Recording Law for Phone & Video Calls in Maine

In Maine, you can record any conversation you are part of without telling the other person. This is because Maine is a one-party consent state under Chapter 102 of Title 15. The law does not differentiate between in-person (oral) conversations and telephone or electronic (wire) communications for consent purposes — both fall under the same one-party framework. Under the wiretap statute, a participant in a conversation may lawfully record it without the other party’s knowledge or consent. The key mechanism is the definition of "intercept" in 15 M.R.S. §709(4), which excludes from liability the sender or receiver of the communication, a person within normal unaided hearing range, or a person given prior authority by the sender or receiver. So if you’re on the call or in the room, you’re allowed to record it without the other party’s consent.

Maine’s wiretap statute covers both "wire communications" and "oral communications." A wire communication is any aural transfer made over wire or cable, which includes regular phone calls and internet-based video calls where sound is transmitted. An oral communication is an in-person utterance made with an expectation that it is not subject to interception. The statute does not distinguish between phone and in-person conversations for consent purposes: a participant in either type of conversation may lawfully record it without the other party’s knowledge or consent. This applies whether the call is work-related, personal, or with a business, and whether it occurs in person or over the phone.

If you record only video without any audio, Maine’s wiretap law does not apply because it reaches only "wire" and "oral" communications (sound/speech), and a device that merely captures images does not "intercept" anything under 15 M.R.S. §709(4). However, silently recording video can still violate 17-A M.R.S. §511 if it involves installing or using a device to observe or photograph a person in a "private place" without consent. The statute defines a "private place" as a location where one may reasonably expect to be safe from surveillance, including changing or dressing rooms, bathrooms, and similar places. For example, recording someone in a public park with no sound is generally not covered by §511, but recording someone in a bathroom stall is. Always check the location and context before recording video without audio.

Federal courts covering Maine have ruled that openly or secretly recording on-duty police officers while they perform public duties in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment. In Glik v. Cunniffe, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held 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 this protection to covert recording of police and other government officials performing public duties in public spaces. Because Maine is a one-party consent state, you can record police encounters you are part of without their consent under the wiretap statute, and the First Amendment protects your right to do so in public.

Breaking Maine’s wiretap law by illegally intercepting a communication is a Class C crime under 15 M.R.S. §710, with penalties set by statute. If you illegally record someone, they can also sue you for damages under 15 M.R.S. §711, which allows any party to a conversation to bring a civil action with liquidated damages of $100 per day of the violation, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. For illegal video-only recording in a private place, you could face a Class D crime under 17-A M.R.S. §511, with penalties including fines and potential civil liability. These penalties apply whether you record in person or over the phone.

Imagine you’re a remote employee in Maine and your manager schedules a Zoom meeting to discuss a project. During the call, you use your computer’s built-in recording feature to capture the audio. Because you are a participant in the call, Maine’s one-party consent law allows you to record the audio without telling anyone. If you also record silent video of the meeting, the video is not restricted by the wiretap statute, but you must ensure the location is not a "private place" under 17-A M.R.S. §511, such as a bathroom or bedroom.

Maine’s statutes do not carve out a separate rule specifically for recording inside one’s own home. Instead, the same general frameworks apply: under Chapter 102, if you are a party to an oral conversation occurring in the home, one-party consent still permits recording; under 17-A M.R.S. §511, a location within a home can qualify as a "private place" (e.g., a bathroom or bedroom) triggering the consent-of-the-person-entitled-to-privacy requirement for image/audio-visual recording, but common living areas of one’s own home are not automatically "private places" as to the resident recording them. Because the statute’s "private place" test turns on reasonable expectation of privacy in the specific location/room rather than home-ownership per se, the analysis depends on whether the specific room/location is a "private place" and whether the recorder is a party/consenting participant.