RealMassive, a commercial real estate data marketplace, Wednesday announced it has settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with CoStar Realty Information Inc. for $1 million.
“We are glad to have this lawsuit resolved,” Craig Hancock, Chief Executive Officer of RealMassive, said in a news release. “CoStar’s claim that we deliberately added its photos to our database was false. Our firm went to great lengths and expense to avoid acquiring CoStar’s images, but apparently a few images slipped through the cracks early on.”
In May of 2015, CoStar sued RealMassive claiming copyright infringement stemming from RealMassive’s platform using photos owned by CoStar. RealMassive denied the allegation and immediately removed the photos CoStar claimed to own.
RealMassive decided to settle the lawsuit to avoid costly litigation.
Under the agreement, the two companies agreed to work together to avoid further disputes. In addition, CoStar will mark its photographs with visible copyright notices or watermarks and RealMassive will work even harder to keep CoStar photos off its platform. CoStar also agreed to give RealMassive written notice if RealMassive violated its copyright and agreed to give RealMassive time to fix any alleged errors before filing a lawsuit.
“This settlement, although disagreeable, comes with a cost far less than prolonged litigation. More importantly, RealMassive gains critical protections that allow us to grow our platform without the risk of another sudden lawsuit by CoStar. RealMassive’s customers and partners can now be confident we are here to serve them for the long haul. It’s a big win for commercial real estate professionals looking to modernize the industry,” Hancock said.
RealMassive, which launched in 2013, provides accurate real-time data platform and analytics for the commercial real estate industry in Austin. Last May, the company closed on $8 million in Series A funding.
RealMassive has launched in 33 major markets. It provides information about nearly five billion square feet of commercial real estate properties. Its partners include many of the nation’s leading commercial real estate companies including CBRE, Brandywine, Oxford, Cushman & Wakefield and others.
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