Part 107 question

[Gratton]

I didn't find anything about my specific question. Our office puts out a calendar of photos taken by office members. No prizes or anything. Can I submit one without part 107? My thought is all of the photos are submitted by a bunch of amateurs but I'm not certain where this falls regarding part 107.

Thanks in advance,
mikeg

 

[petes]

That's a good question, I am NOT a Part 107 but I would say if you have already taken the photo and you submit it I don't see any problem with that but if you plan on going out to shoot the photo specifically for the calendar then I am am not qualified to answer not that I was qualified to give any advice on drone laws in the first place

 

[PhantomFandom]

I didn't find anything about my specific question. Our office puts out a calendar of photos taken by office members. No prizes or anything. Can I submit one without part 107? My thought is all of the photos are submitted by a bunch of amateurs but I'm not certain where this falls regarding part 107.

Thanks in advance,
mikeg

As already mentioned by @petes , it depends on what you intend to submit.

If you are going to submit a picture that you took at some point in the past, you had no intent at that time of doing anything with the picture, so you are totally fine.

If however you now go out to take some pictures with the intent of submitting a good one for the calendar, then it is a part 107 mission and you would need to have your Part 107 certification.

 

[VenomXts]

are you getting paid for the picture?

 

[DoomMeister]

Fly for fun, take lots of photos, if you happen to get one that could be submitted for the calendar go for it. You were flying for fun. You are not being compensated. Remove all EXIF data from photo that identifies where it came from, only leave format type (jpg, png, etc.) and size in pixels. You have a very large tripod don’t you?

 

[Martysticks]

are you getting paid for the picture?

Compensation has nothing to do with it. The FAA is very specific on this. Anything other than flying as a hobby, compensation or not, requires a Part 107.

 

[theDRONEranger]

If you have already taken the photos in the past under a completely recreational flight, it is permissible to use your photos now. The flight was conducted under pure recreational guidelines from start to finish!

 

[ArcTenTen]

Compensation has nothing to do with it. The FAA is very specific on this. Anything other than flying as a hobby, compensation or not, requires a Part 107.

Flying can be done as a hobby. Photography can be done as a hobby. It seems reasonable to combine the hobbies without incurring the wrath of the FAA.

 

[garykentner]

I didn't find anything about my specific question. Our office puts out a calendar of photos taken by office members. No prizes or anything. Can I submit one without part 107? My thought is all of the photos are submitted by a bunch of amateurs but I'm not certain where this falls regarding part 107.

Thanks in advance,
mikeg

Here are two good descriptions of what is considered commercial vs recreational flying:

Commercial Drone Use - Drone and Quadcopter

The recreational use of drones is relatively well known. Many people purchase a quadcopter and fly it around their yard or nearby open areas for pure enjoyment and/or to take photos and videos. What many people may not ... Read more

droneandquadcopter.com

The Ultimate Guide to the FAA Airman Knowledge Test

The FAA's general guidance is that two factors must be considered: Intent and compensation. If the photos were taken with the intent of being for personal use (recreational) from which you did not intend to be compensated, a Part 107 license is not required. If you take photos for which you will be compensated in any manner (cash, gifts, etc), then your flight will be considered commercial, and a Part 107 license is required. In your specific case, if the photos you submit were taken on a flight for which you did not intend to be compensated, you do not need a Part 107 license. Further supporting that is the fact that you will not be compensated in any way for the pictures you submit for the calendar. If you took the photos recreationally, and later want to be compensated for them, that's a grey area and the info below may help clarify that situation.

While I do have a Part 107 license, I'm not an expert on drone laws. As such, I've submitted questions to the FAA's help desk, and they have been very responsive. If you want further confirmation that your situation does not require a Part 107 license, suggest you contact them at: [email protected]

 

[PhantomFandom]

Flying can be done as a hobby. Photography can be done as a hobby. It seems reasonable to combine the hobbies without incurring the wrath of the FAA.

The FAA's general guidance is that two factors must be considered: Intent and compensation.

Sorry but this is not at all correct. The intent part is completely correct. However the compensation part is not. Commercial/recreational differentiation has nothing to do with compensation. If you are flying for anything other than pure recreation/fun/hobby reasons then you are commercial. You do not need to receive any form of compensation or remuneration in order for a flight to fall under Part 107 guidelines.
For example, you fly with the intent of taking pictures for your daughter's girl scout troop outing (a non-profit organization even) and give the pictures to the girls in the troop. You are flying for a third party and this automatically makes it Part 107. You received no compensation of any kind and yet it is Part 107.
On the flip-side in a another situation, you went flying one day and took some cool landscape pictures of the area. A buddy of yours who is a commercial photographer sees one of your pictures he really likes and offers to pay you for the shot. You can legally sell him the picture for any amount you wish and the flight was still recreational because there was no other intent when the flight took place.

 

[Gratton]

So, it seems like I'll be ok to submit a photo I already have.

On the flip side, it sounds like I should just get the part 107 certificate so I don't have to worry about split hairs!

Thanks everyone!
mikeg

 

[BirdzEyeView2020]

Fly for fun, take lots of photos, if you happen to get one that could be submitted for the calendar go for it. You were flying for fun. You are not being compensated. Remove all EXIF data from photo that identifies where it came from, only leave format type (jpg, png, etc.) and size in pixels. You have a very large tripod don’t you?

??

 

[DoomMeister]

So, it seems like I'll be ok to submit a photo I already have.

On the flip side, it sounds like I should just get the part 107 certificate so I don't have to worry about split hairs!

Thanks everyone!
mikeg

If you go out and take photos/videos with your phone or DSLR as a hobby there is never a squabble if you submit it in a contest or sell your work.

When you fly your drone as a hobby and take photos/videos which are part of that hobby you have to decide when you lift off if you are flying just for fun or you are planning on using the digital data for more than fun.

It is easy for me. I am a serious amateur that does photography for fun and try to make good images for my own enjoyment. The drone is just a tool like a tripod (even though flying is enjoyable in its own right) and each time I fly and capture imagery it is for my own enjoyment. If I was ever offered money for an image I would have no regrets accepting such, because I have no intentions at flight time of capturing imagery for anyone else’s use.

This hasn’t happened yet and probably never will. If you fly for fun and your imagery piques someone’s interest, don’t let the FAA fog stand in your way. On the other hand, if you are not a 107 certified pilot and are accepting work shame on you! You are no better than a scab laborer stealing work from qualified workers.

 

[DanMan32]

Even if the taking of the photos did fall into the 107 area, FAA has better things to deal with than an occasional photo session flight that otherwise was a legal flight. They're more interested in habitual commercial flights without the 107.

 

[Ron Caballero CAP]

I didn't find anything about my specific question. Our office puts out a calendar of photos taken by office members. No prizes or anything. Can I submit one without part 107? My thought is all of the photos are submitted by a bunch of amateurs but I'm not certain where this falls regarding part 107.

Thanks in advance,
mikeg

If you are taking "recreational" photos, not for profit, You do not need 107 to post photos. I am sure this applies to in-house calendars that are not being sold to the public.