Phone Privicy

[whotheheckami]

I wonder if anyone can help gardenpixie out? She needs to know if she has any come back against someone (the Fiddler) who taped a private telephone conversation without her knowledge some weeks ago.

She knows that he has played the tape to one other person, but does not know if he still has the tape.

Does anyone know if she can demand that he destroys the tape?

My knowledge is only about using tapes of conversations as evidence in Police matters and in thisa case I can't advise her.

Comments

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

Interesting one (legally.)

In theory she has copyright in her oral speech as much as what she writes (so long as it has some kind of "literary" merit - which really just means in this context that it was more than a few words long and made some kind of sense) - so yes, she then controls "public performances" of the tape.

In reality though enforcing this is completely impossible, but you did ask.

The physical tape itself is his property - but she can demand that he not play it to anyone without her consent.

He has also possibly committed a criminal offence of some kind - I'm less sure on that - but the civil law is really what you want for the remedy required.

[whotheheckami.livejournal.com]

I know that it is a hell of a complex legal issue.

My concern is that he seems to be taping quite a few of his calls. I have no idea why or if he keeps the tapes.

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

Well, sneerpout is right that any stuff collected that way would be inadmissible in court (tho you can never be quite sure in these starnge post 9-11 days..)

If you want to scare him with threats of calling in police I could look and see if this is , as I suspect, some kind of criminal act of unauthorised interception or the like?

[whotheheckami.livejournal.com]

Disturbingly, he's an ex-copper and still seems to be quite well connected - but don't they all ;@)