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Zillow nears end of copyright infringement case 

Appeals court affirmed $2M penalty in favor of VHT Studios

Zillow's Rich Barton, VHT's Brian Balduf (Getty, Zillow, VHT)
Zillow's Rich Barton, VHT's Brian Balduf (Getty, Zillow, VHT)

Zillow and VHT Studios have been duking it out in a legal fight over a few million dollars for the past eight years, but the back-and-forth may be at an end.

An appeals court affirmed a $2 million judgment against Zillow in a copyright infringement case, Inman reported. The only remaining legal recourse is to try and get the case in front of the Supreme Court, but that bid appears unlikely. 

The case dates back to July 2015, when VHT filed a lawsuit alleging Zillow stole its intellectual property by using photos on its home improvement site, Zillow Digs. Zillow said it only used VHT photos on the site where permitted. VHT claimed it retained copyright for the photos and they could only be used while marketing the property for sale.

The original lawsuit pertained to both Zillow Digs and Zillow’s main listing site, but a judge dismissed the latter claim in December 2016. The other claim went to trial and VHT was awarded $8.3 million in damages in January 2017.

Zillow took the case to a federal court, where it managed to get the award sliced in half. Both companies then appealed and a U.S. Circuit Court largely took Zillow’s side, vacating a judgment of the “willful” infringement of 2,700 photos. A new trial was ordered in March 2021 — this time, VHT prevailed again, but was only awarded below $2 million, plus post-judgment interest dating back to the 2017 decision.

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In the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week, neither side got what they wanted. Zillow either wanted the claims against it dismissed or for it to all be folded into “one work” to have the statutory damages lowered. VHT wanted to restore the $4 million-plus judgment it claimed years ago.

Neither side responded to the outlet’s request for comment. 

Zillow surely doesn’t want to pay a cent, but it may all be a matter of perspective for the company, which posted a $22 million loss. Despite the loss, the company beat expectations and  painted a different picture from 2021, when it lost an astonishing $880 million on its failed iBuyer business.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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