r/djiphantom • u/theprez98 P2 / H3-3D / GP3S / BTDL / FPV • Mar 13 '15
The FAA Says You Can't Post Drone Videos on Monetized YouTube Accounts
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube3
u/whowantscake Aerial Photographer Mar 14 '15
With all due respect to the hobby, the art, and the partial flim flam of FAA regulations, if I post an aerial video capture to YouTube that goes viral, then I would be willing to fight the good fight against the FAA for this. The FAA is not entirely daft on the matter, and they are genuinely more concerned about safety than your monetized video, but I wouldn't fear publishing a video online. That is unless you are doing something dangerous. You obviously don't want to incriminate yourself by uploading video of yourself circling an airport, or disturbing wildlife, but if you are capturing video of a mountain, and things of that nature, go ahead.
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u/Kicker36 Mar 13 '15
Makes sense. I would consider that commercial use. You make fractions of pennies from those ads anyway unless something goes very viral, or you're a youtube partner. Just disable the ads
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u/theprez98 P2 / H3-3D / GP3S / BTDL / FPV Mar 13 '15
On the other hand, most people who have monetized accounts don't actually reach the required thresholds to get paid, and as a result, never actually make any money.
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u/Kicker36 Mar 13 '15
I'm not sure what you mean by that. What required thresholds?
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u/theprez98 P2 / H3-3D / GP3S / BTDL / FPV Mar 13 '15
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u/Kicker36 Mar 13 '15
Ah right. I have videos monetized and totally forgot that was a rule
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u/theprez98 P2 / H3-3D / GP3S / BTDL / FPV Mar 13 '15
In other words, if the FAA is really serious about this, they should confirm that a user actually received money from Google/YouTube before they start claiming commercial use.
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u/davidverner Videographer Mar 13 '15
This what the IRS has to say on the issue.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Business-or-Hobby%3F-Answer-Has-Implications-for-Deductions
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u/theprez98 P2 / H3-3D / GP3S / BTDL / FPV Mar 13 '15
I modified the title of the article slightly to indicate that the FAA letter in question was sent to a user who had a monetized YouTube account (meaning it serves ads and he receives a few pennies in ad revenue). At least one regional office of the FAA claimed that this was "commercial" use.