Livestreamed/Recorded Presentation Guidelines University Registrar’s Office 1
Consent to Publicly Livestream a Presentation
Principle: In order to protect the privacy of our students and to comply with FERPA, anyone who
wishes to publicly livestream a presentation (i.e. critiques, capstone presentations, reviews,
qualifying oral exams, as well as thesis and dissertation defenses conducted virtually) for class
requirements, and/or record/share that presentation must first complete the Consent to Publicly
Livestream a Presentation form.
In addition, in order to comply with Pennsylvania Wiretap laws, all other participants in the event (i.e.
anyone who will have their voice or image recorded) should be given advance notice that recording
will occur. At the very start of the recording, the host should provide a second verbal notice to
inform all participants that the event is being audio/video recorded – this notice should be captured
on the recording. Carnegie Mellon University may allow public access to recordings of presentations,
per the requirements of the department; however, students must provide consent for the
presentation to be shared.
Process for Consideration of Recording Presentations
The Pennsylvania Wiretap Law prohibits the recording of any conversation or other audio
communication where there is an “expectation of privacy” without first obtaining the consent of all
parties to the communication (also known as “two party consent”). This applies to the livestreaming
or audio recording of online classes, other online academic communications, and publicly recorded
presentations. Audio recording may be performed lawfully by either (1) obtaining consent of all
parties or (2) providing sufficient notice of audio recording to eliminate the expectation of privacy, so
that continued participation constitutes implied consent to record (i.e. the participants are fully
aware of the recording and chose to participate anyway).
Therefore, when audio recording via Zoom or other telecommunications technologies, all
participants, whether engaging with the event in-person or virtually, should be notified of any audio
recording. It is preferable that notice of recording be given in writing in advance of the event on any
marketing information of the event. In addition, at the beginning of an event that will be audio
recorded, the host/moderator should provide a verbal reminder that the event will be recorded –
this reminder should be captured on the recording. For example, the moderator could state, “This
event will be audio/video recorded.” And if the choice is to not have it video recorded by the
presentation author there should be a notation indicating: “This event will not be audio/video
recorded by the presenter and others are not allowed to record it either.” It may also be helpful to
post this as the first slide of a presentation and/or as an initial notice in the Chat section in Zoom or
similar section where comments are collected for individuals who arrive late to the presentation.
This process is sufficient to legally create a recording. Please note, however, that additional consent
and/or licenses may be required depending on the intended future use of the recording. For