As a Realtor I see a lot of images daily. Images of houses. Images of properties. Images of people. I also see many of these images reposted, sometimes with and sometimes without credit. Each time I post something on a social media platform, I have the deepest desire to be original but beyond that I do not want to be a thief. I cringe when I see reposts without credit, and often I wonder “where did they get that content” instead of “wow, what a great shot”. I also want to be sure I am not breaking the law. Yes, if you repost content that you do not have permission to use, you could be breaking the law.
I am sure not everyone thinks the same way as me, as you can see with the common reposting across all platforms. Most of the time when a house goes up for sale it is listed on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and pictures are uploaded with the listing. The National Association of Realtors states “Real estate professionals must be cognizant of copyright issues when it comes to listing content, most notably in connection with listing photographs. As original works of authorship, listing photographs are copyrighted, and the owner may dictate how the photos are used.”[i] When a Realtor is hired to take on a listing, most of the time they spend a lot of time, energy and effort on making the house look great and hire a professional photographer to take photos. These photos are often expensive, but who do they belong to? Again, The National Association of Realtors weighs in on this claiming “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.”[ii] It is important that the appropriate releases are obtained from photographers, and make sure everyone is on the same page in regards to how the photos are used.
I have always made it a point to publish either my own original images, images taken by hired photographers for my listings, or premade images given to us by our franchise to use. FaceBook has made it easy to share content with a convenient “share” button, but Instagram is very specific and has not allowed that capability. It is clear they do not endorse the common “regram” unless you have permission. In their Copyright at Posting Content on Instagram FAQ page they are very clear that “The best way to help make sure that the content you post to Instagram doesn’t violate copyright law is to only post content that you’ve created yourself.”[iii]
There are times when a “regram” is helpful. “Houses of Instagram”, “Kitchens of Instagram” and similar accounts rely on reposting content, and I turn to these accounts often when looking for remodel idea. It is a “one stop shop” for ideas and every once in a while, I end up following the account where the original content was posted.
There is so much more to social media than just pictures. It takes time to build a following and when using social media as a professional it is important to remember that it is necessary to be human and authentic. Users want to feel a connection, and many times reposting others work just doesn’t do that. Placeseter has a great article on Instagram for Real Estate.[iv] I found their “Dos and Don’t of Instagram for Real Estate” to be very informative and accurate.
Does copyright law ever cross your mind? Let me know what you think in the comments.
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