Resources — Legal Stuff, Waivers & Forms

When it comes to the legal side of podcasting, since I am not a lawyer (so this is not legal advice) my default is always going to say “go by the book”. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

This means when you are looking for intro/outro music, you’ll want to use royalty free music or purchase a license. A good place for this is the YouTube Studio Audio Library (for free sounds).

In terms of waivers and release forms for podcast guests. Do you need them? No. Do I use them? No. Would having one in place protect you from some potential headache in the future if a guest became disgruntled? Yes.

I don’t use them because everyone who comes on my show is excited to be on. I am there to support them and in the course of our conversation our goal is to help the audience. I’ve published over 1000+ episodes and never ran into an issue.

If you would like to use a release form, which essentially states “I can edit, distribute, and monetize this content however I would like, with your permission” (aka you are fully in control of it), here are a few options.

• Podcast Guest Release Form
• Create your own using Google Forms (I encourage you to copy one that you like)
• Talent Release Form
• Several Media Release Forms