# Speech transcript - copyrighted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361 "2004-11-30T18:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/1 "2004-11-30T18:17:47Z")
Would a transcript of a speech be copyright-protected material? It was taped with permission, but the speaker has no involvement with or knowledge of the existence of the transcript. Can I use this transcript elsewhere, which is the speech in its entirety? TIA ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/2 "2004-11-30T18:28:50Z")
I’m confused. If the transcript was “taped with permission”, how could the author/speaker have “no involvement with or knowledge of the existence of the transcript”? IANAL, but I have had extensive dealings with issues of this kind. Other jurisdictions should have similar rules. A speech may or may not be “copyright” protected, but the issue here is really intellectual property rights, which exist independent of copyright protection. Unless there were contractual agreements to assign ownership of the intellectual property (the speech), then the speech belongs to the author - even if someone else has posted a transcript. If the author assigned the property rights to someone else (such as the sponsoring organization) then it belongs to them, but it is still not “public domain” and therefore available for free usage. It is possible that the author signed an agreement saying that the transcript would be posted on a website, for example, and that all intellectual property rights were waived - but unless you have proof of that, you should not use the speech/transcript without the permission of the author/publisher. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/3 "2004-11-30T18:50:48Z")
I mean it was ok with the speaker to have his words recorded in the speech so that a person who couldn’t be there could listen to it later. But he’s not been notified of a transcript specifically, though I made one and I’m trying to figure out if I could reprint/repost it (elsewhere, not here) or not. Sounds like the answer is “no”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/4 "2004-11-30T18:57:00Z")
You’d have to get permission to repost it. You were given permission to tape the speech, presumably for your own use, and unless a transcript was part of the agreement you made with the speaker, posting it online is making another copy and thus requires permission. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/5 "2004-11-30T20:59:21Z")
> [@Twiddle](#): > > But he’s not been notified of a transcript specifically, though I made one and I’m trying to figure out if I could reprint/repost it (elsewhere, not here) or not. > > Sounds like the answer is “no”. Correct. The answer is “no.” You need his permission. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal\_Puke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@Liberal\_Puke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal_Puke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/6 "2004-11-30T23:54:42Z")
Finally, an intellectual property question. And none too soon, my guest registration expires in 3 days.\* What follows, of course, is not legal advice. If you rely on it to your detriment, it ain’t my problem. Anyway, a prerequisite for copyright protection is fixation. What is fixation, you ask? Well, the copyright act defines it as: > [@](#): > > A work is “fixed” in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, **by or under the authority of the author** , is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. A work consisting of sounds, images, or both, that are being transmitted, is “fixed” for purposes of this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its transmission. You can probably see by my emphasis where I am going with this. If the author did not “fix” his speech, then no copyright protection exists. I would argue that “permitting” people to record the speech does not cut it. Depending on where you live, some state laws may apply, but federal copyright law would not. Of course, you are making a risky assumption – namely that the speaker did not otherwise fix the speech. If he wrote out his speech before-hand, or if he was taping the speech himself, then fixation would exist and your transcript would be a derivative work of whatever he fixed. The risk, however, is really not all that bad. > [@](#): > > **§ 412. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement.** > In any action under this title … no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees … shall be made for — > > (1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or > > (2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication of the work. Chances are pretty good that even if the speaker fixed some form of the speech, he did not register that work with the copyright office in time. Therefore, the worst that could happen is (1) actual damages/profits, and (2) an injuction. Of course, you would need to pay your own attorney and being dragged through a legal battle is never fun or cheap. Legal issues aside, you should send an email to the speaker and ask permission. It is the right thing to do. - My thanks to **samclem** , who offered to front me for a year’s registration. I just don’t think it would be fair for me to accept such a gracious offer, and then only post once a month. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/7 "2004-12-01T00:52:26Z")
> [@Liberal Puke](#): > > - My thanks to **samclem** , who offered to front me for a year’s registration. I just don’t think it would be fair for me to accept such a gracious offer, and then only post once a month. Take the offer - that was a great reply! And I like your user name… 😉 Thanks to all! ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speech-transcript-copyrighted/277361/8 "2004-12-01T01:11:06Z")
Actually we get copyright questions all the damn time – take the offer and soon enough you’ll be posting in the Pit about all these damn Dopers who can’t read a simple statute! –Cliffy