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THE tape recorder has given the world a handy, accurate recording service for both business and pleasure. Its versatility and usefulness, however, have given rise to a number of legal and ethical questions which ultimately influence how, where, and when it can be used.

Questions facing tape recorder owners include such gems as: May we use our recordings for anything we wish without limitations? To what other electronic equipment may we connect our recorders without causing the law to look our way? Are there any special limitations placed on private citizens on the manner in which we use our recorders (limitations which do not apply to certain privileged groups)?

For those of us who own them, tape recorders have become part of our everyday lives; so, it is easy to overlook the fact that their use can create legal pitfalls. Some of these pitfalls may seem trivial at times, but it is good policy for each of us to be aware of circumstances which can bring the unwary under the scrutiny of the law.
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Let us consider the case of a tape recorder being used as an "automatic notebook" for taking accurate notes of lectures, interviews, business calls, etc.

When you are talking face to face with someone and openly using a tape recorder, there can be little doubt that the conversation is being taped. But in the absence of face-to-face confrontation, as in the case of a telephone conversation, are you free to record?

As many tape recorder owners have learned, they are not free to arbitrarily record telephone conversations.

A private citizen may record his own telephone calls only if his phone is connected to his recorder via a "coupling arrangement" containing a beeper.

(The beeper generates an audio tone every 15 seconds or so to alert anyone on the line to the fact that the conversation is being taped.) Direct connection requires paying your telephone company for installation and use of the coupling device.

A much simpler and superior way to record phone conversations is with an inductive coupler or telephone pickup coil, a low-cost item which can be purchased from any number of dealers. Inductive pickups have the advantage that they do not create interference on the telephone line since no physical connection is made to the phone wires. But when telephone recording methods were being considered by the FCC, Bell Telephone was categorically opposed to inductive pickups.
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The FCC pointed out that inductive couplers would eliminate any need for recorder salesmen to make special arrangements with the phone company whenever they wished to demonstrate their equipment.

The telephone company took the position that its opposition to the inductive pickup was based on the fact that it wanted to ensure the privacy of its customers' calls.

It insisted that some sort of signal must be put on the line to warn everyone that the call was being taped. The FCC finally yielded to the phone company's arguments.

Broadcasters were once required to use beepers because they were not permitted to connect their telephones to their transmitters. When FCC rules were amended to permit broadcasters to connect regular phone calls into their transmitters (a fringe benefit of the Carterfone case of a few years ago), it meant that stations might not actually record calls before broadcasting them. So, they did not use a beeper because the rule specifically applied to recordings made from telephone lines.

The FCC rule on this matter states that broadcasters may either record for broadcast or to directly broadcast telephone conversations with the only warning being a simple announcement at the beginning that the conversation may be taped or broadcast. In some cases, such as when the caller dials an "open-mike" number, the broadcasters are not even required to make the announcement. The FCC reasons that it may be assumed the public will know their voices may be recorded or broadcast because they dialed the number.

This convenience has been a great boon to broadcasters since they can dispense with the beep tone which they may consider annoying on the air. However, the FCC has not allowed individual citizens the same convenience of simply stating at the start of a call that it will be taped for their own use.
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You can record anything you wish from a radio or TV receiver tuned to any frequency in the spectrum without first having to obtain permission from anyone. However, the nature of the transmission taped determines how you may use your recordings.

Any radio or TV public information or entertainment broadcast is public domain and can be recorded and played back for a non-commercial purpose. But if you record from a commercial channel (police, fire, aircraft, mobile telephone, etc.), you are forbidden under the FCC's "Secrecy of Communications" regulation from playing the recording for anyone else. Furthermore, you are enjoined from even repeating the contents of any transmission heard.
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You are probably violating the rights of performers or others if you tape discs or prerecorded tapes. One Section of the Copyright act states, "Where any person knowingly distributes infringing copies of any work .... to affect prejudically the owner of the copyright, he is guilty of an offense under this Act." This might conceivably be construed to mean a person taping a record who then loans the recorded tape to another party for dubbing purposes. Another part of the act refers to "profit." Does this mean money saved? Needless to say, persons who tape record material on a hobby level for personal use can and are doing so with reasonable safety, for how could an enforcement agency ever cope with the problem? Although some of your tapes might be considered to be-technical violations of the law, chances of penalty are extremely small. It all rests with your conscience.
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At live performances - especially concerts given by well-known performers  -  you can run into a whole series of prohibitions designed to prevent you from using your recorder.

For one thing, instrumental and vocal performers nowadays are plagued by bootleg record companies which secretly tape performances and sell record copies to an unsuspecting public. The performers, needless to say, receive no compensation whatsoever from the bootleggers.

(Some shady operators get in as members of the audience with a small, battery powered recorder hidden on their persons. They use the recorders to make their "master tapes." The quality of the recordings possible from these small tape recorders may not be first class, but it is passable for hard rock and other loud music. Too, if the buyer has never heard a live performance by a given soloist or group, he has no real way of determining whether or not the selection was pirated.)

The hard-nosed attitudes of performers' agents and theater managers toward anyone they see carrying a tape recorder into a live performance is understandable. They are protecting their interests and the interests of the performers.

Additionally, managers face stern union rules which forbid any recordings to be made unless a whole "gang of union electricians" is on hand (always assuming, of course, that you have received permission to make recordings). These rules are in union contracts; so there is nothing a theater manager can do about the situation.

When you plan to take a recorder to a live performance, remember that you are treading on dangerous ground. If you are caught with a recorder at a performance, chances are good that you will be hustled out the nearest exit.

It would be better (and safer) to check with the theater manager before walking in with a tape recorder. If you are convincing in the telling of why you want the recording, there is always the remote possibility that permission will be granted - but don't count on it.                                                               □
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