Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world.  This week alone they broke yet another record with the release of the Avengers Endgame movie.  Information on any projected Disney film, TV show, or park expansion is highly sought after.  Media pirates have started using drones to spy on Disney projects.  At Hollywood Studios they started working a Star Wars park recently and have had to intercept drones trying to capture images to be sold to the highest bidder.  In answer to this threat, Disney is working on a new form of anti-drone technology.

Disney has filed a patent that will allow them to have greater control over drones that are being flown in their airspace.  According to a statement in the patent documents released, “Drones can be remotely commanded to perform a variety of actions, e.g., fly around, take pictures and record video. However, certain drone operators may direct the drones to fly over private property and take unauthorized photos, video and even audio.

In certain instances, these pictures and recordings could capture sensitive information that could subsequently be broadcast to others. For example, a drone could fly over a movie production set and capture video that may give away major aspects and plot points of a film.”  Disney will go to any lengths to protect their proprietary property.

One of the biggest obstacles is being able to catch a drone and it’s operator  before any sensitive material has been stolen.  The patent Disney has proposed allows them to skip the process of tracking down the drone, operator, and stolen data.  The name of the patent is Commercial Drone Detection.  It is a program that works on multiple levels.  

The first thing this new technology will do is detect if there are any drones within any Disney property.  Then it will be able to differentiate if the detected drone is an authorized Disney drone or not.  If the drone is found to be unauthorized, the software can then track the communication frequency of the drone.  It can intercept and destroy any audio, video, or photos taken by the drone.  It can do all of this remotely.

Disney does not allow drones to be used in any of their parks, for safety reasons, but they know they now need to stop drones from the outskirts of all their properties to protect their interests.  They hope that the approval of this patent will give them the ability to protect their assets, as well as deter people from trying to hijack the information in the first place.  Disney has requested several drone related patents, some of which will never come to fruition.  It is expected though that they will push hard to be granted this particular one.

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