DO NOT FLY DRONES HERE

I would think it depends on the rules of the country in which the footage was shot. Some countries have little or no regulation. In the U.S. it is a big no unless one has a variance/permission from the FAA. I read somewhere that some big movie productions in the U.S. had been given permission to fly camera drones.

I'm just the messenger! Believe me guys, I'm on your side and can't wait to fly restriction free. The seminar was hosted in conjunction with the D.C. Women in Film organization, Motion Picture Association of America and the good old FAA.

....and yes, the Motion Picture Association is representing a tiny group of high-powered and well-funded businesses that are most likely to be granted permission by the FAA soon.

Just say the Gopro was suspended from a balloon not a quadcopter. But again too many people and thousands to come will use drones commercially. FAA does not have the personnel to police the skies.

I've also read that there are loopholes and if one claims they are getting paid to "edit" or "process" the footage and not getting paid to "fly drones" then that is okay.

I wonder if this also opens up a can of worms for the agencies making them liable since they have the final say on accepted footage. Are the agencies breaking the law by accepting drone acquired footage. Will they now have to worry about privacy issues as viewed from the FAA's standpoint even if sold as "editorial"

Does this also mean that its best not to include keywords like "drone", "quadcopter", "aerials", etc....for fear of attracting unwanted attention?

The FAA guy I saw interviewed stated that if you can claim the drone against tax then it is being used commercially. So doesn't matter if you bill for editing they've got you covered.

Nevertheless, engineering continues to make them better: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/news/dji-working-parachute-system-drones-called-dropsafe?BI=4906

Great to have a parachute but DJI admitted to me they still have a fly away problem. Just wait until one of the fly aways with no operator control hits a group of people, a car on the road or a building. Even under warranty and admission of problem they don't want to accept responsibility to replace. DJI is still fully under control of the China manufacturer and difficult to work with.

So I will use the following loophole: My son will buy and fly the drone as an entertainment hobby. He will give me copy of the footage "for free" as a gift. Then I will sell the footage commercially.

I'm only the messenger but I would suspect authorities would simply say:

"Did this drone make these clips?"
"Were the clips from this drone sold?"
= commercial use.

But hey, I don't have a son nor a drone, so what do I know. ;-)