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oStar has taken action against Zillow, alleging that the company used over 46,000 copyrighted images on its website without permission. As a result, Zillow is removing thousands of photos from its site, as well as instructing its partners to do the same. This includes Redfin and Realtor.com, which have syndication agreements with Zillow.

    Zillow has not formally responded to CoStar's complaint or admitted any wrongdoing. However, a company source suggests that removing the photos is a common step taken in copyright infringement cases to preserve evidence.

    CoStar filed its lawsuit on July 30, claiming that Zillow used watermarked images owned by CoStar Group, the parent company of Homes.com. The company estimates that it could be liable for over $1 billion in damages, making this one of the largest image infringement cases in history. Most of the disputed images are multifamily rental listings, with CoStar's logo often obscured or cropped out on Zillow's website.

    CoStar CEO Andy Florance threatened to sue Redfin and Realtor.com if they didn't immediately remove the photos from their sites as well. Zillow has until September 30 to respond to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.