As of July 23, 2014, Listing Marketing Pros regrets to announce that we will no longer be able to offer aerial photography/video to our commercial clients until the FAA has issued regulations under which we can legally do so. We have been using our 2 DJI Phantom UAV’s (Unmannned Aerial Vehicle) or drone as it’s commonly known for aerial photos for our real estate, hotel, healthcare, and agricultural clients and the results have been amazing! We are proud of the aerial photography that we have done and our clients have been so excited to have this option for their marketing.
We strive to operate our business with the utmost integrity and above reproach therefore with our understanding of the regulations as they currently stand, we cannot continue to offer this service in association with any commercial endeavor.
Until recently, we were operating under the understanding that as long as we operated according to the FAA guidelines for recreational or hobby use, then we would be operating within the established legal framework. For this reason, the FAA published clarifications of their policy regarding the use of UAV for commercial and recreational use. Below is an excerpt from that notice —
Until further notice, we will be carefully following the evolution of the FAA guidelines for this emerging market and I will share what we learn through our blog. In the meantime, we will continue to publish the great photos we took prior to this but will not provide this service commercially from this point on.
At this current time, we are able to operate our drone for hobby uses ONLY and we will do that as much as we can so that we can continue to hone our skills and refine our processes. There are very specific published regulations and guidelines as to what qualifies as hobby use and we will comply with those completely so please know that if you see any footage or still aerial images from us, they will have been captured under the current established guidelines and we will have received NO compensation for these nor will we provide aerial photography for any client or potential client. The FAA guidelines do not even allow us to provide the aerial photos for free if the purpose of the images is for ANY commercial use unfortunately. Should the FAA choose to limit the recreational use of drones or expand the options for commercial use, we will adjust our practices to comply.
The UAV industry is growing by the minute and the applications are unlimited however the FAA has been tasked with providing the American public with a set of guidelines and rules that will protect the public as well as the drone operator. I do not envy their task but we look forward to working with them and our partners in this industry. Please keep up with our blog for more information and we look forward to the day when we can get back in the sky.
*We will still continue to offer single elevated shot in our packages, as this is taken from a pole mounted camera.
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