Commercial or not?

[jr_00_22]

I work for a construction company and we needed to make an educational/inspirational video for our employees to watch. We did most of the filming with a ground camera, but I personally own a Phantom 3 pro and offered (at no additional cost outside of my regular salaries) to fly it for some footage. So obviously my question is giving the circumstances that the video was educational/inspirational and we don’t profit of such media and I flew my personal Phantom on company time for no additional payment, would this be considered commercial use.

There may not be a clear answer to this, but I would like to know your thoughts.

Thank you,

J.R.

 

[msinger]

It's commercial since the video is being used for a commercial purpose. You should contact the FAA directly if you have any doubts though.

 

[N017RW]

+1

The easy test IMO would be: was this flight for Hobby or Recreational purposes?
Sounds like No.

That would then by default make it commercial.
i.e. What is the intent of the flight which produced the images?

If you took the video for H or R and then you later said 'Wait... I have some footage you might be interested in', this may be a safe argument for its use but in this case would be disingenuous.

Non-Lawyer, Hobby Drone Operator

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Definitely commercial use, free or not.

 

[jr_00_22]

Thanks everyone for your input. Looks like I'm going to have get a commercial license if I'm going to continue projects like this.

 

[N017RW]

Yep, and it's not going to be too difficult to get a 107.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Look here for info - Fact Sheet – Small Unmanned Aircraft Regulations (Part 107)