Recording Law for Recording at Home in Maine

Maine is a one-party consent state. That means if you’re part of a conversation—whether it’s in person, on the phone, or over a video call—you can legally record it without telling the other people. The rule comes from the state’s wiretap law, which excludes from liability: (1) the sender or receiver of the communication, (2) a person within normal unaided (or corrected-to-normal) hearing range of the communication, and (3) a person given prior authority by the sender or receiver. Because you’re one of the parties, you’re allowed to record. This applies inside your home, someone else’s home, or any other location. The key is that you must be part of the conversation being recorded.

Maine’s wiretap statute protects “oral communications” only when the speaker has a reasonable expectation that the conversation won’t be intercepted. The law defines an oral communication as one "uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation." If someone is shouting in a public park or speaking loudly in a crowded room, they likely don’t have that expectation, so recording isn’t restricted by the wiretap law. But if someone is talking quietly in a corner or in a room with the door closed, they may have a justified expectation of privacy, and recording could be covered by the law. The statute doesn’t carve out a separate rule specifically for recordings made inside a home—it applies the same way everywhere. However, the analysis depends on whether the specific room or location is a 'private place' under the privacy law, because a bathroom or bedroom within a home can qualify as a private place for video/image capture purposes.

Recording video without sound is not covered by the wiretap statute, because that law only applies to “oral” or “wire” communications—meaning sound or speech. But Maine has a separate law that can restrict silent video recording. It makes it a crime to use a device to “observ[e], photograph[], record[], amplify[] or broadcast[]” images of a person in a “private place” without consent. A “private place” is defined as "a place where one may reasonably expect to be safe from surveillance, including, but not limited to, changing or dressing rooms, bathrooms and similar places." So recording video in a bathroom or bedroom without consent can independently violate this law, but recording in a living room or kitchen is not restricted. The law focuses on the location, not who owns the home.

Federal courts covering Maine have ruled that the First Amendment protects the right to record on-duty police officers performing their duties in public. The First Circuit Court of Appeals decided in Glik v. Cunniffe that openly recording police in a public park is protected speech and that the right was "clearly established" for qualified-immunity purposes. Later, in Project Veritas Action Fund v. Rollins, the same court extended that protection to secret or covert recording of on-duty police in public spaces. Because Maine is a one-party consent state, a civilian who is part of an encounter with police can record the interaction without the officer’s consent under state law. There is no Maine statute that prohibits recording police in public.

Imagine you’re at a friend’s home for a casual dinner with three other people. You’re all talking in the living room about a shared project. You decide to record the conversation on your phone to remember the details later. Under Maine law, this is legal. You’re a participant in the conversation, so the one-party consent rule applies. The recording takes place in a common area of the home—a living room, not a bathroom or bedroom—so the video recording law does not restrict it because a living room is not a 'private place' under the statute’s definition. If the group had moved to a closed bedroom to discuss something private, the video recording might raise issues under the 'private place' rule, but the living room conversation is not restricted.

If you illegally intercept an oral or wire communication under Maine’s wiretap law, you could face criminal charges. The law makes it a Class C crime to intercept a communication without consent, unless an exception applies. There’s also a civil remedy: any party to a conversation that was illegally intercepted can sue you for damages, including $100 per day of violation plus attorney’s fees under §711. Separately, if you record or photograph someone in a private place without consent, you could be charged with a Class D crime under the privacy law. These penalties depend on the facts, so if you’re unsure whether your recording is legal, it’s safest to ask for consent or avoid recording.

Maine’s wiretap statute includes several exceptions that permit certain interceptions even without consent. For example, law enforcement officers acting within their official duties are exempt from the 'interception' offense when carrying out practices otherwise permitted by the chapter (§710(1)). The statute also excludes from liability a person within normal unaided hearing range of an oral communication and a person given prior authority by a sender or receiver. For silent video recording, the privacy law’s 'private place' test applies only to locations where a person may reasonably expect to be safe from surveillance, such as bathrooms, bedrooms, changing rooms, and similar enclosed spaces. Common areas like kitchens, living rooms, and hallways are not treated as 'private places' under the statute.