Zillow’s Ongoing Mass Infringement of CoStar Group’s Intellectual Property
Sued in July, Zillow brazenly continues to display thousands of copyrighted and watermarked CoStar Group photographs and distribute them to its partners Redfin and Realtor.com
Tribeca Urban Apartments
In July, CoStar Group filed suit against Zillow for the infringement of nearly 47,000 CoStar Group-owned images. Many of these images prominently displayed CoStar Group’s distinctive star watermark, identifying CoStar Group as the owner. Nevertheless, Zillow is now infringing thousands more of CoStar Group’s watermarked photographs, and it has not even bothered to remove from its site all of the images that CoStar Group identified in its lawsuit. Since CoStar Group filed suit, Zillow has displayed at least 4,618 additional CoStar Group-owned images. Like the images identified in CoStar Group’s original complaint, most of these images clearly display CoStar Group’s distinctive star watermark.
The following are just two examples of the 4,618 additional CoStar Group images displayed on Zillow since CoStar Group filed its lawsuit.
Not only is Zillow now infringing thousands of additional CoStar Group images, but it continues to display almost 8,000 of the specific images that CoStar Group identified in its July lawsuit. Zillow also continues to distribute these and other images to its supposed competitors, Redfin and Realtor.com, through lucrative syndication agreements, and to Zillow affiliate websites, including Trulia, HotPads, and StreetEasy.
CoStar Group’s Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Andy Florance, said: “Despite being caught red-handed blatantly stealing our copyrighted work, Zillow has double downed to exploit thousands of additional copyrighted images without any shame. Zillow’s repeated copyright infringement, combined with its lead-diversion model that is the subject of a separate lawsuit accusing Zillow of deceiving home buyers, exposes an ongoing pattern of morally questionable behavior. Zillow’s free ride on the agents’ listings and CoStar Group’s proprietary content is over.”
CoStar Group’s General Counsel, Gene Boxer, added: “Zillow is building its rental business on stolen photos. Tens of thousands of them, many stamped with our watermark. That’s deliberate mass infringement. Zillow calls itself a tech company, yet supposedly it can’t spot images plainly marked with CoStar Group’s logo. That doesn’t pass the straight-face test. The truth is simple: Zillow used our watermarked images, it profited, and—stunningly—it has kept doing it. Rather than learn its lesson, it doubled down, and the infringement scheme got even larger. We look forward to holding Zillow to account.”
CoStar Group will vigorously pursue its lawsuit to secure permanent injunctive relief and substantial damages.
About CoStar Group
CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a global leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, online marketplaces, and 3D digital twin technology. Founded in 1986, CoStar Group is dedicated to digitizing the world’s real estate, empowering all people to discover properties, insights, and connections that improve their businesses and lives.
CoStar Group’s major brands include CoStar, a leading global provider of commercial real estate data, analytics, and news; LoopNet, the most trafficked commercial real estate marketplace; Apartments.com, the leading platform for apartment rentals; Homes.com, the fastest-growing residential real estate marketplace; and Domain, one of Australia’s leading property marketplaces. CoStar Group’s industry leading brands also include Matterport, a leading spatial data company whose platform turns buildings into data to make every space more valuable and accessible, STR, a global leader in hospitality data and benchmarking, Ten-X, an online platform for commercial real estate auctions and negotiated bids and OnTheMarket, a leading residential property portal in the
CoStar Group’s websites attracted over 141 million average monthly unique visitors in the second quarter of 2025, serving clients around the world. Headquartered in
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250930720380/en/
Media
Matthew Blocher
CoStar Group
(202) 346-6775
mblocher@costargroup.com
Source: CoStar Group
