Considering Legal and Ethical Issues

Ethical Considerations and Oral History

Ethical considerations in oral history practice are grounded in a methodology that rests on mutual respect and trust.

The Oral History Association has issued a Statement on Ethics, which indicates the responsibilities that one assumes when establishing a relationship with a narrator and conducting an interview for preservation, research, and public use.

Individuals involved in the oral history process, from preliminary meetings to archiving and access, have ethical responsibilities to ensure the narrator's perspective and dignity are respected.

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Key elements of ethical relationships

• Informed consent. From initial contact, be sure that narrators understand why you want to talk with them, who is sponsoring the oral history project and its purpose, where the interview will be archived, the possible ways the interview might be used in the future, and who will have access to the interview materials. Let the narrator know that the interview is part of a process that will continue with transcript review.

• Legal release form. Explain to narrators that they will be asked to sign a legal release form that assigns copyright of the interview to a repository. The copyright will allow the archive to share the interview with others and use the interview in ways outlined in the form. Releasing the interview does not mean that the narrator surrenders use of their personal story.

• Trained interviewers. Oral history interviewers have an ethical responsibility to be trained in oral history methods so that they understand how complex the relationship between interviewer and narrator can be.

• Respect. Good interviewers invite differing perspectives about and interpretations of the past.

• Diversity of narrators. Oral historians seek a variety of narrators who represent a range of perspectives.

• Appropriate equipment. Choose equipment that project interviewers can use with confidence and with which narrators will feel comfortable.

• Collaboration. Include narrators in project planning. How does the oral history project help them and their community? What do they want the interviews and the project research to accomplish?

• Accuracy. Allow time for narrators to review interview transcripts, make necessary corrections, and determine what will be made public.

• Stewardship. Oral historians have an archival plan so that interview recordings, transcripts, and supporting materials are taken care of now and for future generations.

For oral historians, legal issues and ethical considerations go hand in hand. Careful preparation for the interview, mutual respect, informed consent, and stewardship of interview materials are key elements of the oral history process.

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Legal Considerations and Oral History

Legal issues surrounding oral history can be complex. These are some points and questions to consider during the oral history process.

• Oral history interviews are considered original creative works, and they are subject to U.S. copyright law. A signed National Park Service legal release gives the NPS the right to distribute, reproduce, display, perform publicly, and create a derivative work from the interview.

• Because oral history interviews are created jointly by narrators and interviewers, interviewers must sign release forms, too.

• When the oral history interviews are completed by contractors rather than NPS employees, the contract should note the transfer of rights.

• A concern for many NPS archives is interviews that are not accompanied by a signed release form. They are known as “orphan works.” This problem is epidemic among cultural heritage institutions. Archivists and the U.S. Copyright Office have addressed it. When dealing with interviews whose narrators cannot be located:

  • Make a good faith effort to locate the narrator or the narrator’s next of kin who could sign a release form.

  • Determine if there is material in the interview that creates a risk should it be made public. For example, are there defamatory statements?

  • Be conservative about distribution. Share the material with park or program staff for research and educational programming and allow use of materials in the archives.

Learn More

These resources offer in-depth guidance to copyright, orphan works, and other issues important to oral historians.

Resources

Copyright at Cornell Libraries: Copyright Term and the Public Domain,  https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain.

Evans, Jeremy, and Melissa Hernandez Duran. “Rights Review for Sound Recordings: Strategies Using Risk and Fair Use Assessments.” The American Archivist, vol. 81, no. 2, 2018, pp. 323-72. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48617860.

Neuenschwander, John A. A Guide to Oral History and the Law. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Oral History Association, OHA Statement on Ethics | Oral History Association.

U.S. Copyright Office, Orphan Works and Mass Digitization: A Report of the Register of Copyrights, June 2015.

Legal Release Form

Interview agreement form for NPS oral history projects

Download the Form