Wiretapping Statute of Limitations

[Man_V_Wild]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California and across state lines
I know that the statute of limitations regarding wire tapping is like 4 or 5 years. My question is when does the clock start ticking regarding a recorded phone conversation? From the point of discovery?

[cdwjava]

Civil or criminal?

California state law, or federal?

[flyingron]

Federal criminal wiretapping violations are 5 years from the date they occurred.
California 631PC can be prosecuted as a felony which gives them 3 years from the time the act occurred.
You'd have to explain what sort of civil suit you'd like to bring, but my guess is under most things I can envision in California you've got 3 years (or a year from the date of conviction if the damages were as a result of a felony).

[Man_V_Wild]

I'm the one who recorded the call more than 15 years ago. The person on the other end of the line does not know that they were recorded. No lawsuit or legal trouble. Just curious about the law.

[adjusterjack]

I'm the one who recorded the call more than 15 years ago. The person on the other end of the line does not know that they were recorded. No lawsuit or legal trouble. Just curious about the law.

After 15 years, keep your mouth shut, destroy the recording, and don't sweat it.

[cdwjava]

I'm the one who recorded the call more than 15 years ago. The person on the other end of the line does not know that they were recorded. No lawsuit or legal trouble. Just curious about the law.

Move on. If it hasn't been an issue in 15 years it's unlikely to be one now.

[John_28]

After 15 years, keep your mouth shut, destroy the recording, and don't sweat it.

You're telling this person to destroy the recording, before you even know what the recording is about?

[free9man]

You're telling this person to destroy the recording, before you even know what the recording is about?

After 15 years, it doesn't much matter what it was about. It's value is pretty much gone, outside of maybe embarrassment if something stupid was said. Now, if the person was confessing to an unsolved homicide, that's about the only thing worth keeping. But if that were the case, it should have been turned over to authorities a long time ago so I'm willing to bet that isn't the case here.

[Man_V_Wild]

It was a funny prank call made from a 1-party consent state. Nobody was murdered (LOL) but the guy who was called thought someone had died and he later called the cops. A detective investigated the report, realized it was a prank and chose to do nothing (all 15 years ago).
I am looking to reenact the call with a voice actor with different names and identifiers so that it's anonymous and there's no invasion of privacy. I am going to also make changes to the prankee's dialog. I was told that this should eliminate the need to pay royalties, what little they might ever amount to.
With regard to copyrights I was told that the conversation is a "joint work" -- like a song written by 2 musicians, and that either joint work owners are allowed to exploit the work under basic copyright law.
I always thought that murder is about the only crime that has a statute of limitations that never dies (no pun intended).