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Scriptorium
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Legal recordings

Transcribe court and legal recordings

You can get a quick draft of a legal or court recording to read and search. It is a draft you review, not an official transcript, and we make no claim that any court, tribunal or authority would accept it.

Free preview: one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB, 3 tries a day, no account needed.

Want to keep your transcripts? Create a free account

What this page is, and is not

It makes a timestamped working copy so you can find your way around a long recording, remember what was said and prepare questions. It is not a certified transcript, a court reporter's record or legal advice, and it makes no statement about the accuracy or legal effect of its output. Where a court or authority needs an official transcript, use the certified service or the official channel your court provides.

Check whether you may record and upload

Laws on recording conversations and proceedings vary by country, state and setting, and many courts forbid recording at all unless permitted. Whether you may make, keep or share a recording is for you to check with your lawyer or the court. Recordings can hold names, health details and other sensitive facts; uploading sends the audio to our server, so do not upload anything you are bound to keep private. For that, read self-hosted transcription and the sensitive meetings guide.

A sensible workflow

  1. Confirm you may use the recording and may send it to a third party.
  2. Upload it above and set the spoken language.
  3. Use the draft to navigate: search for a name or date, then listen to that moment.
  4. Correct the text against the audio before you quote it anywhere.
  5. Keep the original audio, since that is the evidence.

Drafts you review

Overlapping speakers, legal Latin, names, numbers, dates and negatives such as 'did not' are where a draft goes wrong, and one wrong word can change a statement. Speaker labels, up to eight with a free account, can swap people. Treat every sentence as unverified until you have heard it. No accuracy figure is offered. Without an account one file can be up to 15 minutes and 25 MB. A free account lifts those per-file limits and keeps your transcripts in a library you can search, so for a full-length recording create one instead of cutting the file up.

Other languages and interpreters

If the proceeding was interpreted or held in another language, the draft covers only the audio, and does not replace a qualified translator or interpreter. Have a speaker of the language read it.

How it works

  1. Add a recording

    Drop in a video or audio file, choose one from your device, or record from the microphone. Nothing to install.

  2. It transcribes

    Speech becomes timestamped text, with speaker labels when more than one person talks.

  3. Read, fix, export

    Click any line to correct it, then download TXT, subtitles, Markdown, JSON or CSV.

Questions

Is the transcript accepted by courts?
We make no such claim. For official use, ask the court or a certified transcription service.
Can I record a hearing?
That depends on the court and the law where you are. Check before you record.
Does it give legal or medical accuracy?
No. It is a draft of the speech and it can be wrong. Do not rely on it for legal or medical decisions.
Can it keep a recording off third-party servers?
Only the self-hosted version does. The hosted site receives the files you upload.
Is it free?
Yes — one recording up to 15 minutes and 25 MB with no account, up to 3 tries a day. A free account keeps your transcripts in a library and lifts the guest limits; the current limits and paid plans are on the pricing page.

Want your transcripts saved and longer files? Create a free account · See pricing · All use cases

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No account needed for a first transcript.

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