Call Recording Laws in Oregon

Plain-English summary

Oregon applies different rules to different media. For telephonic communications, Or. Rev. Stat. § 165.540(1)(a) prohibits non-participant interception but permits participant recording without other-party consent. For in-person oral communications, § 165.540(1)(c) prohibits recording “a conversation in which all the participants are not specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained.”

A participant may record an Oregon phone call without notifying the other party. An in-person Oregon recording, however, requires that all participants be informed.

Case law of note

No appellate decision in Oregon has materially reshaped the participant-recording rule in recent decades. Lower-court decisions exist but do not change the analytical framework set by the statute and by general federal precedent under § 2511.

Edge cases and special rules

In-person vs. phone. Different rule — all-party for in-person under § 165.540(1)(c)
Voicemail. Leaving a message creates the recording at the recipient’s direction; reviewing one’s own voicemail is not interception.
Vicarious consent. Several federal courts have recognized a parental-consent doctrine permitting a parent to consent on behalf of a minor child (Pollock v. Pollock, 154 F.3d 601 (6th Cir. 1998)). State law varies; no controlling Oregon appellate decision on the question.
Law enforcement. Court-authorized intercepts are governed by a separate framework and are outside the scope of this page.
Cross-border calls. Where any participant is in an all-party state, treat the stricter rule as the safer default. See cross-border calls.

Penalties and remedies

Criminal: Class A misdemeanor.

Civil: Yes — § 133.739 provides a civil action.

Evidence: a recording made in violation of the Oregon statute is generally inadmissible in Oregon proceedings. Federal § 2515 separately bars use of unlawfully intercepted communications in federal proceedings.

Practical guidance

If you are recording an ordinary phone call: obtain audible consent from every party at the start of the call.
Suggested opening: See our consent script templates for jurisdiction-specific language.
If the other party objects: stop recording. Continued recording over an objection is a separate factual question that no consent statute helps you with.
What to keep: the date and time of the call, the parties’ phone numbers, a description of the consent given (express verbal, continued participation after notice, etc.), and the audio file itself.