Discussion:
What is the name of your state? WA
A friend of mine left a drunken voicemail for her (then) boyfriend. Not a funny one, but a very sad one. He saved it.
Later, they breakup and he uses the voicemail she left in a song that his band has released, citing a false name (one that she has wanted to change her's to) as the contrubutor of the vocals on the track.
She feels violated by this and wants to know what she can legally do about it.
Thanks
Answer:
She feels violated by this and wants to know what she can legally do about it. Nothing, really.
It's not that the recording became "public domain" -- it's not -- but the person who recorded the message becomes the copyright owner. It's like TV news -- when you say something on camera, the news station owns the copyright to the footage, not you.
Basically, unless you say something to someone where there is a legal expectaion of confidence (attorney-client, physician-patient, priest-penitent, and certain marital communications, etc.), you really don't have any recourse if someone wants to use the words (or a recording of the words) later.
A good rule of thumb is don't say (or write down) anything that you wouldn't want played on the evening news...
Answer:
She's not getting paid for her tape. If she could, I doubt it would be out there considering her money could buy the best law firm, the entire law firm.