Real Estate Listings and Copyright

Who owns the copyrights in the listing photos that real estate salespeople and independent photographers take? Who owns the copyrights in the text and other content in real estate listings? What can listing brokers and multiple listing services do to enhance and protect listing brokers’ rights in their listing-content portfolios? This book provides a comprehensive overview of legal issues relating to copyrights in real estate listings. Brian Larson and Mitchell Skinner, leading attorneys for real estate brokerages, multiple listing services, and REALTOR® associations nationwide, begin with the basics of copyright law applied to the real estate context and then step through all the key issues, including portfolio strategies, registration, and enforcement. This book is a unique and essential resource for anyone working with real estate listing content.

Brian N. Larson is assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly an attorney and managing member of Minneapolis law firm Larson Skinner PLLC, he is now of counsel to the firm and assists it in providing advice to clients. In 2015, the Council of Multiple Listing Services inducted Larson into its Hall of Fame; he was only the fourth person to be so honored in the 57-year history of CMLS. Larson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. summa cum laude from the Mitchell Hamline College of Law. Mitchell A. Skinner is the owner and managing member of Larson Skinner PLLC, a Minneapolis-based law firm. He leads the firm’s copyright, trademark, technology, and licensing practice. Larson Skinner PLLC provides counsel to creatives, content strategy companies, tech companies, multiple listing services, REALTOR® associations, and real estate brokerage firms. Skinner provides legal counsel and strategic advice on software licensing, intellectual property portfolios, data licensing (including real estate listing syndication strategy and negotiation), and all matters related to MLS governance and data management. Skinner also provides counsel to the Real Estate Standards Organization, Council of Multiple Listing Services, and Broker Public Portal. Skinner holds a J.D. cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School.