakers by Kelley Way

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Kelley Way as she shares with us “Recording Guest Speakers.” Enjoy!

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Online presentations have become much more popular in the last few years. (Gee, I wonder why…)

One of the advantages of presenting online is that the presentation can be recorded for posterity.

However, some legal issues regarding recording guest speakers must be addressed before sharing that video.

1. Who owns the copyright?

As a general rule, the person doing the recording is the author and owner.

However, a presenter may feel differently, given that they are the ones who took the time and effort to put the presentation together, and they are the ones who are actually performing.

While neither of these things gives them a copyright to the recorded presentation, the presenter may not realize that and make a fuss.

2. Is there copyrighted material in the presentation?

If the presenter put together a slide deck or wrote down their presentation, then the presenter has the copyright to the deck or transcript.

Sharing a recording with those products included could rightly be considered copyright infringement.

3. Is there a violation of the right of publicity/privacy?

If the presenter knew they were being recorded and that the recording would be shared or distributed later, then there’s a presumption that they agreed to the recording.

However, if they were not told this in advance, then there’s a genuine issue of whether their rights were violated.

So, how do you address these issues?

The best way to do this is to have a contract.

No, I’m not talking about a 50-page convoluted stack of paper that only a lawyer can understand, but a simple agreement that covers these issues.

The most streamlined version I’ve seen is to have a speaker application and explicitly state in the application that

• The speaker agrees to be recorded
• The copyright to the recording belongs to the group they are speaking to, and
• The group has permission to use the copyrighted content in the video

Will this scare some speakers away? Possibly.

But if you word this properly, most experienced speakers will consider these terms reasonable, particularly if you limit the last point so they won’t worry that you’ll be selling their advice on your website or some such.

If you have questions about recording guest speakers or would like some help drafting a speaker agreement form, you are welcome to email me at kaway@kawaylaw.com.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar, and an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. More information at kawaylaw.com.