Legal Question Regarding Recored Phone Call

Hi.

Long Story Short

About 9 to 10 months ago i had several phone conversations with a client regarding some work. The Work was done , delivered and Paid.

Today the person calls me and asked me for some of the images, i ask why and they said they are doing a new project and need some images since they " Lost all Data ".

I said fine but since it's for some new work i am glad to help but there is an issues of fees. Since the Images where for project A and now you need it for project B you need to buy them for that. I said it's all in the contract. They read the contract and it's all there.

But they say to me that I said over the phone something else even after the contract was done. I am very careful with what i say over the phone because words can be misunderstood. So i say I am sorry but with calling them a liar i respectfully do not believe i said that and the contract stands.

They call me back and try to pressure me into saying that i may have misspoken but i stand my ground , they proceed to say that they have call there Phone Company and are getting ( not see if , but getting cause they called for it and it's being sent ) that and all recorded calls we had.

I say that i have never given permission to have the call recorded and they say that the phone company ( i will reserve the name ) does so automatically and all call for legal reason.

I said if and when they get these recordings to email them to me, they said yes and then i will have to make good on my word , i said if the recordings are there we will cross that bridge to see what will happen.

I have never heard of Phone Companies recording cell and home calls for legal reasons ever. I can see a large corporation having an in house recording system, but the phone company for regular cell and homes. But maybe i'm wrong ....

Do you think these recordings exists and if they do and they send them i will sit with my lawyer to see what to do.

What do you guys think

In the US you must announce your intent to record the call and you must get permission from the other party. Once upon a time, you also had to introduce a beep tone into the signal in order to confirm that you're recording but I don't know if that's still required.

However in the Dominican Republic, I have no idea whose laws prevail there...

All calls come from the USA .....

Some calls i was in DR some calls i was in USA ...i travel to and from and my toll free rings to my cell in DR and my cell in the USA depends where i am at the moment

Thanks FlyingPhotog

illegal wiretapping, they have to inform you they recorded the call, even if the phone company does record call, i doubt its admissible in court, why do you think the feds have to get warrants?

sounds like they are trying to strong arm you, stick to your guns. they will either pay you or drop it.

They have to inform you they recorded the call -

They are obviously lying to you, as "the phone company" does not record all calls. That would be illegal.

As to everyone else's comments about people in the U.S. recording calls, that's a state-by-state issue. In most states, such as New York, you do not have to tell anyone you are recording the call, as long as you are a party to the recording.

Unless things have changed since I retired from a telco the recording doesn't exist. It pretty much takes a court order even for a legal wiretap. There may be a call record showing the call details, but even that is not easily gotten.

Phone companies do not record everyone's calls, so that part is absurd.

As for recordings made by private individuals, in the US, under federal law, only one party need consent to the recording of a phone call, so it's possible to legally record a call without the other party's knowledge and consent. Some states are the same. In other states, such as California, both parties must consent, or it's a violation of state law.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #14631375
In the US you must announce your intent to record the call and you must get permission from the other party. Once upon a time, you also had to introduce a beep tone into the signal in order to confirm that you're recording but I don't know if that's still required.

Not true. It is a state-by-state law, not a national law, and it varies in each state. In Texas, you can record any conversation you want, as long as one party to the conversation is aware it is being recorded.

So I could record any conversation I have with anyone as long as I am in Texas and they don't have to know, but I can't record a conversation between two people that are unaware that I am recording it.

No phone company records all calls...that part is BS.

However, its a state by state issue. There are single party states, and two party states. Single party as long as one party knows they are being recorded its ok, dual party both parties have to be informed. Any company that operates across state lines that does recording you will hear the blurb about this call may be recorded for quality purposes....etc etc.

+1 on the BS about recording calls.

Since different states can have different regulations regarding recording, if multiple states are involved then the state with the most stringent requirement will be the applicable law. To use the Texas example, if the call is within Texas (both parties) than only one party needs two be aware - but if the call takes place between Texas and Florida (a two party state) then both parties would need to be notified.

Sounds like they were trying to bluff you!

It is possible to record a phone conversation, but it cannot be used (published to a third party) without your consent, except possibly, by the police with a warrant for use in a criminal case. This is the case in Ireland & the company MUST inform you before recording a call. Phone companies cannot record phone calls either without permission.

1. The recording almost certainly doesn't exist. If they were recording calls (and making those calls nationwide) they would certainly need a recorded announcement, for those states that require notification.
2. Even if the recording exists that still doesn't mean that you said/meant what they think. Unless you are clearly heard agreeing to change the contract it is unlikely that a court would override the contract.

At this point there is no point in worry about it. Just wait and see if the recording even exists.

Per Wiki (FWIW):

In the United States, federal agencies may be authorized to engage in wiretaps by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a court with secret proceedings, in certain circumstances.

Under United States federal law and most state laws there is nothing illegal about one of the parties to a telephone call recording the conversation, or giving permission for calls to be recorded or permitting their telephone line to be tapped. However, several states (e.g., California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington) require that all parties consent when one party wants to record a telephone conversation. Many businesses and other organizations record their telephone calls so that they can prove what was said, train their staff, or monitor performance. This activity may not be considered telephone tapping in some, but not all, jurisdictions because it is done with the knowledge of at least one of the parties to the telephone conversation. The Telephone recording laws in some U.S. states require only one party to be aware of the recording, while other states require both parties to be aware. It is considered better practice to announce at the beginning of a call that the conversation is being recorded.

There is a federal law and two main types of state laws that govern telephone recording:

Federal law requires that at least one party taking part in the call must be notified of the recording (18 U.S.C. §2511(2)(d)). For example, it would be illegal to record the phone calls of people who come into one's place of business and ask to use the phone, unless they are notified.
All-party notification states
Question book-new.svg This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Twelve states currently require that all parties consent to the recording. These states are:

California[13]
Connecticut
Florida[14]
Illinois (debated, see next section)
Maryland[15]
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana [16] (requires notification only)
Nevada
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania[17]
Washington[18]

One-party notification states

All other states (and the District of Columbia) not listed above require only that one party consent. Michigan's eavesdropping statute seems to put it into the two-party category, but the courts have ruled that in Michigan, a party may record their own conversation without the consent of any other parties but cannot grant that right to a third party.[19] There are certain exceptions to these rules. See full rules here.

Illinois courts have ruled that "eavesdropping" only applies to conversations that the party otherwise would not have been able to hear, thereby effectively making it a one-party consent state. [20][21] However, there still appears to be confusion[22] and debate[23] over the law.

If a caller in a one-party state records a conversation with someone in a two-party state that caller is subject to the stricter of the laws and must have consent from all callers (Cf. Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney Inc., 39 Cal. 4th 95 (2006)).
Accepted forms of notification for recording by a telephone company

The FCC defines accepted forms of notification for telephone recording by telephone companies as:

Prior verbal (oral) or written consent of all parties to the telephone conversation.
Verbal (oral) notification before the recording is made. (This is the most common)
An audible beep tone repeated at regular intervals during the course of the call.

A. As others have stated, phone companies do not routinely record calls. Think, for a moment, how many calls are made each day and the storage space that would require. Without a valid profit motive, there is no chance any company is devoting that kind of storage space to recording calls; if they did, they'd advertise the heck out it.

B. If you have a written contact, it would be a seriously uphill legal battle for one party to claim that the contract had been modified by an unwitnessed statement by the other party. Even in states of the US that recognize oral agreements (not all do), those oral agreements must still meet the same standards of enforceability as written agreements--often there are more requirements, such as witnesses.