Tampa FSDO: Posting drone video on Youtube qualifies as commercialdrone operation

[son_of_flubber]

Michael Singleton, an Aviation Safety Inspector at Tampa FSDO asserts that ad revenue earned by Youtube on drone footage makes it a commercial use of drones which is prohibited.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube

[[email protected]]

So with this "logic" you need to hold at least a commercial pilot license if you're going to post that cool soaring video to YouTube...

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 19:47:47 -0700, Bruce Hoult wrote:

> It's long been established, for example, that you only need a private in
> order to do commercial aerial photography.
>
In Godzonia, maybe, but not in the UK. You need a appropriate license
here for *any* form of paid airwork and, yes, this does include
commercial photography from drones and RC models.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Sean Fidler]

http://youtu.be/vcV71liAMwc

That FSDO gentleman sounds like another impressive federal government employee. Our government is full of folks of this caliber. How would the country function without them?

I for one always feel better knowing that the FAA is on the case, making the world a better place one act of utter genius at a time. We civilians (see mortals) might not be able to fully grasp all of their wisdom at times, but one must have faith in our federal government. We must trust that they have the best interest of all Americans in mind when confusing statements of this sort are made.

http://youtu.be/HQfzwFloVqA

I always laugh at how any American today can go buy and fly a 60 lbs, ¼ scale turbine F-15 at 300 mph all day long...but a 3 lbs quad-copter with a GoPro taped on its base is considered a serious threat to commercial aviation and society in general.

This is a bit don't difficult to understand at times for sure. Remember, our federal governments collective wisdom is almost divine. It makes little sense to question it...just have a faith :-)

Now, I'm off to go delete the 900 videos which I have posted to YouTube from my little RC quads. This would probably be worth 2 lifetimes in a federal penitentiary from the sounds of it. My day is ruined!

[Bruce Hoult]

On Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 1:09:41 AM UTC+13, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 19:47:47 -0700, Bruce Hoult wrote:
>
> > It's long been established, for example, that you only need a private in
> > order to do commercial aerial photography.
> >
> In Godzonia, maybe, but not in the UK. You need a appropriate license
> here for *any* form of paid airwork and, yes, this does include
> commercial photography from drones and RC models.

I can point you to people who have been doing aerial photography in the UK with a private for many years, and hiring others with the same.

[PGS]

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 10:41:03 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> So with this "logic" you need to hold at least a commercial pilot license if you're going to post that cool soaring video to YouTube...

Logic? Since when did logic become a factor in FAA decisions?

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Fri, 13 Mar 2015 07:03:00 -0700, Bruce Hoult wrote:

> On Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 1:09:41 AM UTC+13, Martin Gregorie wrote:
>> On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 19:47:47 -0700, Bruce Hoult wrote:
>>
>> > It's long been established, for example, that you only need a private
>> > in order to do commercial aerial photography.
>> >
>> In Godzonia, maybe, but not in the UK. You need a appropriate license
>> here for *any* form of paid airwork and, yes, this does include
>> commercial photography from drones and RC models.
>
> I can point you to people who have been doing aerial photography in the
> UK with a private for many years, and hiring others with the same.

Almost certainly they are licensed by the CAA. I didn't say you can't do
it period, just that you require a license to do it. See CAP 658:

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?
catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5631

for the not terribly onerous requirements.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Dan Marotta]

I just gotta ask: How much money have you made from youtube commercials?

On 3/13/2015 6:17 AM, Sean Fidler wrote:
> http://youtu.be/vcV71liAMwc
>
> That FSDO gentleman sounds like another impressive federal government employee. Our government is full of folks of this caliber. How would the country function without them?
>
> I for one always feel better knowing that the FAA is on the case, making the world a better place one act of utter genius at a time. We civilians (see mortals) might not be able to fully grasp all of their wisdom at times, but one must have faith in our federal government. We must trust that they have the best interest of all Americans in mind when confusing statements of this sort are made.
>
> http://youtu.be/HQfzwFloVqA
>
> I always laugh at how any American today can go buy and fly a 60 lbs, ¼ scale turbine F-15 at 300 mph all day long...but a 3 lbs quad-copter with a GoPro taped on its base is considered a serious threat to commercial aviation and society in general.
>
> This is a bit don't difficult to understand at times for sure. Remember, our federal governments collective wisdom is almost divine. It makes little sense to question it...just have a faith :-)
>
> Now, I'm off to go delete the 900 videos which I have posted to YouTube from my little RC quads. This would probably be worth 2 lifetimes in a federal penitentiary from the sounds of it. My day is ruined!
>
>
>
>
>

--
Dan Marotta

[Bruce Hoult]

On Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 11:05:51 AM UTC+13, Dan Marotta wrote:
> I just gotta ask:* How much money have you made from youtube
> commercials?

For what it's worth I've been getting a very steady $4 a month for several years from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDZN21xzsRo

Even with Bruno's and Matt's sheer quantity of much better videos and far higher views (in aggregate) you're not going to make a living from it.

I did actually get paid out $100 or $150 or something for the first time about a year ago.

[Sean Fidler]

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube?trk_source=popular

[Bruce Hoult]

On Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 2:15:51 AM UTC+13, Sean Fidler wrote:
> http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube?trk_source=popular

Ridiculous.

[Dan Marotta]

I sleep well at night knowing Big Brother is looking after my safety.

And every time I hear a helicopter pass over my house, I get worried...

On 3/14/2015 7:37 AM, Bruce Hoult wrote:
> On Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 2:15:51 AM UTC+13, Sean Fidler wrote:
>> http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube?trk_source=popular
> Ridiculous.

--
Dan Marotta

[[email protected]]

Tongue in cheek. The FAA allows Private rated airplane pilots to tow gliders for hire, something I would consider much more critical than a remote control helicopter with a camera.

https://www.ssa.org/files/member/Private_towpilots_article_v5_2-27-11.doc

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

Sean Fidler wrote on 3/14/2015 6:15 AM:
> http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube?trk_source=popular

After reading the article, I've concluded it's not "the FAA" doing this,
but an individual in one FSDO, whose interpretation is unique, untested,
unused elsewhere, and is likely to withdrawn or modified when upper
management finds out about it.

Because RC model flyers have actually commercialized their flying for
decades with payment for articles, plans, kits, equipment, pictures, and
videos, it's not clear to me why this form of commercialization exceeds
the model aircraft standard so much it warrants a letter.

Since he isn't being penalized at this point, one suggestion is to
refuse the ad revenue if that is possible and sufficient, or remove the
videos, and go up the FAA food chain till someone retracts it or
supports it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl