National Association of REALTORS^® secures Eighth Circuit opinion protecting real estate agents from copyright liability for using floorplans to sell homes

Client(s) National Association of Realtors

Jones Day won an important victory on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS^® in the Eighth Circuit, which held that the fair use defense shields real estate agents and the homeowners they represent from copyright liability for making and displaying floorplans in online home listings. Supporting the local counsel for the individual brokers in the case, Jones Day explained in an amicus brief and at oral argument that copyright law does not force homeowners to pay for the privilege of being able to effectively sell their homes in the current market and that to rule otherwise would upend the settled expectations of the nation's real estate industry.

An Eighth Circuit panel unanimously agreed with Jones Day's arguments, holding that the use of floorplans to resell existing homes was a fair use of the homes' designs. The Eighth Circuit explained that far from harming architects in the marketplace, this use of the floorplans would benefit architects by increasing the value of the homes and their underlying designs. This published opinion, which appears to be the first one from a federal appellate court to address the issue, should protect real estate agents and homeowners in the growing area of online home listings.

Designworks Homes, Inc. v. Columbia House of Brokers Realty, Inc., No. 23-3402 (8th Cir.)