Can You Film With a Drone? Where It's Legal

You’re on location, and the drone is unpacked. It’s golden hour for about ten more minutes. Then somebody asks the question that stops you cold. Can we film here?

Most pilots reach for an airspace app. Right instinct, but it only gives half of the answer. “Can I fly here?” and “Can I film here?” sit in two separate rulebooks.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) writes the first, but not the second. Knowing where you may film is where even careful, certificated pilots get caught out.

Key Takeaways

You likely wonder: Where can you film with a drone legally? There are plenty of places as long as you follow the rules for each type of land.

Most Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Forest land is open to recreational flying. There’s one hard exception: nothing launches, lands, or operates in designated wilderness, according to BLM guidelines.
Commercial shoots usually need permits, be sure to check.
State and municipal park rules vary, check the specific park.
Drone filming on private property comes down to aerial photography permissions. You need the owner’s consent, plus keeping the camera off private spaces.

Where filming isn’t allowed:

Drone filming in national parks is the hard no. Launching and landing are prohibited across the system, per the National Park Service (NPS).
Tribal parks are separate jurisdictions, often stricter. Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation bans drones at every Navajo Tribal Park, including Monument Valley. They will confiscate any aircraft caught flying there.
All the usual rules apply, everywhere: 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), visual line of sight, a B4UFLY airspace check, a LAANC authorization in controlled airspace, and either Part 107 with a remote pilot certificate or TRUST for recreational flying, according to FAA rules.

The FAA Governs the Airspace, Not the Ground

Let’s start with what the FAA actually controls. By statute, the federal government holds exclusive sovereignty over U.S. airspace, and citizens have a public right of transit through the navigable airspace, according to 49 U.S. Code § 40103.

That right has limits, though. In United States v. Causby (1946), the Supreme Court held that a landowner must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the atmosphere above the property. Low flights into that zone can invade the land. Nobody owns the sky outright, but the bottom slice is contested ground, according to Justia.

The flying rules are simple:

Stay at or below 400 feet above ground level, unless you’re within 400 feet of a structure, following 14 CFR § 107.51. But remember, recreational pilots flying under TRUST may not fly higher than 400 feet even in this situation.
Keep the aircraft in unaided visual line of sight the whole flight, per 14 CFR § 107.31.
Register anything 0.55 pounds or heavier, as required by the FAA.
In controlled airspace under 400 feet, get authorization first. LAANC returns most in near-real time, or file through FAADroneZone 60 days out if the field isn’t LAANC-enabled, according to the FAA.

Purpose decides the rulebook. Footage that furthers a business fall under Part 107, while purely recreational flying relies on the narrow exception at 49 U.S.C. § 44809, which still requires TRUST. LAANC clears airspace and nothing else. Though NOTAMs and weather stay on you. And none of it says anything about whether you may point a camera at what’s below.

Private Property: Legal to Fly Over, Risky to Film Over

Here’s where the two rulebooks come apart. The FAA doesn’t prohibit overflight of private property. Clear the airspace, hold your altitude, and the flight is legal.

What Causby left open is the bottom of that column. Drop low enough into the immediate reaches of someone’s land, and you’re no longer passing through. That’s what modern drone trespass claims are built on.

Then the camera changes things. Laws vary by state, so check the regulations wherever you plan to fly. For example, Florida’s statute bars recording privately owned property or its occupants with a drone camera without written consent. It’s considered a violation of a reasonable expectation of privacy. It presumes that expectation whenever someone isn’t visible from ground level but is visible from the air, per Fla. Stat. § 934.50.

Our best practical takeaway is to get written permission before flying over private property and keep private spaces out of frame while filming.

State Privacy Laws: The Rules the FAA Never Wrote

There’s no single federal drone privacy law. Instead, we have around two dozen states each with their own laws. That makes drone privacy laws something you need to check for your specific location rather than something you learn once.

Three states worth knowing to give you a sense of how they vary:

California Civil Code § 1708.8 covers entering the airspace above someone’s land without permission to capture private or familial activity. Treble damages, a $5,000 – $50,000 fine, and disgorgement of commercial earnings.
Florida’s § 934.50 is criminal, not just civil: a knowing violation is a first-degree misdemeanor and distributing the footage a third-degree felony.
Texas Government Code Chapter 423 restricts capturing images of private property by drone, but was struck down in part on First Amendment grounds, then reinstated by the Fifth Circuit in 2023, per Haynes Boone.

Voyeurism, stalking, and harassment statutes reach drone footage, too. Legal airspace does not equal legal footage. Always check the state regulations before you film.

National Parks: The Ban That Surprises Everyone

Every pilot has the same shot in their head: the rim at sunrise, the canyon opening as you push over the edge. You can’t take it. The National Park Service prohibits launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft in the parks they manage.

The reasoning is the potential impact, including disruption to wildlife and visitors. Getting caught means a fine, confiscation, or both.

The National Park Service drone ban isn’t absolute, but the exceptions aren’t for casual filming. NPS itself flies drones for emergencies, wildland fire, and scientific monitoring. Outside requests go through research permits, formal agreements, or a special use permit, under NPS Reference Manual 60, Chapter 12.

One point of confusion: the FILM Act, enacted in January 2025 under the EXPLORE Act, lets crews of eight or fewer take photos or record in parks without a commercial permit as long as they meet specific criteria, per NPS. It didn’t touch the drone ban. It’s easier paperwork for the ground crew, but the same answer for your aircraft.

The workaround is boundaries. Adjacent National Forest or BLM land is often open, per the U.S. Forest Service. Be aware that tribal land is a separate jurisdiction entirely. Check with the individual tribal government.

Putting It Together: A Pre-Flight Filming Check

When figuring out where you can film, look at airspace first, because it has a clear answer. Then look at filming permission since it varies so much by the state or jurisdiction.

Consider all five items on this pre-filming checklist, and you will likely know whether it’s safe to film:

Is the airspace controlled? File LAANC, or FAADroneZone 60 days out. Check TFRs separately since your authorization doesn’t cover them.
Look into the land status. Identify the managing agency. NPS units, designated wilderness, and tribal parks all require you to stop and get special authorization first.
For private property, get written consent.
Be sure to look up privacy laws, especially the state statutes. Assume it’s stricter than you’d guess.
If the footage serves a business, you’re operating under Part 107 with a certificate and registered aircraft.

Learn the Rules Behind the Certificate

Plenty of pilots memorize one number and call it knowledge. For example, they stick to the four hundred feet, and off they go until they get caught. Pilots who understand the rules know that FAA drone regulations and drone filming laws are separate systems governing the same flight. They know which one they’re clearing at any moment. Like any skill, it’s one you can learn.

MzeroA’s Remote Pilot Course covers airspace, regulations, and real-world operations, along with Part 107 commercial filming rules and exam prep.

Get certificated, then learn the rules sitting on top of it. Next time someone on set asks, you’ll have an answer instead of a guess. Use the link below to request more information about the Remote Pilot Course.