This thread is very interesting and brings up several issues that I would like to see cleared up. I am not implying that I am here to clear anything up. On the contrary, I will ask many questions and answer few.
I have tried to determine what if any height restriction there is for flying over property as it relates to privacy or trespass. So far I have not found any laws that define it or cases for USA or NY state as it applies to drones, UAVs, remote control toys, flying thingamajigs, or whatever we call them. The closest thing was some case that was thrown out about an airplane over property. (I am sorry that I don’t recall where I found that) The conclusion was that there is no limit on fly overs, otherwise any crank could prevent commercial aircraft or any airplane from traversing your airspace. We can have no expectation of privacy in our backyards from above. If anyone knows of a law or a case that disagrees or proves this please do tell.
If the previous paragraph is true then we don’t own any airspace above our property. (unlike mineral and water rights which can extend below our property). From this assumption we could extrapolate that we could fly a drone up and over into our neighbors yard and occupy the air space there as long as we don’t touch their belongings or property. It could also be extrapolated that they would be free to throw a brick at said drone and destroy or damage it. Again I am interested in case law that supports or disproves this.
As far as peeping goes; if you are personally on someone’s property then the occupants can have an expectation of privacy from your peeping eyes or ears. Doing this makes you a peeping Tom and in the wrong. From a street or other public space not so much. The way I understand it is if you leave your curtains open then I can see or photograph you (sale or use of those photos is another issue). And in some cases you the occupant could be charged with indecent exposure or public lewdness.
I doubt the Oregon or Texas law will gain traction. It certainly needs our attention and action but I hope cooler minds will prevail.
Sorry my comments are not limited to FPV only. I am discussing all Remotely Piloted Craft. Heli, kite, balloon. Sorry if I am on the wrong thread. As far as FPV goes I believe that we are not permitted to fly fully FPV at all. My understanding is that we must keep the craft within sight at all times and have a spotter. Correct me if I am wrong.
Helloman1976, I am not aware of any law that prevents anyone from filming you having sex if you are exposing yourself to a public area, in your home or elsewhere. If you choose to do that outdoors or in view of a public space AND you and your partner are attractive enough then we will film away.
As far as not being able to profit from images of you; that is not true either. As Stacky mostly covered; we cannot sell an image of you for use as advertisement or misrepresent what the image says but it can be sold for artistic purposes or journalistic purposes (we can’t make an unproven claim. There was a case where men sitting on a stone wall were photographed and the caption said these unemployed men… One of them sued and won. Now it is still permissible to use the shot in an article about unemployment as long as there is no direct claim that those pictured are unemployed unless they are verified to be)
What is the Steve Tyler law?
I would very much like someone to pull up actual laws from a law website.
Helloman, so let’s assume that do have a HAM operators license. How does that change this discussion. (agreed if you don’t have one then a law is being violated) Let’s take that out of the debate because unlike these other issues that are mirky at best, radio use laws are clear and we can operate those devices legally, if we choose to.
I agree that we need to fly safe, responsible and don’t get noticed. This is good advice.
The Texas law as described here would be a real bummer. Go up a few feet and you will be filming someones property, unless you own several thousand acres.
