ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A private company, SMS Novel, says they will begin conducting drone surveillance of St. Louis neighborhoods Monday.
Their business model is simple. Fly drones over St. Louis neighborhoods to conduct surveillance and charge a fee to access that footage. However, that charge to access the livestream footage might expose the company to a lawsuit, according to KMOX legal analyst Brad Young.
"Under both state and federal law individuals have what's called a 'right to publicity,'" Young explains "that right to publicity is a right to control your own identity as it's used for commercial purposes."
Young explains this does not apply to news programs because that's covered under fair use. However if it's used for commercial purposes, Young says a person filmed has a right to compensation.
If a person's image is being used for commercial purposes, other than news, then the individual who is being filmed or videoed has a right to [receive] compensation for that image."
Young says the concept, paying a subscription for access to watching individuals during a livestream, is no different than a film company filming someone and using them in a movie or tv show.
"If this particular individual is doing a livestream, conceptually that is no different than going out and shooting video and using it for commercial purposes."
Young adds the drone would need to be close enough to an individual for them to easily be identified.
"If a drone is flying at several hundred feet, it may become impossible to see person's faces or their images." Young says "at that point you would have to show for a plaintiff in that kind of litigation that their image was used without their consent."
The company, SMS Novel, has advertised on their website their drones will use Amazon's facial recognition software specifically to identify individuals and "Drones can also follow near an individual as close as two-four feet."
Young adds that the company and the pilots they commission could both be on the receiving end of a lawsuit if they film someone without their permission. SMS Novel was supposed to conduct training in Forest Park on Saturday, although they did not have the required permit to do.
After attempting to track them down, founder Jomo Johnson confirmed to KMOX they had moved their training to an undisclosed location and would not speak with the media until after their test run in St. Louis Monday.
The company has faced opposition from both legislatures and St. Louis residents alike since the company announced plans last December to conduct flights tests in the area, notably in Gravois Park.