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Zillow Threatens To Sue Blogger For Using Its Photos For Parody (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the legal-hell dept.

Kate Wagner is facing potential legal charges by real estate Zillow for allegedly violating the site's terms of service by reproducing images from their site on her blog. Wagner's blog is called McMansion Hell -- a Tumblr blog that "highlights the absurdity of giant real estate properties and the ridiculous staging and photography that are omnipresent in their sales listings," writes Natt Garun via The Verge. From the report: A typical McMansion Hell blog post will have a professional photo of a home and / or its interior, along with captions scattered throughout by Wagner. She also adds information about the history and characteristics of various architecture styles, and uses photos from the likes of Zillow and Redfin to illustrate how so many real estate listings inaccurately use the terms. Under each post, Wagner adds a disclaimer that credits the original source of the images and cites Fair Use for the parody, which allows for use of copyrighted material for "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research." In a cease and desist letter to Wagner, Zillow claims Wagner's reproduction of these images do not apply under the Copyright Act. Additionally, the company claims McMansion Hell may "[interfere] with Zillow's business expectations and interests." As a result of the potential lawsuit, Wagner has temporarily taken McMansionHell.com down. In a statement to The Verge, Zillow said: "Zillow has a legal obligation to honor the agreements we make with our listing providers about how photos can be used. We are asking this blogger to take down the photos that are protected by copyright rules, but we did not demand she shut down her blog and hope she can find a way to continue her work."

2 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Last I checked... by BronsCon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Parody is fair use and Zillow can suck it.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    1. Re:Last I checked... by Organic+Brain+Damage · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's more than just a scare tactic. Filing what you know is a losing lawsuit is often a winning strategy when there's a large imbalance in wealth between the parties invovled.

      The blogger is a grad student. Most grad students don't have a spare $50,000 for attorney fees. Without an attorney, the grad student will likely not succeed in court (thanks to attorneys making court opaque and inscrutable in what's effectively a massive confluence of rent-seeking behavior).

      American justice is often for sale.