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Can I tape in Oregon?

Or. Rev. Stat. �� 165.535, 165.540: It is illegal to obtain or divulge a telecommunication or radio communication, unless one is a party or has obtained consent from at least one party to the conversation. It is illegal to obtain or divulge an oral communication unless all parties to the communication are informed that their conversation is being obtained. Certain enumerated exceptions apply. Violations are punishable by a maximum sentence of $5000 or one year in jail.

Or. Rev. Stat. � 165.543: It is also a misdemeanor to intercept a wire or oral communication where one is not a party to the communication, and none of the parties to the communication have consented.

Under the statute, consent is not required for the taping of a non-electronic communication uttered by a person who does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that communication. See definition of "oral communication," Or. Rev. Stat. � 133.721.

The state's highest court ruled in1996 that interception, without consent of any of the parties, of the radio portion of a cordless telephone call through use of a police "scanner" is illegal under Oregon's wiretapping laws. Oregon v. Carston, 913 P.2d 709 (Or. 1996).

Using a hidden camera to record another person "in a state of nudity" without consent when the person has a reasonable expectation of personal privacy is a misdemeanor. Or. Rev. Stat. � 163.700.

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