Filming in National Parks is Banned for YouTubers

[AlanL]

Okay maybe I miss understand.. if you film with iPhone and place it on YouTube and your video is monetized, you don’t need a permit, but if I fly your drone legally and post to YouTube and are monetized you do need the 107, and permit?

You can't legally fly a drone in a National Park without a waiver in the first place. Handheld casual footage - not an issue.

Read the excerpt from the NPS docs in post #7 for how this is applied.

 

[Vic Moss]

Okay maybe I miss understand.. if you film with iPhone and place it on YouTube and your video is monetized, you don’t need a permit, but if I fly your drone legally and post to YouTube and are monetized you do need the 107, and permit?

It's a moot point about drones and the NPS. You won't get permission.

It's more about ground based image capture. The NPS film permit policy is overarching and unnecessary.

 

[Darylk]

Okay maybe I miss understand.. if you film with iPhone and place it on YouTube and your video is monetized, you don’t need a permit, but if I fly your drone legally and post to YouTube and are monetized you do need the 107, and permit?

You can't legally fly a drone in a National Park without a waiver in the first place. Handheld casual footage - not an issue.

Read the excerpt from the NPS docs in post #7 for how this is applied.

Not sure of rules in the States, but in NZ and Oz you need a permit for National and State Parks and waterways for BOTH recreational and commercial droning

 

[Don Testme]

From Jeven Dovey's channel:
"If you're an outdoor creator in the United States then you need to see this video. I recently learned that a judge has reversed a ruling that forces any creator to obtain a permit to film on federal land.

As I dig deeper into this topic I realize that this affects 28% of the land in the United States. The crazy part is they're treating a vlogger with a go-pro the same as a full 100+ crew filming a motion picture.

Since October you now have to get a permit to make video content on public land if you post it somewhere like YouTube or TikTok. This video goes through the issue and process to get a permit now to film.

If you're an outdoor creator this will affect you..."
Watch the video here

This just boils down to "if you make money or potentially will make money and your caught making money from the footage" , your busted. It's always been this way. People making money off federal land footage on youtube or other social sites are always either warned or fined.

Also, it's always been that you can't take off or land a drone in a federal national park. You can fly over it only and you still can't profit from it regardless. The F in FAA means FEDERAL. National Parks are FEDERAL LANDS. I don't see what's changed.

Besides, I have flown in plenty of federal parks, I am not supposed to fly in. I just find a deserted area with no people or rangers, launch my drone. Get my footage and leave. Just make sure you take the sim card out of the drone before trekking back to your car. Then put a blank one in it. The Park Rangers may want to take a look at what's on it. I find it best to hide sim cards in your wallet or maybe you sock if sealed from sweat.

NOTE: I DON'T POST THIS KIND OF FOOTAGE PERIOD! And I certainly don't try making money from it. I'm not 107 anyway. I can only fly for fun. I even have my drones labelled "RECREATIONAL."

Let's say I did post some federal Park footage. I would go to an internet cafe and post it from there. And, I wouldn't say where it was shot. I would use a fake acct as well. I just might share the link with friends and make sure comments were turned off. But still, I wouldn't commercialize it in any way whatsoever.

I THINK PEOPLE WHO MAKE MONEY OFF THE FEDERAL LAND PARKS, SHOULD GET PERMITS. How much these permits cost is debatable.

I've said too much. Blah blah blah blah. Was I telling the truth about my escapades. Nope. They were just examples.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Update on this topic from Jeven with consultation from an Online Creator Lawyer.

Turns out Jeven was (maybe inadvertently) right in the first place about 28%. This is pretty crappy IMHO.

And it seems "commercial" filming means anything that has the *potential* to make money for someone (meaning *anyone*). So even if your video is not monetized on YouTube, if you post something there, YouTube can get advertising money from it so you'd better have had a filming permit first.

 

[Don Testme]

Update on this topic from Jeven with consultation from an Online Creator Lawyer.

Turns out Jeven was (maybe inadvertently) right in the first place about 28%. This is pretty crappy IMHO.

And it seems "commercial" filming means anything that has the *potential* to make money for someone (meaning *anyone*). So even if your video is not monetized on YouTube, if you post something there, YouTube can get advertising money from it so you'd better have had a filming permit first.

Do they have some kind of AI location recognition if I film a National Park. I would remove all identifying exif data from my video before posting it and certainly wouldn't say it was me who filmed it or where it was filmed.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Do they have some kind of AI location recognition if I film a National Park.

Depending on what you filmed, it could be very easy.

I would remove all identifying exif data from my video before posting it and certainly wouldn't say it was me who filmed it or where it was filmed.

I think you mean MISB since that's the current mechanism for incorporating KLV formatted location data into video.

And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to say it was you who filmed it. More likely you'd need to refute the evidence they gathered while finding you.

 

[Don Testme]

Depending on what you filmed, it could be very easy.

I think you mean MISB since that's the current mechanism for incorporating KLV formatted location data into video.

And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to say it was you who filmed it. More likely you'd need to refute the evidence they gathered while finding you.

Do those programs that boast removing all metadata work? If not, what if you take the video, convert it into a single frame video sequence then re-render it . That would remove any geolocation data. Wouldn't it.

If I filmed national parks anyway, I wouldn't post them for public consumption in any way. Just private so my friends and family can see or that I can review the ground data myself.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Do those programs that boast removing all metadata work? If not, what if you take the video, convert it into a single frame video sequence then re-render it . That would remove any geolocation data. Wouldn't it.

If I filmed national parks anyway, I wouldn't post them for public consumption in any way. Just private so my friends and family can see or that I can review the ground data myself.

It's easy to remove video metadata (sometimes called telemetry), so that's not much of a problem.
Here I'd think that "posting" and "private" are pretty much mutually exclusive concepts.

 

[Don Testme]

It's easy to remove video metadata (sometimes called telemetry), so that's not much of a problem.
Here I'd think that "posting" and "private" are pretty much mutually exclusive concepts.

If I posted privately, I would go to an internet cafe and upload through their computers, or use a VPN and post it into a file sharing site that is password protected. Then give the password only to people I know, but not tell them I filmed it or posted it.

 

[Clockman]

I hear the process to apply for a permit is intrusive with them wanting social security numbers and other personal info. The process can take up to 20 days plus and there is no guarantee that you'll get the permit and are expensive permitting fees returned if you don't? I'm not sure about that one. Suppose you do get the OK on a certain date or dates and mother nature decides to whip up a big storm, You're screwed! A vast majority of YouTubers have small channels with less than 5000 subscribers and earn very little money in advertising revenue. A $200 or more fee to film for a day at the park is difficult to justify or even afford. The small YouTubers would be the ones with the GoPro in there hand just walking around and talking impacting no one. Lets get this stupid law reversed and for good this time!

 

[Vic Moss]

YouTubers earn money for their videos and are there commercial videographers.

And...?

If the YouTubers and TikTokers aren't doing any more impact than someone doing the same thing for a simple family video, why charge them?

There is no reason for this.

It's the same thing for someone wanting to shoot stock footage or take stock photos.

The only fair way to impose fees should be on impact to the area. Not on whether or not it's "commercial". One person with one camera isn't going to hurt anything or impose on anyone, whether it's commercial or for personal use. Therefore, there should be no fee.

If it's a production with gear and crew, 100% should be a fee. And that fee should be based on how much disruption the crew will have on the other visitors and the area where it's taking place.

 

[Vic Moss]

I hear the process to apply for a permit is intrusive with them wanting social security numbers and other personal info. The process can take up to 20 days plus and there is no guarantee that you'll get the permit and are expensive permitting fees returned if you don't? I'm not sure about that one. Suppose you do get the OK on a certain date or dates and mother nature decides to whip up a big storm, You're screwed! A vast majority of YouTubers have small channels with less than 5000 subscribers and earn very little money in advertising revenue. A $200 or more fee to film for a day at the park is difficult to justify or even afford. The small YouTubers would be the ones with the GoPro in there hand just walking around and talking impacting no one. Lets get this stupid law reversed and for good this time!

I've shot and flown in a National Park. When we got the permit, they never asked for a SSN. I'm not ever sure they're allowed to do that.

But the fee they're talking about is too steep. And if there is no impact, there shouldn't be a fee anyway. As you said.

 

[Rhody Seth]

Well this is certainly disappointing to learn as we'll be vacationing in Glacier National Park in August. Was looking forward to making some great videos. I shall reach out to my congressman.