What Is A Podcasting Release Form, And When To Use One?

If you’re considering starting a podcast, you may be wondering what format to use to keep your audience engaged. One popular choice is the interview-style podcast, where you sit down with a guest and delve into a specific topic. The conversational nature of this format can make for a fun and informative show that draws in listeners. With the right guest, you can explore different angles and get to the heart of the matter in a way that is both engaging and insightful. So, if you’re looking to create a podcast that’s both fun and educational, an interview-style show could be the perfect choice for you.

Download the first chapter of The Storytelling Series: Beginners’ Guide for Small Businesses & Content Creators by Obehi Ewanfoh.

Truthfully, most podcasters lately choose this podcast style, considering the high rate of listeners it lures.

As this podcasting style is deemed fun, you, as the main host, need to have full rights to the podcast episode to avoid being sued for copyright infringement in the near future.

Sounds weird but that’s the fact. An untold number of podcasters have been sued for copyright infringement because their guests had a change of opinion about what was initially discussed in an episode or that they despise how the podcast episode magnified with thousands or perhaps millions of listeners.

To avoid tight spots like this, you need to own all your podcast episodes. In this article, I nailed what a podcasting release form is and when to use one; read on and discover what this is all about.

What is a podcasting release form?

A podcasting release form or guest release form is a written statement that retains your right as the owner of the content. It gives you explicit permission to distribute and promote the content.

This written document protects you from being unnecessarily sued by guests who despise the success of your podcast or have a change of opinions in the long run.

When this document gets signed by your guest, you have the right to edit, distribute and promote the podcast episode without hassle.

Every podcaster creating an interview-styled podcast should always have their guests sign the document so as to not embroil the podcast episode down the road.

This simple document works wonders- it saves podcasters time, frustration, and money when their guests sign the document.

I do need to have my guests sign the release forms?

The answer is a simple yes. Always!

Surely, you wouldn’t want to complicate things down the line, especially when your podcast is a hit. Imagine discussing a trendy topic with a guest, and the topic resonates with a few people at the moment.

Surprisingly, a year later, that podcast episode becomes a big hit with millions of listeners aiming to listen to the podcast, and then your guest has a change of mind or argues that his/her initial viewpoint is null. Thus, asks you to edit or rather rid of the episode when it’s still making a massive amount of money for you. What would be your response?

Well, you might choose not to remove the episode; however, you will get charged with invasion of privacy, tortious fraud, and other similar things.

But when you have this simple document signed by your guest and fast forward years later, the guest has a change of mind and asks you to remove the episode; the release form you have will serve as evidence depicting the guest agreed you will have full right of the content.

That’s not to say that when this release form is signed, you can’t make changes in a podcast episode when you need to. Of course, you can make changes when you want; after all, the content is yours.

Beware that having this release form signed doesn’t protect you in court when you are directly slandering or ridiculing your guest’s name. It basically helps you get over conflict with your guest in matters of content choice.

More so, having your guest sign this form shows how seriously you esteem your content.

When should the podcasting release form be signed?

This guest release form should be signed Before recording. Preferably, send the document same time you are sending the topic, outline, and questions to your guest.

You might choose to have the form signed in form of a paper form and then document it for future use or have your guest sign the form digitally through services like Paperform, Hellosign, Docusign, etc.

Where To Get A Podcast Release Form?

You can actually have an attorney create and weigh the release form for you- literally the safest means. Although a very few podcasters can afford to pay an attorney to get this done, thus creating one for yourself might be ideal.

Here’s where you can create a guest release form;

• PdfFiller
• eForms
• Sample Templates
• Legal Zoom

Conclusion on What Is A Podcasting Release Form, And When To Use One

Prioritize having your guest sign your podcasting release form before recording to ensure you have the absolute right to edit, promote and distribute the interview you had with them. This helps to help you get over conflict with your guest down the line.

Download the first chapter of The Storytelling Series: Beginners’ Guide for Small Businesses & Content Creators by Obehi Ewanfoh.