Zillow Sued for Publishing 46,000 Watermarked Photos in ‘Largest Image Infringement Case’ Ever
Zillow has been sued for allegedly publishing over 46,000 watermarked photos — in what is being called “one of the largest, if not the largest, image infringement cases in history.” The case could leave the real estate marketplace facing over a billion dollars in potential damages.
CoStar Group, a real estate data company with the world’s largest library of property photos, filed a lawsuit against Zillow in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, alleging “rampant copyright infringement.”
Since its founding, CoStar says it has invested billions into building the most comprehensive real estate photo database. Over the years, it says it has employed thousands of professional photographers who have produced millions of images — all owned and copyrighted by CoStar. According to the company, its team of dedicated architectural photographers captures and copyrights more than two million original real estate photos every year.
According to the lawsuit, Zillow, rather than invest in its own website, people, and intellectual property, has engaged in rampant copyright infringement of CoStar’s photographs.
Zillow has allegedly published more than 46,000 CoStar images, many with the company’s distinctive watermark, displaying those images more than 250,000 times on Zillow alone. The company claims that Zillow’s mass infringement is compounded by the fact that it shares CoStar’s photos not just on its own site, but also on Redfin and Realtor.com — thanks to new partnerships where Zillow supplies all the apartment listings for the three websites.
A Potential $1 Billion in Damages
The complaint is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from Zillow, which CoStar estimates could exceed $1 billion.
The lawsuit alleges that Zillow has faced similar legal issues before, citing a case in which the company was found liable for copyright infringement after a real estate photography studio VHT sued — leading to a multi-million dollar payout.
“Zillow’s theft of tens of thousands of CoStar Group’s copyrighted photographs is nothing short of outrageous,” Andy Florance, CoStar’s Founder and CEO, says in a press release. “Zillow is profiting from decades of CoStar Group work and the billions of dollars we have invested. Even worse, Zillow is magnifying its infringement on Redfin and Realtor.com.”
“If these other sites do not immediately remove our images, we will have no choice but to sue them as well. We are committed to stopping this systematic infringement and holding the wrongdoers to account.”
CoStar previously obtained a $500 million award in 2019 against the real estate listing platform Xceligent, over the publication of 38,489 copyrighted photos, according to court records obtained by Reuters. Zillow did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
