Dive Brief:

• The Council on Governmental Relations, a group representing 188 research universities, was one of three groups to file lawsuits challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s June directive that effectively banned commercial unmanned aircraft flights.
• The three lawsuits, filed Friday, will all be argued by Brendan Schulman, a noted attorney on drone issues.
• The universities’ case argues that the FAA order “poses a grave threat to science, research, education and technological innovation” by students and faculty at colleges and universities, Motherboard reports.

Dive Insight:

Under the FAA’s current policy, public universities are allowed to apply to the FAA for permission to fly drones, but only in limited cases — and private universities cannot. The FAA has a public comment period open regarding the policy until Sept. 23. The other two FAA lawsuits on Friday were filed by the 170,000-member Academy of Model Aeronautics and a coalition of drone businesses. Formal legal briefs are expected in the next few months.