Drones Flying Over Private Property - Can You Stop Them?

this video is proudly sponsored by ecoflow I can't wait to read the comments on this one so do you own the airspace directly above your property and if you do is a drone effectively trespassing if they are flying in that airspace let's talk about it so first of all a few disclaimers everything that I'm about to discuss only applies in the United States secondly I am not an attorney but I have done my research I'll put a few references in the video description to help you do your own research thirdly this video is informational it's not an opinion I'm not here to argue what's right or what's wrong you can discuss that in the comments if you please I welcome it I want to see it I will have just a couple of brief opinions on few things here but overall this video is meant to progress your knowledge and Spark civil conversation in the comments believe it or not you guys we can still learn from each other and then finally for all a thousand of you that are going to comment if you fly a drone over my property you can expect it to be blasted into a thousand pieces and yes I know uh that was a good accent right yes I know you value your privacy and you should bad people do bad things with drones and they should be dealt with appropriately but federal law states that an unmanned aircraft a drone whether they are breaking the law or not is an aircraft and if you disable an aircraft as a civilian whether it be with a weapon a rock fishing line your shoe or anything at all it's a federal crime you guys it's very clearly stated by the FAA now I'm not arguing the right and wrong of it again I am stating the law that exists for your knowledge and making you aware of the consequences and if you feel threatened or harassed do what you got to do but just know that the law protects that aircraft oh and if you tell me it's legal in your state to disable a drone or to shoot at a drone by all means post a link to that law so we can all read it and make fun of it okay so on to airspace now last week actually a couple of weeks ago I made kind of a viral Tick Tock video about private airspace and in that video I incorrectly stated that you do not own the airspace that is immediately above your private property and yes you heard that right I said incorrectly once in a while I don't get it right so you actually do own that airspace but there's a lot more to it than most people understand so I hope you have a little bit more clarity after watching this video today now the biggest argument when it comes to private airspace is how much of the airspace above your property do you actually own is it beyond the ends of the universe or is it 83 feet like most people think because of The Cosby case from the 1940s I'm gonna tell you right after we talk about today's sponsor ecoflow now wait a second don't skip you should listen to the next 60 seconds if you want to hear about my Black Friday giveaway but the river 2 from ecoflow this is a newly designed to 258 watt hour 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going to be helping me with an awesome Power Station giveaway in a few weeks so subscribe to the channel and watch for a full review of the river 2 Series to learn more about that so how much airspace do you own above your property according to ancient common law you do technically own everything above your land to Infinity however most people reference the Cosby case of 1946 I guarantee you there's going to be a hundred of them referencing the Cosby case in the comments of this video I'll post the Cosby case in the description along with some summaries about it but the short version of it is that a chicken farmer sued the government because they were flying planes over his property on a regular basis and he argued that the government was taking his property by doing so because his chickens were dying he was enduring long-term stress and he couldn't operate his chicken farm so he was losing his source of income and the court agreed and he won compensation because of the takings ruling but they also stated that the common law of airspace ownership to the ends of the universe has no place in the modern world yes you own the airspace but you also Grant an easement of that airspace for public use a citizen of the United States has a public right of Transit through the navigable airspace remember that term I'm going to talk about it later navigable airspace now so many people get hung up on the number 83 83 feet that's 83 feet in my state I know I heard my uncle's cousin told me that it's 83 feet in their state see the deal is the planes that were flying over Cosby's property they were flying at 83 feet above ground level that's where that number came from now listen very carefully the court did not set airspace ownership at 83 feet they in fact did not set any limit the only thing the Cosby case concluded was that the federal government was responsible for the taking of his airspace that resulted in the loss of his use or enjoyment of that property according to common law you still own up to the ends of the universe There's No Limit however because you live in society in modern times with other humans you are also required to Grant easement to the use of that space now if there's something that is interfering long term with the use or enjoyment of that space then you have a case the most basic example is where you are allowed to trim the branches of your neighbor's tree if they are hanging into your airspace space because it's impeding your enjoyment or use of the space but if an aircraft flies into your airspace once or even occasionally that is legal Transit by easement as defined by the courts now here is what I think the most important takeaway from this video the courts determined that the common law of airspace ownership should not apply in today's modern times because of the invention of Technology like airplanes fast forward 80 years and now we have even more advancement with the development and growth of uavs or drones so the FAA has determined that because a UAV is an aircraft and they can navigate just about anywhere through any airspace that they qualify for that easement according to the FAA a drone as long as it is abiding by all FAA UAV rules is allowed to fly in your private airspace because it is considered navigable airspace you see the definition of navigable airspace has changed with the invention of drones and this is the rule you may or may not agree with the rule this is not my opinion I'm not saying what's wrong or what's right I'm simply stating the current determinations of the Federal Aviation Administration for your knowledge and yes there are different classes of airspace which the FAA governs but this discussion is not related to that also no matter how much you think you know what the legal minimal limit of drone flight is allowed over your property you are most likely wrong there is no set minimum altitude that a drone can fly over the ground none no state laws no local laws nothing also your city or your state has no authority to restrict or manage drone flight in its airspace don't comment yet hear me out they can restrict launching location and Landing location basically they can set whatever rules they want for the ground for the land but local governments have zero authority to set flight restrictions and if you think I'm wrong please don't just comment you're wrong I would ask that you find your local laws online copy the link paste it in the comments so everyone can see what you are referring to now listen there are quite a few state laws related to drones already but nearly all of them are based on the premise of surveillance or voyeurism in these states and talents people can only be charged with a crime under these rules if it has proven that the Drone owner has the specific intent to spy on someone or in some cases on critical infrastructure like survey critical critical infrastructure I've been unable to find any state or local laws that simply restrict the flight in the airspace within City Limits and I think maybe that's because they know that as the federal rules are currently written that they can't regulate flight so that's how they are getting around the federal jurisdiction they can charge someone if they suspect that that person is spying with their drone but not if they're simply just flying around town you see the difference they're spying they're flying they can charge you for this one they can't for this one now if your little town has a drone flying restriction you can always try to refer them to the FAA for clarification of the law but just be careful as you know most small town law enforcement doesn't really care if you are breaking the rules that they have set in place for their Community then they will find something to charge you with now should the rules be changed should the airspace above your property be off limits to drones so my question to you is this something that should be decided by our federal courts federal government or should the laws be made at the local level allowing different communities to set their own restrictions let me know your thoughts so in summary you do own the airspace above your property you have the right to use that airspace as you please that airspace is also an easement for all aircraft drones are aircraft as defined by the FAA it doesn't matter Clyde if you think a drone is a toy and not an aircraft what matters is what the FAA thinks and according to them someone can legally fly into your airspace with a drone if that someone is doing it repeatedly and they are interfering with your use or enjoyment of the airspace then yeah you probably have a legal case against them and if you think they are watching you or someone that you love or that you know with a camera drone There Are Rules against voyeurism and spying already in place in Most states these rules apply to drones the same as they do to a camera or a smartphone or binoculars or anything like that now some states have created drone specific laws that refer to surveillance but no state or city can restrict drones from flying in their airspace concerning FAA airspace classifications that's a completely different topic which maybe I will address in a future video if you are really interested in learning about that I do suggest getting your part 107 and I'll post a link in the video description that can help guarantee you pass your part 107 exam so let's discuss this in the comments share your research for others rebuttal as you please I wholeheartedly welcome that there's still so much more to cover on this topic so if this video does well it tells me that you guys want to discuss it more and I'll make more videos about it thank you so much again to ecoflow for sponsoring this video watch for that giveaway coming in a few weeks here thank you to all of you for watching hey I do suggest you watch this video right here next I think you're gonna love it have a great day everyone and as always fly safe and fly smart foreign [Music]

Channel: 51 Drones

Views: 39,131

Keywords: drones, privacy, trespassing, airspace, faa, drone rules, private airspace, private property, rights, airspace rights, causby case, legal drone limit, drone flight limit, drone altitude legal, can I shoot down a drone, drone law, uav, dji, ecoflow, river 2, solar panel, portable power

Id: T4fytHIvn5c

Length: 13min 2sec (782 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 26 2022