Source: Texas Agriculture Law Blog
Drones are a hot topic in many circles, including the agricultural industry. However, as often happens, the law has fallen behind the technology leading many people to question (or incorrectly assume they understand) how private property rights and the use of commercial drones will co-exist.
Take Away Points
- Shooting down a drone flying over a person’s property is not a good idea. It could open the landowner up to a host of legal claims and potential criminal charges.
- Just because a drone is flying over another’s property does not mean that the drone is trespassing. Only if the Restatement factors–entry into the immediate reaches of the airspace and substantial interference with use and enjoyment of the land–are met will a person be able to recover under a trespass lawsuit.
- A nuisance claim may be available to a person dealing with drone flights over their property, but only if the required substantial impairment of use of the property occurs.
- Drone owners should understand that while generally flying over another’s property is permitted, there are situations where doing so could violate the common law and subject the drone operator to civil liability. This is particularly true if the drone flight is low over the property, interferes with the person’s activities on the property, or captures sensitive, private images.
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