Unlicensed pilot: Can I, it can't I?

The key is "down the road".... we can't control what happens later on down the road but the "Intent of the Flight" is where the FAA has our hands tied.
I agree with intent. If a video was shot three years before the now event, it would be hard to say it was a commercial thing but if it was recent and the property in question was singled out in the video and not just a general fly over, that would set off some flags. A person could have an aerial video of his project or riding his motorcycle and be contacted by someone that saw the video, contacted the person with an offer to buy. Does this innocent video automatically become commercial.? There will be all kinds of instances like this. I for one will not worry about it. I don't plan to fly for hire and may share a video with someone. What they do with that video or picture later shouldn't affect me. What if I stuck a camera on a kite or balloon and took some shots and the video was used for a commercial purpose. Is that any business of the FAA?
 
This is where the situation moves to that of a legal issue and like with any legal issue, proof is required. Can the FAA/CAA prove that the intended purpose of the flight was to supply the material for the 3rd party's use when it wasn't directly supplied to them?
You're merely splitting hairs in an online forum. Regardless what we think here it will play out at some point in the court system. If you (and/or the OP) want to spend the time, efforts, and $$ over a silly drone flight over a neighbor's property to save them $100 more power to you. That's 100% your right and I will fight for that right for you day in and day out.

As for me and how I run my company I follow the FAA's guidelines because at the end of the day it's fairly easy to stay within the guidelines and still make a dollar here and there. YMMV
 
This is where the situation moves to that of a legal issue and like with any legal issue, proof is required. Can the FAA/CAA prove that the intended purpose of the flight was to supply the material for the 3rd party's use when it wasn't directly supplied to them?

And this also puts one into a legal defense situation with the FAA. Whether you win or not, quite an expensive endeavor. Not a situation anyone wishes to be in.
 
I think it would be a hard thing to peruse for the FAA. You taking pictures of land for a friend for free? How do you know what they will do with the video?

Not as hard as you think. It takes very little effort on their part to suspend your certificate. Then it's up to you to fight to get it back.
 
Not to mention if the party involved posts a drone video on Youtube by someone without a 107 is doing it illegally in the eyes of the FAA. You need the commercial part to post drone videos on Youtube or risk the FAA and fines like this hobbyist flyer who posted a drone video in which he flew over people and the FAA caught him.

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Interesting part was he mentions another person whose fine for posting on Youtube was $10K and they settled for $3K. So be careful if you post someplace, or don't post a video on Youtube at all if you are without a 107 part.
 

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