How to submit a real estate infringement case

Many real estate photographers find it difficult to take action on their images being used. Here is an easy Pixsy guideline to review and submit real estate photography infringements.

Get familiar with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Many sites such as Zillow, Realtor.com, Remax, Airbnb, and many more are protected by the DMCA. This means the site itself often cannot be held liable for infringements but the person or business posting the image is responsible for not abiding by copyright rules and regulations. Learn more about the DMCA here.

If a site using your image is protected by the DMCA, don’t fear! You can still get paid for the unauthorized use of your work if the person using your image is acting on behalf of commercial interests or as a business entity. 

How do I submit a case for a real estate infringement?

1. Is your image still online?
   Open the page  that Pixsy has identified your image on (match URL). Can you find your image on the page? Often with real estate infringements, images move offline as the property is sold. It is best to submit a case for these uses as soon as you find them so we can capture the evidence.

2. Who is using the image?
   As stated above, the website your image appears on won’t be the entity responsible for the infringement. It will be the person who posted it for their commercial interests. Typically on real estate websites this is the Listing Agent or Broker.
   
   Be careful - Often real estate photographers have licensed their work to individuals who represent a particular property. This means you should check your licenses. If you have an agreement with the listing agent, this could be an approved use.
   
   When submitting a case, include the name of the client you licensed the images to and attach the license to the case submission. 

3. Multi-Image Cases
   If the image user has used multiple images of yours on the same site but our system did not find all the uses, please add these uses to the case.
   
   In the additional comments and notes section of the case submission form, write the image title (as it appears in your Pixsy account) with the image hosted URL (right click image and click “open image in new tab”, copy and paste this URL next to the image title).

4. What kind of settlement can I expect from real estate infringements?
   
   Each case will be different based on the case facts. We price our cases based on the industry standard. This includes taking in account:

• Previous licensing history

• Type of usage (Commercial, Editorial, Educational, etc)

• The financials of the company using your image

• Image Size (Pixels)

Have you found an infringement you would like to submit to Pixsy? Create a free account and submit it today or contact our support team for more information.