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Can I tape in Missouri?

Mo. Rev. Stat. � 542.402: Only an individual who is a party to a wire communication, or who has the consent of one of the parties to the communication, can lawfully record it or disclose its contents unless it is intercepted for the purpose of committing a criminal or tortious act. Recording or disclosing the contents of a wire communication by all other persons is a felony.

Anyone whose communications have been recorded or disclosed in violation of the law can bring a civil suit to recover the greater of actual damages, $100 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, and can recover punitive damages, attorney fees and litigation costs as well. Mo. Rev. Stat. � 542.418.

A Missouri appellate court has held that radio broadcasts from cordless telephones are not wire communications, and thus, recording such radio broadcasts is not illegal under the eavesdropping statute. Missouri v. King, 873 S.W.2d 905 (Mo. App. 1994).

It is also illegal to view or photograph a person in "a state of full or partial nudity" if the person "is in a place where he would have a reasonable expectation of privacy." Mo. Rev. Stat. � 565.253.

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