Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New York

Re: audiotaping and videotaping

There are nuances to your question for which a definitive yes or no can't be given but generally in New York tape recording a conversation is legal so long as one party to the conversation is aware of the recording. Therefore you can tape record a conversation you are having with another person, but cannot tape a conversation between 2 people who are both unaware of the recording. Likewise, you can generally videotape puplic statements or actions in public areas or where a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Other than these remarks I will refrain from giving a legal decision about what you propose without knowing more.

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Re: audiotaping and videotaping

1. Is it legal to audiotape/videotape conversations with other(s) without their knowledge?

A. It depends on what you do with it. Generally, for the purpose you suggest, you would want to have a person's consent to record. But, if the speech is in public without the expectation that it is only a one on one conversation, usually you would be able to use a recording in court to impeach the credibility of a witness who later denied saying something you have on tape.

If it is private speech you can run into difficulties such as proving that the person on the recording is the person you say it is.

It would be hard to arrange this without the other person knowing, especially if on video.

2. Is there a limit in the taping location? All other things being equal, no.

3. How powerful? It depends. If it is overwhelming, or disgusting, it could be prejudicial, especially if there are questions about its admissibility.

These questions are silly to answer in the abstract.