Legal | CoStar Group

Zillow Litigation

On July 30, 2025, CoStar filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Zillow in federal court in New York for infringing almost 47,000 copyrighted CoStar photographs. This is one of the largest image infringement lawsuits in history, and could expose Zillow to more than $1 billion in damages. CoStar’s Complaint shows CoStar’s watermarked images on Zillow as well as Redfin and Realtor.com, following recent “syndication” deals in which Zillow paid Redfin and Realtor.com to carry Zillow’s listings.
CoStar’s Complaint highlights Zillow’s own description of how much information it can obtain from a photograph, recognizing details as granular as granite countertops. Based on Zillow’s own description, identifying and removing CoStar-watermarked photos should be straightforward—Zillow just chooses not to do it.

CREXi Litigation

CoStar filed a copyright infringement complaint against Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. (“CREXi”) in September 2020 in Los Angeles. CREXi, backed by several large venture capital companies, is reportedly one of the biggest real estate data platforms in the country, valued at a half billion dollars ($500 million) in 2022. On June 25, 2025, the Court overseeing the case issued a ruling confirming that CREXi routinely accessed CoStar’s LoopNet site, copied listings from there, and took steps to cover up its wrongdoing by screenshotting CoStar-copyrighted photographs and cropping out CoStar’s watermark. The Court also found that CoStar owns all of the tens of thousands of photographs that CREXi deliberately infringed. They were taken by CoStar photographers, and registered with the Copyright Office. A trial to determine the damages that CREXi must pay will follow.

Move, Inc. Litigation

Move Inc. operates Realtor.com, an online marketplace that has fallen behind CoStar’s Homes.com. Move resorted to filing a lawsuit falsely accusing CoStar of using Move trade secrets to build a rival news division. In 2024, Move’s request for a preliminary injunction was denied by a federal judge. In 2025, after multiple other setbacks, Move withdrew its entire lawsuit. CoStar paid nothing, and agreed to nothing. Move simply capitulated.