Guest Experts, Recordings, and Legal Rights—What You Need to Know
WHETHER YOU’RE INTERVIEWING A PODCAST GUEST OVER ZOOM OR WELCOMING A GUEST INSTRUCTOR TO YOUR COMMUNITY, THE QUESTION REMAINS… WHO OWNS THE RECORDING? AND WHAT STEPS SHOULD YOU TAKE TO MAKE SURE THE RECORDING IS YOUR PROPERTY?
Whether you’re interviewing a podcast guest over Zoom or welcoming a guest instructor to your community, the question remains:
Who owns the recording?
And what steps should you take to make sure the recording is your property (and only yours?)
Come with me on a quick journey through “joint copyright ownership” and why (and how) to avoid it.
I’m Maria Spear Ollis, aka The Lunar Lawyer, and I’m going to shine some light on what you need to know about owning the recording of a guest expert.
The Default Legal Rule
The default rule of copyright ownership is that usually, the author or creator is the owner. But who’s the default owner of a recording?
The software platform? (No. I’ve looked at Zoom’s terms of use, and that’s not the answer.)
You, the host? After all, you’re providing the audience. You’re most likely using your account to record the thing.
Or maybe the guest? After all, the guest is providing expertise, insight, answers to questions, and expert information.
Who owns the recording of a guest
So here’s the answer:
Unless there’s something in writing that says otherwise…
Probably both. The guest and the host.
This is why there are music producers and production agreements and studio musician agreements.
Both have participated in creating the recording… so both own it. The recording is a “joint work.”
What is a joint work, and why should you avoid creating one?
Under US Copyright Law, a joint work is something created by two or more authors where each author made valuable, copyrightable-on-their-own contributions. There are more qualities of a joint work, but for purposes of this discussion, that’s what you need to know.
But here’s the kicker:Each author of a joint work shares an interest in the entire joint work.
So if you’re monetizing it? Get ready to divide up the profits with your joint author. Aka, pay up.
Kind of sticky and tricky if you want to monetize a guest instructor’s session. Or if your podcast guest suddenly decides he or she should get a cut of ad revenue for any podcast ads that run during their episode.
How to change joint copyright ownership
Want to avoid joint copyright authorship?
Use a contract.
(You knew I was going to say that.)
A contract is really how you change any default rule when it comes to copyright. (Like using independent contractors.)
A podcast guest contract dictates who owns a podcast recording
Otherwise known as an interview release, it can (and should!) be super user-friendly. We don’t want to scare your guests away, we just want to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to copyright ownership.
A guest instructor agreement makes clear who owns what
Unless you’ve discussed otherwise, this doesn’t mean you own the guest’s content, such as presentation materials. It just means that you own the recording and you can use it in a commercial context (like your membership community or).
Conclusion
Joint work = two or more authors co-creating something = accidentally obligating you to share profits with someone.
Avoid all of that. Use a contract. Make sure everyone is on the same page.