Good news for Missouri home sellers and real estate agents. On Monday (October 20th), the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a long-running lawsuit that could have changed how listings are marketed. The lawsuit, filed by a Columbia, Missouri-based home designer, claimed that a real estate brokerage broke copyright law by posting a floorplan online to help sell a home. After years of back and forth, the courts decided that using a floorplan in this way is legal under the “fair use” rule. That decision now stands for good.
So what does this mean for you? If you’re selling your home, your agent can still create and post floorplans to help market the property, even if the home’s layout is based on a copyrighted design. The court ruled that showing the interior layout helps buyers understand what they’re getting and doesn’t replace or harm the original design’s market value. In short, using a floorplan to sell a home isn’t stealing someone’s design… it’s just part of selling the home. This ruling protects a common and useful tool for listing homes, especially when today’s buyers expect as much info as possible upfront.
Note: This decision came out of a Missouri case, but it now has implications nationwide, as the Supreme Court let it stand without changes.
Full Appeals Court Ruling:
