Does Texas not have drone laws? Not complaining but surprised you can just fly a drone around all this area ]
HB 912 makes it illegal to capture, use, or distribute images of individuals or property without consent.
It is a Class C misdemeanor, which is the least severe type of misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, and does not carry jail time. It’s basically like a traffic violation. I am assuming video falls under “images,” and each time they do it and post it could potentially be considered individual violations, thus individual fines, so hopefully they stay anonymous, because I don’t know what the statue of limitations are on this.
Since you have to have the property owner’s permission, I don’t know how enforceable it is, since officers would basically have to ask the drone pilot for proof of property owners consent. Universal could go after them though, and request prosecution, and that fine could be worse.
There’s also the issue of it simply being a hobby. What if you’re just flying it around to have a closer look, but not taking video or images? You're just watching it on a screen in real time. Or the pilot deletes the captured video and images immediately, showing the officer that nothing had ever been recorded. They’re not going to seize evidence if the pilot is respectful and fully cooperative, agreeing to show them when requested, but there’s nothing there to show.
Then there are FAA rules. Drones weighting over 0.55lbs (250 grams) must be registered. Most dinky hobby drones are at or below that. They must also remain under 400 feet (122 meters). Most affordable hobby drones won’t go higher than 262 feet (80 meters). You must also keep visual sight of your drone at all times, meaning your own eyes need to physically see it, not some screen. So if they are flying high enough that they can’t hear it. They most definitely can’t see it, especially if they are flying over the property. But that also means Universal can’t see or hear it, so they can’t call the cops for immediate enforcement. Only after they see video/images posted online, could they really do something about it. I know that when local news media covers it, their drones fly around the outside perimeter, with Universal’s permission. (Mostly because it tends to be NBC) They never fly through the park itself, which brings along the last bit of FAA rules, which is that you cannot fly over people without some kind of FAA waiver. This is mostly for safety. If a drone were to suddenly malfunction, if it hits anyone, the injuries could be serious, possibly even life threatening. So some videos are probably taken during weekends or holidays, but videos you see with actual construction crew present, most likely don’t have this waiver.