You might want to think twice before uploading that video footage from your drone to YouTube.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent a cease and desist letter postmarked March 9 to Jayson Hanes, a YouTube user who regularly uploads drone videos. The note warned him that he was violating drone regulations by using them for commercial purposes without the proper authorization. Hanes claims that he uses drones purely as a hobby.

The FAA argued that Hanes hosting the videos on YouTube made them commercial products. Google frequently pays its users through Google AdSense, for example.

"This office has received a complaint regarding your use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (a.k.a. drone) for commercial purposes referencing your video on the web site Youtube.com as evidence," the letter reads.

"After a review of your web site, it does appear that the complaint is valid."

Hanes told Mashable that "monetization is enabled" on his YouTube account but that he has not accepted any payments from Google. He could face fines and legal action from the FAA.

This is one Hanes' videos:

Depending on how you look at it, this could have huge implications on drone policy.

Ryan Calo, an assistant law professor at the University of Washington and co-director of the school's Tech Policy Lab, told Mashable said this is an "aggressive interpretation" of what "commercial use" means. If Hanes does accept money from YouTube, then it could constitute as a commercial use, Calo said.

"It's not the same thing as telling people they can't publish to YouTube," he said.

But if the FAA sent the legal notice to Hanes merely because he uploaded the videos to YouTube, Calo said, it is a potential violation of free speech, as it makes it "functionally impossible" to upload drone videos to the platform without the threat of legal consequence.

The FAA claims that it contacts all parties they suspect are illegally using drones for commercial purposes.

"Whenever we find out about a suspected commercial operation, we either send them a cease-and-desist order or we may call them," an FAA spokesman told Motherboard. He added that most people have "not been found to be acting in a careless and reckless manner."

The FAA proposed long-awaited regulations for commercial drones, which were widely considered reasonable, last month. The new rules are not yet approved laws, but they would mandate that pilots keep drones within their line of sight. Flights would be restricted to daylight hours. Altitude would be limited to 500 feet; speed would be limited to 100 mph.

Posting drone videos doesn't automatically mean the FAA will contact you. For one, Hanes was contacted after someone submitted a complaint against him. And, as mentioned, he said "monetization is enabled" on his account, though he has never received a payment.

The FAA did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.