I’m pleased to share an important legal victory thanks to support from NAR’s Legal Action Committee. A ruling affirmed that real estate professionals have a “fair use” defense when using floorplans in home listings. Charles James, a home designer, claimed that real estate agents infringed his copyrights by including floorplans of his homes in listings. James designed and built 6 homes with a triangular atrium and stairs, and registered copyrights for the designs. When real estate agent Susan Horak listed one of these homes for sale and added a floorplan to the listing, she was sued for a violation of his copyright.  On Wednesday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the district court’s decisions and confirms that agent use of floorplans do not violate copyright law, offering critical clarity and protection for a valuable tool members use to help consumers find the right property. It also sends a strong message that could deter opportunistic litigation targeting our members over floorplan usage.  (Don’t forget about our partnership with Cubicasa to easily create floor plans at no cost, or low cost! HUGE value add for your listing exposure)

Recognizing the mutual benefits of floorplans in home sales, the court’s opinion stated: 

“Putting floorplans in listings for existing Designworks homes makes it less costly for potential buyers to discover the homes’ layouts and dimensions, [which] tends to increase the number of potential buyers willing to consider buying the homes. The result is that the homes should, on average, resell more quickly or for a higher price than they would absent the use of floorplans.” 

This case also highlights the strength of our collective efforts. NAR’s support dates back to 2018 when the case was initially before the district court. NAR’s Legal Action Committee immediately recognized the importance of fighting to protect members’, property owners’, consumers’ and the real estate industry’s use of floorplans. As the case progressed through several appeals, NAR also filed three amicus briefs to stress the significant value floorplans offer real estate professionals, home buyers and sellers. Throughout, NAR worked closely with the Columbia Board of REALTORS® to support the defendant brokers and agents.   

Through financial support from the NAR Legal Action Program and NAR’s amicus briefs filed in support of the defendant brokers, these actions demonstrated the value of working together to protect members’ interests, and after over 6 years of litigation, we are pleased with the successful outcome.