Zillow has hit back at CoStar Group in the lawsuit between the two portals via a letter filed on Monday requesting that the case be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The mega portal, which in July CoStar accused of stealing watermarked photos and using them on its own and partner sites, alleged that CoStar was attempting “to weaponize copyright litigation for competitive pressure.” Zillow also says in the letter that the move is consistent with actions CoStar has taken against industry rivals in the past.
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The filing came at roughly the same time that CoStar distributed an update to the lawsuit to media outlets alleging that Zillow was continuing to use thousands of the company’s copyrighted photos months after the lawsuit was first filed, and is now using thousands of additional CoStar-copyrighted photos that were not identified in the initial complaint.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than a calculated attempt to misuse copyright law to sideline Zillow and lock in CoStar’s control,” the letter — penned by Zillow’s attorney Jamie A. Levitt, of Morrison Foerster — said.
Levitt further argued that the CoStar-watermarked photos are legally provided to Zillow by their customers, who give them license for use.
“These photos are provided by Zillow’s customers, who grant Zillow a license to the photos and warrant that they have all rights to do so,” the letter states. “Further, Zillow has an established policy allowing copyright owners to request takedown of materials in which they claim a copyright, consistent with the DMCA. Rather than use this system, CoStar chose to shift the burden to the courts and file the instant suit without prior notice to Zillow. CoStar has not adequately pleaded its claims and Zillow will seek a pre-motion conference on a motion to dismiss.”
CoStar Group founder and CEO Andy Florance chastised Zillow for shifting the blame in the lawsuit to its own customers, and noted that this behavior is part of a pattern.
“Zillow’s shameful attempt to blame its own customers for its mass misuse of CoStar’s copyrighted photographs is as predictable as it is unconvincing,” Florance said in a statement. “Our complaint against Zillow spells out in detail the many ways in which Zillow itself — not its customers — engaged in systematic wrongdoing. Zillow published tens of thousands of CoStar-owned images, including many clearly marked with our watermark, and Zillow profited from those images.
“Let’s remember that this is not some isolated incident. Zillow was previously found liable for mass copyright infringement [in a case against CoStar-owned Matterport subsidiary VHT], and its legal troubles are increasing exponentially. In just the past few months, Zillow has been sued by Compass for antitrust violations, by consumers in a class action alleging they were duped by Zillow’s shady lead diversion business model, and, as of yesterday, by the Federal Trade Commission for yet another alleged antitrust scheme — an arrangement with Redfin described by the government as a sham partnership designed to buy market share and suppress competition.”
CoStar Group General Counsel Gene Boxer likewise called Zillow’s finger pointing to its own customers “a joke” and echoed Florance’s statement that the portal’s legal woes are growing day by day.
“Zillow will face a reckoning,” Boxer said in a statement. “The only question is in which case first.
“We brought our suit to ensure accountability and to protect intellectual property rights that are vital not only to our business, but to the integrity of the real estate marketplace as a whole. Zillow must, and will be held to account for its wrongdoing.”
Zillow goes on to argue in its letter that the lawsuit should never have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in the first place because Zillow and any of its likely witnesses are based in and around Seattle, Washington. Meanwhile, CoStar Group is based in Virginia and does not appear to have any connection to the Southern District of New York, but according to Zillow, may have avoided the Western District of Washington to evade an unfavorable Ninth Circuit law, and the circuit’s experience in addressing issues surrounding copyright law.
In CoStar’s update to the lawsuit published on Tuesday, CEO 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 homebuyers, 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’s initial complaint filed on July 30 alleged that Zillow had displayed nearly 46,000 CoStar-copyrighted images on Zillow Rentals and had displayed them more than 250,000 times on Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com rental listings. CoStar likewise threatened to sue Redfin and Realtor.com, who have rental syndication agreements with Zillow, if the portals did not take down the CoStar-watermarked photos.
CoStar is seeking relief for two counts of copyright infringement, and demanding that Zillow cover CoStar’s legal costs and fees, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, punitive damages and anything else deemed appropriate by the court. It is likewise seeking an order forcing Zillow to remove any CoStar-copyrighted images from its website and agree to third-party monitoring for any future violations.
See the full letter below:
Update: This story was updated on Oct. 1 2025, with responses from CoStar Group’s Andy Florance and Gene Boxer.
