Commercial Use?

This is my first post here. "To your planet, welcome!"

I have a question about commercial use. It seems like there are many gray areas when trying to define it. Even the FAA seems to be unsure about what is and isn't commercial use.

Here's my situation: For 20 years I have run a small travel/tourism site for a lake in my area. I started it to provide an online brochure for the area but as time passed it grew to include a forum like this one, a webcam, free classifieds, links directory, blogs, videos and other information about the area. I also run some ad banners for area businesses that help me offset the expenses.

I'd really like to get a Phantom and start making some aerial videos of areas around the lake. I'd post them on my Youtube channel (not monetized) and embed them in forum posts.

Is this considered commercial use? The website does earn a little money through ad banners but not directly from the videos. I'm not selling them or monetizing my Youtube channel.

Any opinions or comments would be welcome. I'd don't want to spend $1000 plus on a Phantom if the FAA is going to come knocking.

Thanks.

 

https://www.faa.gov/uas/faq/

Even though you are not getting money directly from YouTube, this would be considered an advertisement and you will make money indirectly from the videos (someone sees the video and then decides to stay there you have made money).

https://www.faa.gov/uas/faq/#qn4 is the answer you are looking for..........................

Grey area, if a customer stays there and fly's around taking videos and posts them then they are showing off what they did. They will not get any money directly or indirectly so this goes under the "hobbyist" rules as long as the videos are not posted on your site and you do not pay them. Its a grey area because the FAA could see them and say you are benefiting from the videos with increased traffic to your business if you link to the videos from your website to YouTube.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/333_faqs/

Covers your use in more detail, https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/333_faqs/#q3 is the answer you need to pay attention to.

Do I need a Section 333 grant of exemption if I'm not charging for my services?
A. Unless you are flying only for hobby or recreational purposes, you will need FAA authorization via a Section 333 grant of exemption to fly your unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for your business. This applies even if you are only flying to supplement or aide your business and not charging fees for doing so.

For further information regarding the FAA's interpretation of ‘hobby or recreational’ flying, please see the FAA's Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (PDF).

So yes, you will need to register your UAV to do what you stated, this information can be found here https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/UA/

Cost is minimal for this ($15.00 approximately), and good news is you wont need a commercial pilots license to do so for your application.