A 'Drone’s Eye' View of State Laws Governing Drone Use

Jessica Knopp Cunning, an associate in the Vorys Akron office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for The Whisper, DRI's Young Lawyers Committee Newsletter titled “A 'Drone’s Eye' View of State Laws Governing Drone Use.”  The article highlighted the FAA regulations and the states that have begun to pass their own laws with respect to how drones can and cannot be lawfully used.

The article states:

"Congress mandated that drones be safely integrated into the national airspace by September 30, 2015, pursuant to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. It has been known news that the FAA was going to (and did) miss that deadline due to unresolved technological, regulatory, and privacy issues. In the interim, the FAA continues to regulate drone use, and the states have begun to pass their own laws with respect to how drones can and cannot be lawfully used.

At the federal level, the FAA currently does not require FAA authorization to operate a drone for hobby or recreational purposes, but does require FAA authorization for all other purposes. But in response to the dramatic increase in drone use and nearly daily reports to the FAA of potentially unsafe drone operations, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced in late October the creation of a task force that has the responsibility of recommending a registration process for all drones, including those used for recreational purposes, by November 20. Between now and the end of 2015, U.S. hobbyists are projected to buy between 700,000 to 1,000,000 drones – over a 63 percent increase from 2014."

The full article can be found in Volume 11, Issue 12 of The Whisper.