Drone for profit?

[codygrkman]

Can someone just clarify for me... Read the FAA guidelines just want to be sure. If I am not being paid or compensated in anyway and take aerial photography/video of a building and give it to the building owner for absolutely no compensation but only for my flying/editing enjoyment... This is or is not legal non-commercial use?


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[impilot51]

I believe if you are not compensated in any way then you are OK. It's when folks try to get tricky with the compensation that they get in trouble.


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[Tim in Florida]

The way the rule is written, it's not about compensation. I think it refers to business use/benefit or some such thing.

But, like speed limits... Not every law is successfully enforced.

 

[DAP-UAV]

What is the building owner's intent with the pics. If he is using the pics for advertising its commercial.

 

[turbulence]

I work with a realtor and I've shot aerial photos for him 4x already. Yesterday I just did some aerial video for his listing. He sells million dollar homes on the golf course so he likes to show the location of the home compared to everything else. I've heard from realtors that the NAR wants them to use 333 exempt companies/individuals and do it legally. However, 99% of my competitors are not legal and I bet they don't have their drone registered. I am a licensed pilot with a FAA 333 exemption and my drone is registered. The realtor that I work with is one of the top and well known in my area so hopefully he can get me more clients.

 

[Meta4]

What is the building owner's intent with the pics. If he is using the pics for advertising its commercial.

This is going further into things than the rules are meant to deal with.
The rules are ridiculous enough without stretching them even further.
It's crazy that flying and taking photos is perfectly legal .. until you sell the photos
And it's crazy that its an aviation safety authority trying to say who can and who can't sell photography.
The FAA is concerned with commercial flying - not about the intent of someone that cody might give a photo to.

 

[byrne68]

This is going further into things than the rules are meant to deal with.
The rules are ridiculous enough without stretching them even further.
It's crazy that flying and taking photos is perfectly legal .. until you sell the photos
And it's crazy that its an aviation safety authority trying to say who can and who can't sell photography.
The FAA is concerned with commercial flying - not about the intent of someone that cody might give a photo to.

Agree 100%.

 

[King Luff]

This is going further into things than the rules are meant to deal with.
The rules are ridiculous enough without stretching them even further.
It's crazy that flying and taking photos is perfectly legal .. until you sell the photos
And it's crazy that its an aviation safety authority trying to say who can and who can't sell photography.
The FAA is concerned with commercial flying - not about the intent of someone that cody might give a photo to.

You speak the truth, i'm sure the FAA, CAA & other bodies have lots more to worry about than if Dave down the road is taking photos for someone at 100ft.

 

[byrne68]

Professional or semi-professional photographers on these boards will already know about model releases and property releases. Same rules of engagement should be applied for commercial use. There's no reasoning for distinguishing if the photo was taken from a quadcopter or from a DSLR...

 

[Charles Joseph]

Aloha guys. I have been racking my brain trying to discover ways to utilize drones for a business. However the fear people have with drones makes limited options. I would like to start a thread of successful uses their drone for a business. Once amazon gets over the hump of shipping using drones their gonna be everywhere. The little guys need a price of the pie too.

Real estate aerials are a nice part of my other photography & marketing business. I've paid for my P3A many times over. I'm a licensed hot air balloon pilot & have submitted the 333 application, so that helps too. But I've also started in another area. I shoot solar panel installations for alternative energy companies. It's terrific business. A lot of the installations are roof mounts, and there is simply no other way to get good photos.

 

[DAP-UAV]

This is going further into things than the rules are meant to deal with.
The rules are ridiculous enough without stretching them even further.
It's crazy that flying and taking photos is perfectly legal .. until you sell the photos
And it's crazy that its an aviation safety authority trying to say who can and who can't sell photography.
The FAA is concerned with commercial flying - not about the intent of someone that cody might give a photo to.

I agree. It is what it is and I am just trying to not break any laws and not put my business at risk. Right now I think that the FAA recognized the dangers of 700,000 plus UAV's flying all over the NAS and are trying to catch up. I believe the rules will change and adjust in the future to something more practicable. I think if cody gave a few pics here and there, that should be his business. But if it becomes something regular he would be stepping into commercial use. And he is welcome to become a commercial operator if he should so choose.