His getting permission is definitely NOT the norm. From what I've seen, the things are piloted here and there, just randomly looking for whatever catches their attention. Everything from sunbathers to wildlife. Which I guess sunbathers are just another form of wildlife. But I digress.
Sooner or later, I figure this is gonna get regulated. And it should be, since it is being abused. I've read several stories where the landowner didn't want anyone flying over his property, for whatever reason. The drone pilots are all excited about it, but I figure reasonable privacy concerns trump their right to fly willy nilly everywhere, especially when there are cameras involved. The probability that somebody is gonna down one with a shotgun gets higher everyday. The drone operators all wanna scream destruction of private property, but I figure invasion of privacy is just as important. Biggest problem I see is somebody shooting AT a drone, but you can't control where the excess shot, or the missed shot with a rifle, ends up. Big legal quagmire.
Also, I'm waiting for some bozzo to get caught herding game with one. Blatantly illegal, I know, but when has THAT ever stopped anyone?
I don't own a drone. However, I can see a great many uses for one. I have a few head of cattle, on several hundred acres of cedar covered ranch land. That live camera could save me lots of searching for animals I'm trying to keep track of, cows down calving, the status of water holes, mineral feeders, all kinds of things. But if I can check cows, somebody else can check ME, to see where I am, and where the stock is. Possibilities for all sorts of criminal endeavors abound. Cattle russling DOES still occur in many rural areas.
Bluebonnet season is upon us here in Texas. We love em. But folks, last year especially, just seemed to ASSUME that it was all fine and good to just over fly a big field and take videos of the bluebonnets, and post em on the internet so that EVERYONE could enjoy them. And THAT I don't have a problem with, IF they got permission to overfly MY fields. I'm not saying they're MINE, YOU can't look. I'm saying I have the right to a reasonable amount of privacy, and an eye in the sky that violates that might get a sharp stick poked in it. ASK FIRST!