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FAA: Don’t post drone videos on YouTube

By Neal Augenstein | @AugensteinWTOP March 16, 2015 7:52 am

Drone hobbyist Jayson Hanes received a warning letter from the FAA, saying his videos posted on YouTube are commercial.

WASHINGTON — Posting drone footage on YouTube apparently runs afoul of the Federal Aviation Administration’s rules against commercial use of drones.

A Tampa-based drone hobbyist, Jayson Hanes, recently received a letter from the FAA, warning he could be subject to fines or sanctions if he doesn’t stop flying “commercially,” according to a report in Motherboard.

“This office has received a complaint regarding your use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (aka drone) for commercial purposes referencing Youtube.com as evidence,” read the letter to Hanes from FAA aviation safety inspector Michael Singleton. “After a review of your website, it does appear that the complaint is valid.”

The FAA is in the process of creating regulations for the commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The current proposal would limit flights to daylight and visual-line-of-sight operations.

However, the FAA differentiates model aircraft operated only for hobby or recreational purposes from commercial drone operation.

While the FAA has previously sent cease and desist letters to commercial drone operators that advertise drone-for-hire, the letter to Hanes appears to be a first.

The FAA said that because there are ads on YouTube, Hanes’ flights constituted a commercial use.

Hanes told Motherboard that while his videos are technically “monetized” on YouTube, he has never received a payment from Google and the revenue he’s earned from Google ads is less than a dollar.

The FAA says it is looking into the matter.

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Topics:

Business Consumer Tech drones faa federal aviation administration jayson hanes neal augenstein News Tech

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Home » News » Tech » Consumer Tech » FAA: Don't post drone…

MynameisNeo

The FAA just needs to follow ol’ Joe B.’s advice: go get a shotgun and just blast those pesky drones out of the sky!
- WordsofMatthew
  
  yeah, go ahead and do that….
Badeye

I thought there was going to be a video with girls in bikinis at the beach? What a let down!
- Smoke_Monster
  
  I was hoping for all of that minus the bikinis.
Bob

Screw The FAA.
WordsofMatthew

FAA is correct, doesnt matter if you make under a dollar, you are still making money
- Cybrsk8r
  
  He should cut Google a check for a dollar, so he’s no longer making money. Then, he can tell the gov’t to screw off.
  - JoeOvercoat
    
    Some prosecutor somewhere just a took a note to look into kickbacks to Google…..
  - Hayden_J
    
    The question is whether this was an advertisement for his business or not. And where on earth is my check for YouTube videos?
- Compass
  
  Technically not. I have “made” $12.96 from ad revenue on YouTube, but am not eligible to receive it until I actually earn $100. The ol’ banked revenue set-up, where profits are kept by the company to earn interest until the person potentially can actually withdraw the lump sump.
  
  Edit: I have contacted my imaginary accountant and have verified that my current balance is in fact $12.96 and not $12 as previously reported. This under-reporting of income by 8% is solely my fault.
  - JoeOvercoat
    
    Technically, you are making money. You just don’t actually get to have it, yet. So yah, the guy is making money off the drone video, strictly speaking. At least as long as the ads are paying….
    - Compass
      
      The chances of me having this money ever are very slim. At my current rate it’ll take me another 37 years to get the $100 payout. That being said, I have a real job that pays significantly more, so I still keep this as a side hobby that just so happens to randomly get pennies once in a while.
      - Hayden_J
        
        Can you opt out of payments? I didn’t know I’d get paid for falling off a sled on a snow day with the kids.
      - Compass
        
        Yeah, you can hold payments.
      - EricL
        
        Yes. It is an option on every video you post to “Monetize” it. Simply uncheck the box. For most of us, making money on You-Tube is a pipe dream.
        There are thousands of drone videos out on You-Tube as we speak. Is the FAA reviewing every one to see if it is monetized and sending out letters? Or was it simply that someone complained about THIS guy?
      - Hayden_J
        
        Great question.
      - JoeOvercoat
        
        The letter does cite a complaint, perhaps because, per the video description, “there is an airport within a mile! So I kept the flight very tight.”
        
        The actual content of the video is hardly an example of a bad actor, when there is plenty of that to be found, so it really does look complaint-driven, for better or for worse.
      - JoeOvercoat
        
        You can also separately opt out of “Allow advertisements to be displayed alongside my videos – Does not apply to videos that you monetize and videos that are claimed by a third-party”, under Creator StudioChannelAdvanced.
  - EricL
    
    Just out of curiosity, since I haven’t really cared enough to educate myself on it, is it views or people clicking on the ads that generate your cash? And I guess at what point does that first penny show up?
    - Compass
      
      You get a few pennies whenever someone clicks through the ad. Usually the data for earnings is compiled monthly so you don’t have to babysit the whole contraption.
Scooby

What about LiveLeak?
Cybrsk8r

He should just tell the FAA it was just a camera on a really long pole. And what about para-sailing, where they tow you behind a boat with a parachute and you go up a few hundred feet? Could you be considered a human drone? Are you going to jail for posting that?
- Another Nick
  
  No, you can’t. You’re a human under human control.
  - EricL
    
    Have you met some of those shady ParaSailing operators? Under “human” control can be questioned… Stateside it is much better than “resort” areas.
Apu Bugolligosh

“Commercial” implies making money. Pound sand, FAA. Let’s see you defend this ludicrous position in court.
TheSabre

I would argue the use of the word “for” in their claim. “For” implies a direct result. I go to work for a paycheck. They are flying a drone for the entertainment value of capturing video and sharing it with others. Getting revenue from YouTube ads is a side effect.

It’s the same argument that healthcare providers use. They give people access to healthcare for the purpose of taking care of others and preventing them from dying. The fact that they get profit is secondary. That’s why they are allowed to be called not-for-profit organizations.

What the hobbyist r/c, I mean, “drone” operator should do is create a non-profit entertainment company that is operated exclusively for tax-exempt educational purposes. Revenue from footage ads is then retained by the company rather than being paid out in dividends and he can operate on a not-for-profit model. He won’t get rich doing it, but he can provide entertaining footage and use the ad revenue to pay for business expenses that he’d otherwise pay out of pocket for.
- JoeOvercoat
  
  That would still be a commercial purpose and currently generally prohibited.
  - TheSabre
    
    Ah yes, you are correct. It sounded like a good idea in my head.
EricL

I don’t know… reading their letter, it seems they are applying the “strictly for recreational use” VERY broadly if they are going after someone for a Monetized video that has a few cents. I can’t find anything else in their printed statute that would specifically prohibit “commercial” flights.
The words “commercial”, “profit”, “money”, or “revenue” appear nowhere. There is no specific statute to explain what they consider recreational and what is commercial.
Would turning off “Monetization” satisfy the FAA?
Maj Frank Burns

I for one would like to see more Federal bureaucracy, and herald this as a step towards this end. Yes, fast and efficient has its place, but not in the Government – slow, bureaucratic, unchanging, etc. These are the qualities that made American Government what it is today! Who among us, for example, wants a “leaner” IRS…a IRS and tax system that makes sense, is clear and concise, and far less bureaucratic? That is right, nobody! #ProtectBureaucracyToday
Tetta Zwo

Aside from all the discussion, the video is so completely irrelevant that it is hardly worth a comment at all.
- nscw2014
  
  He might get 1 million views after this.
DoubleU

All hail government.
Apu Bugolligosh

another pro gov idiot…
Westofthebridge

and I can even write the word ‘a$$’ or ‘porm’ ??????

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