01/30/2025
Go ahead and ignore what I’m telling you. Drone pilots and businesses looking for drone footage alike. Click the link, skip down to phase 2, and read. I don’t think it’s the case that people are intentionally breaking the law, but they are just not aware, so here you are.
In the United States aspiring professional drone pilots are required to take and pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Part 107 Initial Knowledge Test and then take the Recurrent Knowledge Course every 24 months after that in order to fly UAVs commercially. Penalties for flying commercially without a Part 107 license can be up to $32,666 for each incidence (per day), and the FAA could also impose criminal sanctions including a fine of up to $250,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to three years upon conviction.
A question that is asked a lot regarding the need for a Part 107 is: “does it matter if there is no monetary exchange for services?” The answer is simply: no, it does not matter.
Since consumer-level UAVs hit the market, entrepreneurs, photographers, and even just folks looking to make a little cash on the side have been finding ways to monetize these incredibly fun and new pieces of tech.
