First Annual "Shred Event"

Fun time had by all!

We wish to thank all the members who took part in the First Annual Shred Event, co-sponsored by Willamette Association of REALTORS®, Polk County Association of REALTORS®, Mid-Valley Association of REALTORS® and WVMLS.

The event was held on September 29th at the Linn County Expo Center, where we wrapped up Broker Safety Month by shredding over 2.5 tons of outdated real estate documents, client records, and other sensitive documents.

Feedback and expressions of gratitude were off the charts, which all-but-guarantees there will be a SECOND Annual Shred Event in the fall of 2022. Stay tuned!

Congratulations to our Shred Event raffle winners:

• Natasha Lang - Gift Basket from MVAR

• Debbie Dailey - Gift Basket from WAOR

• Frank Joseph - Gift Basket from PCAR

• Leann Friend - $50 Amazon Gift Card from WVMLS

• Debi VanAgtmael - $50 Amazon Gift Card from WVMLS

• Marla Poage - $50 Amazon Gift Card from WVMLS

#Safety #Events

Who Owns Your Property Photos?

NOVEMBER 9, 2016 I BY: CHLOE HECHT, NAR ASSOCIATE COUNSEL

Listing content fuels the real estate industry, and displaying photographs of real properties online is now a vital part of the real estate professional’s marketing plan. Sellers use photographs to market properties, and buyers rely on those images to select which properties to visit. MLSs distribute property listings through proprietary databases that include the listing photographs. Moreover, MLSs in turn often license their property listing databases, including broker-provided photographs, to third-party portals, such as REALTOR.com, and other websites and vendors.

Improper use of listing photographs, however, can create legal problems for agents, brokerages, and MLSs. Authorship and ownership of photographs within the real estate industry is “fractured”. Who authored the photograph and who can use what photograph and in what way varies across the industry. Listing photographs may be taken by homeowners, real estate agents, MLS or brokerage employees, or professional photographers. Photographs may be owned or licensed to different parties in a variety of ways. A misunderstanding of how you may use the photographs for property listings could make you vulnerable to a copyright lawsuit.

For example, copyright infringement of listing photographs is central to the recent lawsuit VHT, Inc. v. Zillow Group, Inc., No. 2:14-cv-1096 (W.D. Wash. 2015). VHT purportedly retains ownership in the listing photographs and only grants non-exclusive licenses to brokers to use the photographs solely in connection with marketing active property listings. In the complaint, VHT alleges that Zillow uses VHT’s photographs without authorization in connection with “sold” properties and on Zillow’s home design website, “Digs.” VHT argues that these uses exceed the scope of VHT’s limited license to use the photographs in connection with active property listings. The case is still pending.

It is crucial to know what rights you own in photographs and how those rights permit you to use the photographs. To reduce your risk of copyright infringement, you should:

• Review photography agreements to assess what rights were granted or conveyed;

• Audit your use of listing photographs to ensure compliance with the relevant agreements;

• Determine how you will use photographs and ensure future agreements permit those uses; and

• Maintain records of all assignments and licenses.

Sample Agreements

In order to assist members and member firms, NAR Legal Affairs created Work for Hire, Assignment, and Executive License sample agreements, which should be modified as necessary to fit your particular needs. Click on the buttons below for your NAR-created sample agreement.

WORK FOR HIRE SAMPLE AGREEMENT

ASSIGNMENT SAMPLE AGREEMENT

EXECUTIVE LICENSE SAMPLE AGREEMENT

#Photos #Videos

Statistics for September 2021 Now Available

The first dashboard contains the data for residences under .5 Acre for Marion, Linn, Benton, and Polk. For additional insight, we've also provided a dashboard for each county broken out individually.

Did you know this Market Infographic is available to you to use? Go to https://www.wvmls.com/statistics to learn more!

Polk County

Marion County

Linn County

Benton County

#Statistics