Podcasting for Solopreneurs | Podcasting Tips and Growth Strategies for Online Business, Entrepreneur, and Solopreneur

57. Should I Have My Podcast Guests Sign a Release? Avoid Podcasting Legal Troubles

Julia Levine | The Podcast Teacher™ (Podcasting Growth Coach)

Welcome to Podcasting for solopreneurs and FAQ Friday, where I answer a common podcasting question in 5 minutes or less. Today's question is, should I have my podcast guests sign a release? This question comes from a membership that I'm a part of, and, yes, it is best practice to have your guest sign a release. A release protects both you and the guest and ensures that everyone is on the same page. Now if you haven't done this for past interviews, don't freak out. It's not that big of a deal, but I would encourage it going forward. Having a release is kind of like having insurance. You hope to never need it, but you'll be really glad you have it if you do need it. Let me give you an example of a scenario that I've heard of from other podcasters more than once.

This has not happened to me personally, but I'm gonna speak in first person for the purpose of giving an example. Let's say Priscilla Podcaster does a guest interview with me. I edit and publish it, and then Priscilla comes to me and says that I cut out valuable things that she said, and she wants me to air the whole thing. Or that I didn't edit something out that made her sound stupid, and she wants me to take the whole interview down. That might sound kind of ridiculous, but I promise you it has happened before. If I haven't had Priscilla sign an agreement, we're left to negotiate back and forth, work this out on our own, and Priscilla could potentially involve a lawyer to get what she wants. If I do have an agreement, Priscilla then has no ground to stand on. She agreed to everything before we even pressed record.

Now I wanna point out that this doesn't prohibit me from using my judgment. If Priscilla makes a good point and or I just really value our relationship and so I'd like to make her comfortable, I can choose to take down or re edit the interview. Having an agreement in place means that I have a choice as opposed to being forced into a decision. This is just one example of a scenario that a release could protect you from. There are other nightmare scenarios that probably won't, but could occur. So like insurance, a release is a good idea. There's a podcast industry lawyer, Gordon Firemark, who offers a free guest release template. I'll leave a link in the description in case you'd like to grab it.

And if you have a podcasting question, click the send me your question link in the episode description, and I'll answer it in an upcoming episode. Until next time. Happy podcasting.

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