

For example, you may not be selling photos from your drone for a profit, but using your drone to survey your business’ land in preparation for an expansion would still count as commercial drone use. In addition, any use of a drone in connection with a business counts as commercial drone use. However, if you use your drone to take wedding photos or to help with a land survey, you are engaging in commercial drone use because you are rewarded for your work with the drone. The difference between an activity being recreational and an activity being commercial has to do with its purpose.įor example, you can take photos and videos of your drone to enjoy by yourself or with friends and family as a recreational hobby. Sometimes, activities such as those listed above can fall under either recreational or commercial use of drones. How does commercial drone use differ from recreational drone use?

Following is a list of some specific activities that constitute the commercial use of drones: In general, the term refers to any activity with a drone that provides (1 Profit through the sale of photos or videos (2 Provision of any kind of service or (3 Monitoring the progress of a business project. What follows is an in-depth look at commercial drone use.Īs defined by the FAA, commercial drone use is any use of a drone (quadcopter or otherwise) “in connection with a business.” In essence, this means that commercial drone use applies to any use of a drone from which you hope to profit.Ĭommercial drone use can cover a wide variety of activities. As a result, commercial drone use can be a more confusing area to enter into. What many people may not realize, however, is that there are also many ways to use drones commercially. 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. The recreational use of drones is relatively well known.
