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ON CAMPUS implied consent . Keep the details short and succinct .
Depending on your circumstances the meeting may already be subject to confidentiality , particularly where there are workplace and contractual obligations . This again may be overtly part of a nondisclosure agreement or work contract , or it might be implied from the context . You can potentially also be sued for breach of confidentiality , on top of any other breach of privacy .
Who owns the recording or a screenshot of the meeting ? Can they be shared ? The act of screenshotting others ’ public content such as their photos , recordings and social media posts are not generally considered to be illegal .
In a video meeting , the owner of a copyright is the person who created the content , so technically the recording itself is the property of the meeting host ( in law this is called a ‘ derivative work ’). Copyright applies to the ‘ written ’ expression of an idea , not ideas themselves , so no one owns the ideas discussed in a meeting itself , although distributing these may amount to a breach of confidentiality .
However , the sharing of screenshots of private meetings and conversations can be a privacy breach . In a landmark case , a court awarded $ 168,000 in damages for breaching privacy when employers screenshotted and shared an employee ’ s private Facebook post , which caused humiliation , loss of dignity and injury to her feelings .
This was a New Zealand case and the laws are different in Australia , nevertheless there are state and federal privacy laws that relate to this sort of information privacy that apply in specific situations , for example government departments , health providers and other large organisations . The common law rights of privacy are , as previously mentioned , unsettled in Australia .
Finally , context can be very important . Most laws require a detailed understanding of the surrounding circumstances . Whether something that happens in a meeting is considered to be public or private , subject to a relationship of confidentiality or intellectual property owned by someone will be determined by the context .
It is therefore very important to raise potential issues with the group of participants and to get agreement before proceeding . This should also be done as quickly and succinctly as possible to avoid bogging everyone down in ‘ legalese ’.
Use your common sense , but common sense backed up with an understanding of some of the legal perils involved . ■
Dr Ritesh Chugh is from the School of Engineering and Technology at CQUniversity Australia .
Associate Professor Scott Beattie is from CQUniversity ’ s School of Business and Law .
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