Georgia (country)
Georgia is welcoming to photographers and has a film cash-rebate program, but its freedom of panorama is non-commercial only and the boundary lines with Abkhazia and South Ossetia are genuinely dangerous to photograph.
Guidance, not legal advice
Drone Authority
Check the flight side
Photography access and drone permission are separate questions. Drone Authority covers the flight-law side for this country.
Permit
Conditional
Issuer: Municipality or site manager for commercial productions; no permit for personal street photography
Cost: No permit for personal photography; commercial crews need location clearances
Personal photography needs no permit. Commercial productions can route through the Film in Georgia rebate program (Enterprise Georgia); churches under the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate set their own photography rules, and interiors are often restricted.
Drone / airspace
National rules via the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA): drones over 250 g must be registered (uas.gov.ge), 120 m ceiling, VLOS, no night flights without authorization, and commercial operations need specific GCAA authorization
Carry your registration certificate; police can ask for it. For detail, see Drone Authority.
Street / public space
Yes to photograph; publishing a recognizable person, especially commercially, can require consent under Georgia's personal data protection law
Street photography is culturally accepted and legally low-risk for personal and editorial use; commercial use of a person's likeness is where consent matters.
Freedom of panorama
Non-commercial only
The 1999 Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights permits reproducing works of architecture and fine art permanently displayed in public places without consent, except when the image of the work is the main object of the reproduction or is used for commercial purposes. Historic churches and vernacular architecture are out of copyright; the limit matters for modern Tbilisi landmarks (Bridge of Peace and similar contemporary works).
Practical notes
- Do not photograph the administrative boundary lines with Abkhazia or South Ossetia, their crossing points, or the personnel manning them; detentions along the lines are documented.
- Gergeti Trinity Church and Svaneti are unrestricted outdoors; church interiors commonly ban photography or require the priest's consent.
- Tbilisi's contemporary architecture (Bridge of Peace, Public Service Hall) is in copyright, so commercial licensing of images where it is the main subject is not covered by the panorama exception.
Sources
Keep shooting
Knowing the rules is half the job. The craft side: