Is it legal to videotape someone who is a speaker in a school?

If a person is a speaker in a public place, such as town square, then generally their appearance can be videotaped as news, and shown on a television or cable or internet news show.  However, the person's speech at a school may have been a paid performance, or it may have been a private performance, and the speaker's contract with the school or organization may have restrictions on the video rights and the rebroadcasting rights.  Therefore, you should ask the school whether the speaker or the school has placed restrictions on the right to videotape the speech.  In addition to the question of whether you can make a video tape, there is a question of whether after a videotape is made, it can be played publicly, posted on the internet, or shown subsequent times to the school or to classes at the school.  Those questions also may be addressed in the contract between the speaker and the school or whoever sponsored the speaker's appearance.  If there are no contracts restricting the videotape being replayed, there may be a law in your state that restricts a person from using another person's likeness, photograph, or live appearance for profit in a commercial way without the speaker's permission.  That is called a publicity right, and you should check with an attorney in your state about your state's laws on a person's publicity right.  You may need to obtain the permission of the speaker before you can take the video, post or rebroadcast the video, or use the video in a commercial or for other purposes that will promote a product or service of a business. I am licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio only and this answer is intended to give you general background information and not to constitute legal advice.  You should consult an attorney in your state for specific legal advice.