Are you liable if someone else uses your media for commercial purposes without your permission?

[Droning on and on...]

Simply an idea that occurred to me, thought I'd throw it out there...

Suppose your a recreational pilot, no 107 cert. You have a YT channel where you post amazing video and pictures, all captured in compliance with local, state, and FAA regulations. People love your channel.

Someone downloads/captures some of your media, and uses it for their own commercial purposes without your permission or knowledge. You find out, contact them, and demand that they cease and desist, remove your media, never use it again, and do not have permission to do so.

They ignore you.

What's the legal standing of that media and its use? Are you somehow legally liable, and in jeopardy of the FAA coming after you? Is the "thief" legally liable for the FAA violation?

While you may have a legitimate civil complaint against the other party, you decide it isn't worth the time and expense to pursue it. Can the FAA force you to?

 

[mavic3usa]

FAA regulates drone flights.
FAA does not regulate drone media and its usage.

 

[Rchawks]

How can that not be considered Theft?

 

[Felix le Chat]

In the UK this would fall under the Copyrights & Patents Act, I'm sure there's a similar legislation in the US.

It's always important to register copyright ownership in the properties of any still or video file before it's posted on any platform. It's the authors first line of defense.

If the media (still or video) has been copied and used by an unauthorized individual: the owness for that infringement lies with the copyright thief.

If the video clip illustrates a flagrant infringement of Aviation Authority regulations: the author of the clip is still responsible for the illegal action.

Arguing against that would be like blaming the whistleblower for the actions of the individual or corporation that broke the law in the first place.

 

[Cafguy]

No

 

[mavic3usa]

If the video clip illustrates a flagrant infringement of Aviation Authority regulations: the author of the clip is still responsible for the illegal action.

I think we agree with this. If there are illegal flight activities in the video clip, whomever flew the drone is responsible in the eye of the FAA who regulate drone flights and flight safety. I believe the OP mentioned everything in the video was on the up and up.

However, the FAA would have nothing to do with the "illegal" use of those videos and photos even if they were copyright; that would be up to someone else to handle and of course, there are various forms of recourse both civil and criminal depending on the circumstances.

A good example would be you fly over your hometown for fun because you don't have a part 107 and you happen to fly over the church in the neighborhood while they are having a wedding. You post the video to social media for friends and family to enjoy. The wedding planner happens to see your drone video online, they snag it off YouTube, and they include in on their website without telling you, Wedding Planners R Us.com, claiming they can produce beautiful drone videos for your special wedding. Sad but that's the world we live in. If the FAA asked Wedding Planners if they have a part 107 license for their drone flights used to create video that supports their commercial business and they respond with "We don't have a drone, we got the footage from...."

As a recreational pilot, are you in trouble? Or is it true that when your flight took off, you only had one thing in mind, your intent was to have fun until the battery ran out. If the recreational pilot reaches out toeWedding Planner and says "take down my footage, you don't have my permission" does the recreational pilot have an obligation to report anything to the FAA should Wedding Planner refuse the demand? My personal answer is No because there's nothing the FAA can legally do because

FAA regulates drone flights.
FAA does not regulate drone media and its usage.

 

[anotherlab]

....While you may have a legitimate civil complaint against the other party, you decide it isn't worth the time and expense to pursue it. Can the FAA force you to?

While it may not be worth your time and money to file a civil action, you can file a DMCA takedown request anywhere your media is being used without permission. That's not difficult to do.

 

[hank970]

I think there have been instances when recreational pilots posted content on YouTube and the FAA gently reminded them that they'd need Part 107 in order to do that. I have no idea whether the FAA regularly monitors YouTube or how it would know that a contributor was a recreational rather than 107 pilot.

Furthermore, I don't care. I'm a recreational pilot and occasionally post images on this site and others. If others co-opt them for commercial purposes, what are the chances that I'd ever know? In any event, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, either because the FAA might contact me or because I may be missing out on some income I might otherwise be entitled to.

 

[mavic3usa]

I think there have been instances when recreational pilots posted content on YouTube and the FAA gently reminded them that they'd need Part 107 in order to do that. I have no idea whether the FAA regularly monitors YouTube or how it would know that a contributor was a recreational rather than 107 pilot.

Furthermore, I don't care. I'm a recreational pilot and occasionally post images on this site and others. If others co-opt them for commercial purposes, what are the chances that I'd ever know? In any event, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, either because the FAA might contact me or because I may be missing out on some income I might otherwise be entitled to.

These are interesting stories. These people are being ratted out by fellow pilots and/or YouTubers.

"I'm with the government, we're here to help!"

[not me, not my videos]

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