Zillow vs. CoStar: Why This Battle Over Photos Matters to You
A major copyright lawsuit filed this week by CoStar against Zillow might sound like a corporate turf war—and on the surface, that’s exactly what it is. But behind the headlines, this one hits closer to home for agents, landlords, and property owners than most people realize.
CoStar, the company behind Apartments.com and Homes.com, is suing Zillow for allegedly using nearly 47,000 of its copyrighted real estate photos without permission, plastering them across Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com listings. According to the suit, Zillow has built out a large part of its rental listings inventory using these images—many still watermarked with CoStar’s logo—and is profiting off them in multiple ways.
Here’s the thing: photos matter. We all know listings with great photos get more attention. They also feed tools like Zestimate and recommendation engines, which are designed to keep people on Zillow’s platform. For landlords, it means your property might be represented using images you didn’t authorize and possibly don’t own the rights to. For agents, it’s another reminder that what gets uploaded—and where—could carry risk or value long after the listing is live.
The lawsuit also highlights a long-standing tension in our industry: platforms expanding aggressively into rentals without the same level of oversight or content standards we typically see with for-sale listings through the MLS. CoStar claims Zillow is creating “unclaimed property” pages—essentially placeholders for buildings not actively listed—using CoStar’s images to attract landlords, then turning those into paid ads once someone claims the property. If true, it’s a bold and potentially lucrative strategy… but not necessarily a legal one.
Zillow’s already faced major photo infringement issues before (VHT, anyone?), but this time the scale appears larger—and the implications for how listing content is used, syndicated, and monetized are real.
Whether this gets settled quietly or ends up changing how listing platforms operate, it’s a wake-up call for everyone who relies on online exposure to market property. Check who owns your listing photos. Be thoughtful about where you upload content. And if you’re a landlord or owner, make sure you’re not inadvertently authorizing platforms to use content you don’t control.