On January 1, 2014, a photojournalist with the Spokesman-Review, Jesse Tinsley, shot video footage of an annual “Polar Bear Plunge,” using his R/C model aircraft. The newspaper then published the video online.
The following day, Frank Bi, a news developer with PBS NewsHour questioned (via Twitter) whether the paper having used Mr. Tinsley’s footage, had acted illegally.
Is this not technically illegal? RT @mtigas: The @SpokesmanReview is practicing drone journalism. http://t.co/sv0Uf1QIVQ
— Frank Bi (@FrankieBi) January 2, 2014
Mr. Tinsley replied that it was “not illegal, but currently in a gray area.”
@mattwaite @mtigas @FrankieBi @SpokesmanReview Not illegal, but currently in a gray area. Did this with my own camera ship on my day off.
— Jesse Tinsley (@Jesse_Tinsley) January 2, 2014
And I also replied to Frank Bi.
@FrankieBi It's not illegal at all. The FAA currently has no jurisdiction whatsoever over R/C model aircraft; they just *think* they do.
— The Drone Guy (@TheDroneGuy) January 4, 2014
FAA spokesperson Les Dorr then chimed in, declaring, “There is no gray area.” Mr. Dorr further claimed, “if you’re using [an R/C model aircraft] for any sort of commercial purposes, including journalism, that’s not allowed,” he added.
Mr. Dorr’s claim is, of course, not at all true. There are currently no FAA regulations concerning R/C model aircraft. Mr. Tinsley is free to use his craft for pleasure or profit regardless of what false claims the FAA makes. It has no authority whatsoever to govern the use of R/C model aircraft.
In fact, in a sentence that makes no sense at all, Mr. Dorr himself conceded there are no such regulations by stating, “And as much as we’d like to encourage them, we can’t let them do it as long as there are no rules in place.” If, as Mr. Dorr states, there are no rules in place, the FAA surely has no authority to enforce any.
Source: Poynter.org