Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Use of Audio for Non-Commercial Purposes

Your question raises several issues in the area of privacy rights and copyright. Here is some basic information that is not intended to be advice specific to your situation, but may give you some guidelines.

First, it is always better to have written permission for anything you use in a film, whether in the form of a contract or a written release, and whether it is spoken, visual, or music.

Second, it is illegal to surreptitiously record other people's conversations. Giving a warning would not be enough unless you also give them the opportunity to decline and avoid being recorded.

Third, as to copyright, if you are doing this as a class assignment and are going to show it only to your teacher, the use of incidental music or other copyrighted work would probably fall under "fair use" for educational purposes. The problem that sometimes follows, however, it that you decide your film is so good that you want to use it as a work sample or try to sell it for distribution. Then, you would need written permissions.

Again, it is always better to have written permissions in advance so that you don't have to scramble to get them later on. And it is always better to have the permissions/releases/contracts drawn up by a knowlegeable lawyer, so that you have the rights you need in case you later change your mind about the scope of a project.

NOTE: Nothing in this response should be construed as legal advice or as creating an attorney/client relationship, which can only be done by written fee agreement.