A participation agreement must be given to the interviewee for their approval and consent before any recording takes place.
Your community archive will own the copyright to the recording of the interview. The copyright of the spoken words will initially lie with the interviewee, so it is important that the participation agreement asks them to agree to sign this copyright to you.
You should still ask the interviewee for permission for any subsequent use of the recordings that is not covered by the participation agreement, and respect any closure periods they want to impose.
Download an example participation agreement.
The participation agreement should:
Both parties must sign copies of the agreement and each should keep a copy.
Once the interview has been completed, the interviewee will also need to sign a recording agreement – download a sample recording agreement. This assigns copyright of the recording to the community archive and allows the interviewee to list any sections of the interview they would like to remain closed.