Federal Aviation Administration Approves Use of Drones by Filmmakers

“Group photo of aerial demonstrators at the 2005 Naval Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Air Demo” by U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain.

On September 25, 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) granted applications by numerous companies for permission to use Unmanned Aerial Systems (“UAS”) – more commonly known as drones – for film production on movie sets. This long-awaited move clears the way for filmmakers and others to use these low-cost filmmaking tools. However, a close reading of the FAA decisions reveals a number of restrictions on UAS.

More on the restrictions via Frankfurt Kurnit.