Publishing aviation radio in videos: what applies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

The A350 touches down, the reversers roar – and underneath, the controller’s voice crackles: “cleared to land”. Many spotting videos on YouTube work with exactly this effect, and it works. But anyone who films and uploads in the German-speaking region is on thin ice. Publishing aviation radio in videos is expressly prohibited in Germany, regulated just as strictly in Austria and, in Switzerland, at least not cleared. This guide explains why that is, where the differences between the three countries lie and how your clips work even without tower audio.

The short answer

If you publish videos in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, leave the aviation radio out. In Germany, § 5 of the Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG) prohibits not only eavesdropping on radio messages not intended for you but expressly also passing them on – even if you only received them by chance. In Austria, § 161 paragraph 4 of the Telecommunications Act 2021 prohibits recording such messages, disclosing them to others or exploiting them. For Switzerland, no rule is known that would allow publishing aviation radio. A YouTube video, a livestream or a Short with a radio audio track is the riskiest option in all three cases.

Why aviation radio is not “public audio”

Technically, aviation radio is easy to receive: it runs in the VHF band between about 118 and 137 MHz in amplitude modulation, and a simple scanner or an SDR stick is enough. How this works in detail is explained in the articles Understanding aviation radio frequencies and Receiving aviation radio with an SDR stick.

Legally, though, what counts is not how easy something is to receive but who the message is intended for. Broadcast radio is aimed at the general public, amateur radio at radio amateurs. Aviation radio, on the other hand, is working communication between air traffic control and the cockpit. It serves the safety of air traffic and is aimed at the parties involved, not at onlookers at the fence or in front of the screen. In Germany it is subject to the secrecy of telecommunications; anyone who holds a radiotelephony certificate is obliged to keep radio traffic confidential.

For video makers, this difference is decisive. Even those who consider the question of whether mere listening is allowed a gray area cannot get around it when publishing: a video on YouTube reaches an indeterminate number of people. This disclosure is exactly what the laws want to prevent.

Germany: the ban on passing it on is unambiguous

What § 5 TDDDG regulates

The eavesdropping ban used to be in the Telecommunications Act; since the end of 2021 it has been in the TTDSG, which is now called the TDDDG. Paragraph 1 allows you to use a radio device to listen only to messages intended for the operator of the device, for radio amateurs, for the general public or for an indeterminate group of people. You will find the background in the article Listening to aviation radio: technology and legal situation in Germany.

For videos, paragraph 2 is the core: you may not tell others the content of other messages and even the fact that you received them. This expressly applies even if you received the message unintentionally. An “I only had the scanner on by chance” does not help once the recording is online.

What this means concretely for your content

Applied to spotting practice, this means:

• no tower, taxi control or approach frequency as an audio track under takeoff and landing videos,
• no livestream from the spot with a scanner running along,
• no subtitles that reproduce radio traffic you overheard (“The controller just changed the runway”),
• no Shorts or Reels with radio excerpts, not even as a brief effect.

The third point is easily overlooked: the ban concerns the content of the message, not only the audio. Anyone who types up or retells what they heard is disclosing it as well.

What you risk

§ 27 TDDDG makes both prohibited eavesdropping and prohibited disclosure punishable. In the case of intentional acts, the range extends to two years of imprisonment or a fine. How often something like this is prosecuted is another question – but a publicly accessible video is permanently documented evidence, and a channel with many such clips collects the risk along with it.

Austria: recording, disclosing and exploiting prohibited

Austria has the Telecommunications Act 2021. The paragraph central to radio reception is in § 161, which regulates the secrecy of communications. Under paragraph 4: if a radio device, terminal or other technical equipment unintentionally receives messages not intended for it or its user, neither the content nor the fact of reception may be recorded, disclosed to unauthorized persons or exploited for any purposes. Messages already recorded must be deleted or otherwise destroyed.

For spotting videos, this is clear: even recording the radio falls under the ban, and publishing on YouTube all the more so. “Exploiting for any purposes” is also broadly worded – a monetized channel that gains reach with radio audio hardly fits in there.

Anyone filming at the Vienna spotters’ hill (Spotterhügel) or on the observation deck at Vienna Airport should therefore refrain from radio in the video just as consistently as in Germany. You can find more on spotting at Austria’s largest airport in the Vienna-Schwechat plane spotting guide and on the page about Vienna Airport.

Switzerland: protected telecommunications, no clearance

Switzerland has its own telecommunications law. Article 13 of the Federal Constitution expressly protects telecommunications as part of privacy, and the Telecommunications Act obliges everyone entrusted with telecommunications tasks to preserve the secrecy of telecommunications. We are not aware of a provision that would allow private individuals to record aviation radio and distribute it publicly.

Because the details for private individuals are less clear to look up than in Germany and Austria, a simple rule applies in practice: no radio in the video, not even from spots like Butzenbüel in Zurich, spectator terrace B or the observation terrace in Geneva. If you want to know for sure for a specific project, ask the Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM). You can find tips for the spots in the guides for Zurich and Geneva.

Country comparison at a glance

Question	Germany	Austria	Switzerland
Central provision	§ 5 TDDDG	§ 161 para. 4 TKG 2021	secrecy of telecommunications (Federal Constitution Art. 13, Telecommunications Act)
Recording aviation radio	delicate under the eavesdropping ban	expressly prohibited, delete recordings	no known clearance
Passing on/publishing	expressly prohibited, even with accidental reception	expressly prohibited	no known clearance
Penalty range	up to 2 years or a fine (§ 27 TDDDG)	not covered by this article	not covered by this article
Practical recommendation	no radio in the video	no radio in the video	no radio in the video

Special cases spotters often ask about

Radio from online streams

Portals like LiveATC transmit aviation radio from airports in many countries; German frequencies are generally not represented there because of the secrecy of telecommunications. Whether a foreign stream may be listened to without legal concern is one matter – taking it over as an audio track in your video is quite another. The law of the country of origin, the portal’s terms of use and the law of the country where you publish all come into play. There is no blanket clearance. How the portals work is described in the article Listening to aviation radio online.

The neighbor’s scanner

At the fence there is often someone with a handheld scanner, and your camera’s microphone picks up everything. Under German law, chance does not protect you from the ban on passing it on. Check your audio before uploading and mute such passages or replace them with clean original sound from another scene.

Videos from abroad

If you film in the US or the UK, the respective national law applies there, and it can be more generous or stricter. But you upload from home, and your viewers are mainly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. If you want to be on the safe side, leave the radio out of videos from abroad too. The basics of spotting across the border are in the article Spotting abroad.

Re-spoken radio

Some channels explain phraseology by speaking radio calls themselves. That is something different from a recording, as long as you do not reproduce real, overheard radio traffic but use general examples like those from a textbook. Clearly label such passages as an explanation. To get started with the language, the articles ICAO spelling alphabet and English or German on aviation radio help.

How to make your video strong even without radio

The good news: radio is seasoning, not the main course. The most successful spotting clips live on picture, sound and timing.

The same goes for livestreams: a calm stream with original sound, overlaid flight data and chat moderation works without a scanner. What to watch out for technically and legally is explained in Live streaming plane spotting. And if you are just building a channel, you will find structure and ideas in the article Starting a plane spotting YouTube channel as well as practical shooting tips in Shooting plane spotting videos.

What else to keep in mind

• Check old videos. If you uploaded clips with radio audio in the past, it is worth a look through the archive. Replacing the audio or setting the video to private is quickly done.
• Agree on collaborations. If you shoot with other spotters, clarify beforehand that nobody leaves a scanner running openly.
• Watch for people in the frame. Besides the audio, the picture counts too: anyone recognizable in the video has rights of their own. More on this in People in spotter photos.
• Logos and brands. Airline logos on the fuselage are everyday in spotting videos; what applies to commercial use is explained in Trademark law and airline logos.
• Respect the operator’s house rules. Film at public spots or where the operator allows it – see The airport operator’s house rules.

Conclusion

Radio under the landing approach sounds like a pro video but is a bad idea in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With § 5 paragraph 2 TDDDG, Germany expressly prohibits passing on radio messages not intended for you – even with accidental reception – and § 27 TDDDG attaches a criminal penalty to it. In § 161 paragraph 4 TKG 2021, Austria already prohibits recording and requires recordings to be deleted. In Switzerland, telecommunications are protected, and there is no clearance for videos. Anyone who wants strong clips relies on original sound, clean pictures and legally obtained flight data as overlays.