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Is this the beginning of the end for Zillow Gone Wild? That’s the question the account’s fans are asking after professional photographer Jennifer Bouma filed a $300,000 copyright infringement lawsuit against Zillow Gone Wild’s parent company, Kale Salad, Inc., on July 29.
According to court documents, listing agents Barbara Orr and John Logue hired Bouma to take photos of a sprawling four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom medieval-style estate in Monroe, Washington, in September 2021. The listing quickly garnered the attention of the internet, with Zillow Gone Wild posting Bouma’s photos of a courtyard dragon statue and Arthurian dining room on its Substack, Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, accounts in February 2022.
Bouma said she didn’t realize Zillow Gone Wild had posted her photos until April 2024 since account founder Samir Mezrahi never asked for consent. As the copyright owner, she attempted to negotiate a payment of $12,500 to $15,000 per photo; however, Bouma’s attorney, David C. Deal, told Fast Company that payment negotiations with Kale Salad, Inc. and its insurance provider stalled. Now, Bouma is suing for the maximum amount of $150,000 per photo plus attorney fees.
“Zillow Gone Wild . . . are in the business of copying the work of others for display on their website and social media,” Deal said.
Mezrahi and Kale Salad, Inc. have been quiet about the lawsuit. Deal said he expects the defendants’ counsel to say Zillow Gone Wild is protected by the fair use doctrine, which allows the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances.
The United States Copyright Office’s fair use doctrine explainer said courts are “more likely” to find that using copyright-protected works for nonprofit education and noncommercial use is OK, especially if the creator added something new to the copyrighted work. The explainer noted courts also consider the “quantity and quality of the copyrighted material” a creator used and whether a creator’s unlicensed use of a copyrighted work harms the original creator’s current or future ability to financially benefit from said work, among other factors.
“In addition to the above, other factors may also be considered by a court in weighing a fair use question, depending upon the circumstances,” the explainer read. Courts evaluate fair use claims on a case-by-case basis, and the outcome of any given case depends on a fact-specific inquiry. This means that there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work — or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies — may be used without permission.
Several copyright experts were split on whether Zillow Gone Wild would have difficulty convincing courts that its work is protected by the fair use doctrine.
“The case is straightforward copyright infringement,” University of Sussex copyright law expert Andres Guadamuz told FC, noting that Mezrahi tends to post listing photos as-is, striking out the ability to argue that Zillow Gone Wild is using photos in a new or transformative way.
However, Northeastern University law professor Alexandra J. Roberts said Zillow Gone Wild’s captions often offer commentary on a wily real estate market — something that could push them into fair use territory. “The character of the defendant’s use is an important factor, and in this case, the use appears to be comment and criticism — and perhaps satire — which are core functions that fair use aspires to protect,” she said.
Deal said he’s fully prepared to take on Zillow Gone Wild, noting that his client’s lawsuit may lead to a flood of complaints from other photographers, especially as Mezrahi moves forward on a nine-episode show with HGTV.
“If they want to fully litigate the issue of fair use, it comes with a lot of risk,” he said. “If they lose, they really lose because we have all these other clients who are in effectively the exact same position as Miss Bouma.”
Read the full lawsuit below:
