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Recording A Call Or A Conversation

ORS 165.540 — one participant's consent for a call; everyone told for a conversation

A call: one participant's consent. Oregon bars obtaining any part of a telecommunication or radio communication a person is not a participant in, by any device, unless at least one participant consents. Willfully intercepting a wire or oral communication when not a party to it, and when no party has given prior consent, is a separate Class A misdemeanor.

  • ORS 165.540
  • ORS 165.543
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A conversation: every participant informed. For a conversation, the rule is stricter. Obtaining any part of a conversation by any device is barred if not all participants are specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained.

  • ORS 165.540
  • Recording a conversation with a law enforcement officer who is performing official duties, if the recording is made openly and in plain view, the conversation is audible by normal unaided hearing, and the person recording is where the person lawfully may be.
  • Recording, with an unconcealed device, hearings before government bodies, trials, press conferences, public speeches, rallies and sporting or other events.
  • Recording, the same way, private meetings or conferences where everyone involved knew or reasonably should have known it was being recorded.
  • Recording a conversation during a felony that endangers human life.
  • ORS 165.540

Those are among the situations the section lists where the rule for conversations does not apply. Using or passing on a conversation or call obtained in a way the section prohibits is itself prohibited, though not for a person who took no part in obtaining it, where it concerns a matter of public concern.

  • ORS 165.540

Violating the prohibitions is a Class A misdemeanor. The exception for recording an officer does not authorize criminal trespass or interfering with a peace officer. Civil claims over a recording, recordings at work and video without sound are not on this page. Whether a particular recording falls inside an exception is a question for a licensed Oregon attorney.

  • ORS 165.540
Sources for this section (2)
  1. ORS 165.540 — Obtaining contents of communications
  2. ORS 165.543 — Interception of communications

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.

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