Federal lawsuit filed against Zillow for using over 47,000 unauthorized property photos
In a significant development for the real estate industry, CoStar Group has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Zillow, accusing the online real estate platform of using over 47,000 of CoStar's copyrighted photographs without permission. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that Zillow displayed these watermarked images on Zillow.com and other Zillow sites.
CoStar, the parent company of Homes.com and Apartments.com, contends that Zillow has improperly used these images to enhance its rental listings, profiting from CoStar’s extensive investment and work over many years. The suit seeks permanent injunctive relief and damages that could exceed $1 billion.
Many of the images, some appearing over 250,000 times on Zillow's platform, still contained the CoStar watermark, indicating direct unauthorized use. CoStar claims that through syndication agreements, Zillow distributed these copyrighted photos beyond its own sites to competitors such as Realtor.com and Redfin without authorization.
CoStar CEO Andy Florance described Zillow's conduct as "nothing short of outrageous" and expressed a commitment to stopping this "systematic infringement." CoStar is also threatening legal action against Realtor.com and Redfin if they do not remove these images immediately.
This lawsuit is one of the largest image infringement cases in the real estate industry, with CoStar emphasizing the value of its photo database built over decades with billions in investment. The lawsuit aims to "redress Zillow's widespread and systematic infringement of CoStar's copyrighted photographs."
Zillow, based in Seattle, has received over 227 million unique visitors a month and received 2.4 billion visits between January and March, according to Reuters. The company has about 160 million homes in its database.
In response to the lawsuit, Zillow has stated that Compass' claims are "unfounded" and that they plan to "vigorously defend against" the lawsuit. Compass, based in Manhattan, has claimed that Zillow is improperly refusing to list homes on its site that were first listed elsewhere.
This is not the first legal challenge Zillow has faced recently. The company has been hit with a second lawsuit within five weeks. The first lawsuit was filed by real estate brokerage Compass in Manhattan federal court.
Sources: - Fortune, 2025-07-31 - Fox Business, 2025-08-02 - Real Estate News, 2025-07-30 - Law.com, 2025-07-31
- The business world of real estate took a turn as CoStar Group, the parent company of Homes.com and Apartments.com, filed a massive copyright infringement lawsuit against Zillow, accusing the online real estate platform of using over 47,000 of CoStar's copyrighted photographs without permission, initiating a significant legal battle within the industry and raising questions about ethics in finance and technology.
- The technology sector is witnessing intense legal proceedings, as Zillow faces allegations in a lawsuit filed by CoStar Group, claiming that Zillow has been improperly profiting from CoStar’s extensive investment and work over many years by using the company's copyrighted photographs without authorization, showcasing the complexities of intellectual property rights in the digital age.
