Gang,
One of my clients just internally circulated a new corporate policy on use of drone obtained footage.

Here is what it said:

Hello Everyone:

As some of you may have heard, the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has recently updated its policy regarding the regulations on
drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in commercial applications.
Whereas previously the FAA prohibited commercial use of drone-supplied
photos and footage, the updated policy makes it clear that businesses
and individuals who use UAV-captured photos and video for commercial
reasons are not in violation of the FAA’s rules on commercial use of
drones. Rather, the FAA may only enforce a “no drone” policy with the
operators of the UAVs.

What this means for you as agents is that we are perfectly within our
rights to utilize any photography or videos obtained from drones in
our marketing. The photographer must now assume full liability, and
will be fully responsible for all fines, penalties, costs and fees if
the FAA chooses to enforce the policy. Many of our preferred
photographers, including Dan Milstein, have agreed to take on this
risk and will resume providing drone services to our sales associates.
To find out if a specific vendor will shoot drone footage, please
contact them directly as these services will only be offered at the
discretion of each individual photographer.

Please note that this new FAA policy can always change at any moment.
We can’t predict whether they will once again choose to ban drone
footage from commercial use, or whether they may continue to relax the
regulations. We will keep you updated if further developments occur.

Please feel free to reach out to your local brokerage manager or me
directly if you have any questions relating to this latest decision by
the FAA and our company policy.

Best Regards,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chief Operating Officer


Does anyone know about this?

That is nothing new.

All it says is only the operator can get in trouble from the FAA, not anyone who uses the photos/video. That is the way it has always been.

Now assume that the FAA asks this company who took the photos/video that they are using commercially, and they tell them "Dan Milstein" sold it to us.

Guess what? Dan is screwed.

suqsid.bobmail Posted at 2015-5-22 01:25
That is nothing new.

All it says is only the operator can get in trouble from the FAA, not anyone w ...

That's right. This is nothing new. The FAA has never had the enforcement authority to regulate the medium a business chooses to use for marketing. I think the C.O.O.'s letter was expressing their  recent enlightenment of the real situation.

The FAA has made it available to obtain an official exemption, allowing UAV operators to use their aircraft and camera for commercial use.   Although, included in the exemption is the requirement that the COMMERCIAL operator needs to possess a sport pilot license at a minimum....along with the usual 400 ft max, 5 miles from an airport, etc.

You do not need to hold a pilots license to obtain the exemption.  You only need to tell the FAA that when operating commercially, your aircraft will be operated by a licensed pilot.

It is legal to use your UAV for commercial use, provided you obtain an FAA exemption and hold a license.  Otherwise, it is not legal to shoot footage for sale.

I expect this to change within the next couple of years.  But, for now....that's the law.

The letter is correct in stating the FAA cannot control the footage obtained from a drone.  The FAA does not enforce privacy, fair use or copyright laws.   (Other law enforcement agencies do that enforcement.)

Here is what the FAA currently says about commercial drone operations:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/nprm/

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_r ... ry.cfm?newsId=18295

MikeAngelo Posted at 2015-5-22 03:18
The FAA has made it available to obtain an official exemption, allowing UAV operators to use their a ...

Mike, can you elaborate on this:

You do not need to hold a pilots license to obtain the exemption.  You only need to tell the FAA that when operating commercially, your aircraft will be operated by a licensed pilot.

I'm interested in learning more about how to go about doing that.

Thanks!

cgl817@gmail.co Posted at 2015-5-26 04:48
Mike, can you elaborate on this:

You do not need to hold a pilots license to obtain the exemption ...

Here you are CGL.  Links at the bottom include current requests for exemptions, exemptions granted and how to start the process.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/

Can I use my own footage I took for my own business? I shoot the video, edit it and post it myself. I'm not a realtor.

MikeAngelo Posted at 2015-5-26 06:04
Here you are CGL.  Links at the bottom include current requests for exemptions, exemptions granted ...

Thanks, I read exhaustively through many of the exemptions. I get the point that just about anyone can get the exemption if you apply.  So I apply and get the exemption but I'm not a licensed pilot, now what?
I don't see this helping anyone who isn't already a licensed pilot or planning on getting their license which looks to cost between $5,000 and $10,000.  Guess I'm just not seeing any benefit to applying for now. Am I missing something?  

cgl817@gmail.co Posted at 2015-5-27 02:15
Thanks, I read exhaustively through many of the exemptions. I get the point that just about anyone ...

There are older threads on here that give more details, but as I understand it (and those of you who know better, please chip in), the way it works right now is this: you apply for exemption from whichever parts of the FAA rules you'd like -- including the requirement that you be a licensed pilot, that your craft have an air-worthiness certificate, etc. etc. For each exemption you'd like to be granted, you have to give a justification w/ documentation etc. Lots and lots and LOTS of hoops to jump through. Once you compile and submit your application (and pay the fee), you wait. And wait. And wait. I seem to recall hearing up to a year. Then, if you're lucky, the FAA grants you an exemption. But they may also tell you "no" or "we need more documentation." It's a huge production, and not one that we as independent operators can be expected to successfully jump through.

They will not exempt you from the pilots license requirement... I asked them.

cgl817@gmail.co Posted at 2015-5-27 02:15
Thanks, I read exhaustively through many of the exemptions. I get the point that just about anyone ...

You are correct.  You will not be exempted from having to be a licensed pilot.  Although, technically you could request that exemption.   But, you won't get it.  I'd like to know if you do....haha.

The real deal here is that you will need to have this exemption to operate your aircraft commercially.   Not just to have the piece of paper.   But, when you are exploring real aerial photography jobs, businesses with litigators are going to ask you to produce it.   And, likely along with your licensed pilot information.

In my case, I work in aviation and with several pilots who have volunteered their credential services that will be needed to be seen as a legitimate business and compliant with federal law.

The paper also serves as an official document should you be asked for it by any law enforcement types.

You have your credentials in order and can still charge for the editing - and, technically be compliant.

And, my personal opinion this type of license mandate is temporary and expect it to change in the near future.  Whether there becomes a test and drone certification, still meeting the 400 feet, 5 lb rules, etc.  Or, if it just becomes legal for you to operate after meeting certain testing requirements.  The regs will loosen....and, I think in the near future.