If the photos or video will be used for a listing, a brand, an event, or any other business purpose, the person flying the drone needs a current FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate. That is true even if no one is paid that day.
Hobby rules do not cover commercial work. “My cousin is good with a drone” is not a license.
What Part 107 actually means
The certificate is the FAA’s remote pilot license. It requires a knowledge test, vetting, and recurrent training. The pilot in command is responsible for airspace, weather, the aircraft, and the people on the ground.
A registered aircraft and a liability policy sit next to the license. One without the others is incomplete.
What happens if the operator is not licensed
The FAA can fine the pilot. It can also fine the person who caused the flight — the agent, the builder, the planner, the homeowner who hired them. In the agency’s own reading of the rules, the person who hires an unlicensed operator can face a larger civil penalty than the person at the controls.
There is no clean “I didn’t know they weren’t licensed” defense. Asking after the fact does not unwind the flight.
Hourly insurance bought in an app does not fix this. If the person who bought the policy is not a licensed pilot, the policy is often worthless when a claim appears.
What to ask before anyone takes off
1. See the remote pilot certificate. It looks like other FAA pilot certificates. If they cannot produce it, they are not a commercial remote pilot.
2. See the aircraft registration.
3. See the liability policy. Ask whose name is on it and whether it covers this address and this date.
If those three items are not in hand, do not fly.
Who has to be at the sticks
The licensed pilot in command does not have to hold the remote. They do have to see the aircraft with the naked eye and have unaided communication with whoever is flying. Walkie-talkies and phones do not count. Binoculars and the camera feed do not count as “see the aircraft.”
Why this belongs on a photography site
A listing set or an event film is only useful if it can be published. An unlicensed flight puts the client in the same exposure as the pilot. We fly under Part 107, with the aircraft registered and liability matched to the job, because the picture is not the only deliverable. The operation has to hold up after the files go out.
If you want the short version to send a client: licensed, registered, insured or do not take off.