Lock in guest permissions before your episode goes live

This service is commonly used by podcasters, production companies, agencies, networks, branded content teams and talent managers who record guest interviews or appearances and want clearer permission terms before publishing. It is particularly useful where episodes may be edited, clipped for social media, turned into written content, or reused in future campaigns. If your show regularly features external guests rather than in-house hosts only, a release form can help set expectations around voice use, likeness, approval wording and ownership position from the start.

The problem is often not the recording itself, but what happens after the interview. A guest may object to edits, ask for an episode to be taken down, dispute whether their name or image can be used in promotion, or challenge whether clips can be reused later. Generic forms also tend to miss podcast-specific issues like transcript publication, excerpting for trailers, or combining the interview with sponsor content. A better-drafted release can address those pressure points before the episode is distributed across multiple channels.

The fixed-fee covers legal work on the release form and the permission wording that usually matters for podcast content. That can include drafting a new form or reviewing an existing one, plus clauses dealing with recording consent, editing rights, use of the guest's voice and likeness, promotional use, ownership position, and any approval limits you want to set. Optional confidentiality or non-disparagement wording can also be discussed where relevant. Ongoing representation, regulator approval and third-party decisions are not included in the fixed-fee.

Sometimes yes, but only if your format and use case stay fairly consistent. A standard form may work well where each guest appears under similar conditions and you use episodes in the same way each time. If some guests are public figures, paid contributors, vulnerable participants, or part of a branded campaign, the release may need different wording. The same applies if you want broader rights to republish clips, create transcripts, license content elsewhere or use the interview in advertising. We can help assess whether a reusable form is realistic for your show.

No. This service deals with the legal wording in the guest release form and related permission issues, not external sign-off. Approval depends on the relevant regulator or authority, and If regulator or authority requirements affect your matter, we will talk you through the practical next steps.. For example, a platform, distributor or broadcaster may still have its own content rules, takedown processes or submission requirements. If your project involves those extra layers, we can explain where the release form helps and where separate steps or extra legal work may be needed.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Podcast Guest Release Form service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.