Private Property Owners And Drones

Do property owners have possessory rights in the airspace above their land? Section by section and word by word, the first draft of a proposed "Tort Law Relating To Drones Act" was considered and debated by the entire Uniform Law Commission at its 2018 annual meeting.

The first draft of the ULC drone act provided that a person intentionally operating an unmanned aircraft in the airspace below 200 feet above the surface of property, without the consent of the owner, was liable for trespass. No trespass would occur where the conduct was protected under the First and Fourth Amendments, required by first responders and law enforcement, utilities, and other similar exceptions.

The unmanned aircraft industry fired off a maelstrom of criticism that basically boiled down to this: Property owners have no possessory rights in ANY airspace. Under this view, no business, landlord, association, hospital, homeowner, school, playground, research facility, place of worship, state