Yes... legally speaking you should have a 107 license. You may be able to parley this into work paying for your certification.
It's not considered commercial flying because there is no such thing in FAA regulations. There is only recreational flying and non-recreational flying. This clearly doesn't meet the criteria for recreational, and so it falls squarely under Part 107.
If the pictures are going to be used for something that's going to profit from ( let's say the pictures are going to be printed on a brochure) then the answer is yes and you will have to have a 107 to do that shoot.
Profit is irrelevant. It's either recreational under 44809, or it's 107. And since this isn't "flown strictly for recreational purposes", it falls under Part 107.
Profit has nothing to do with it.... anytime you step outside the protective 'recreational bubble', you have to have 107 cert.
You CAN get pinched for it but you most likely won't. If you're worried about it, have your boss borrow it and take the footage himself.
I'd say that diagram is terribly misleading. It puts "recreational flights" inside the circle of Part 107. It's true that Part 107 says nothing about the purpose for which you might want to fly, so in that sense, one may fly for recreational purposes using the rules of Part 107, including the rule requiring one to get a license. But I doubt that's what you were trying to say.
Subsection (a) says that you may fly a small unmanned aircraft without specific certification or operating authority (that means, without a license issued by the FAA), if you comply with the restrictions listed below. The first restriction listed is that "The aircraft is flown strictly for recreational purposes." If you're doing a favor for your Boss, it's not strictly recreational purposes anymore. Recreation is something you do for your own enjoyment. You can't do recreation for someone else.
Technically, all sUAS flights are actually governed by Part 107. That's why 'recreational flights' are inside their own 'Protective Bubble', as mandated by Congress.
In that case, the Boss will need 107 certification... because he's not flying strictly for recreational/hobby purposes, he's flying to promote his company.
Wrong! Hire a 107 certified pilot to do the work.
So let me ask you this. I decide to fly with my recreational (Even though I have the 107) and I take some pictures and some videos and I show them to the family and and put it on Twitter or Facebook.
The FAA is on record (repeatedly) as saying you can sell imagery taken under recreational rules after the fact.
Recreational is not flying OUTSIDE 107, it's flying INSIDE the recreational exemption.
Actually that's incorrect - recreational flight under 44807 is outside Part 107, as clearly stated in Part 107:
Thanks for your interpretation. I must have misunderstood the term 'exemption' to mean that 44807 exempts recreational flyers from having to fly under the rules/regs of 107.
