Licensing & Copyright

Updated September 21, 2026

Real estate photo licensing causes more disputes than any other part of this business, usually when a property resells and someone reuses images they did not license. This page sets out exactly how it works, in plain language.

1. Who Owns The Photographs

Under United States copyright law, the photographer owns the copyright in an image from the moment it is created, unless there is a signed work for hire agreement stating otherwise. Photo-Tech, Inc. retains copyright in all images, video and aerial footage we produce. What you receive is a license, described below.

2. Standard Listing License

For real estate photography, the commissioning client, normally the listing agent or brokerage, receives a non exclusive license that covers, for the duration of that listing:

• Upload to the MLS and syndication to public listing portals
• Your own website, social media and email marketing
• Print collateral including flyers, postcards and brochures
• Paid advertising promoting that listing
• Your personal portfolio and past sales presentations, indefinitely

3. What The Standard License Does Not Cover

• Use by a different agent or brokerage on a future listing of the same property
• Use by the seller, builder, stager, designer or contractor without their own license
• Resale, sublicensing or transfer of the images to a third party
• Use by product or furniture manufacturers whose goods appear in the images
• Editing that materially misrepresents the property
• Removing a watermark or credit where one has been applied

4. When The Property Sells

Your license does not end when the listing does. You may keep the images in your portfolio and marketing indefinitely. What does not transfer is the right for the next agent to use them on a future listing. If the property relists with someone else, that agent needs their own license, which we sell at a reduced relist rate. This is the single most common licensing issue in the industry, and we enforce it politely but consistently.

5. If You Change Brokerage

Where the license was issued to you personally, it follows you. Where it was issued to the brokerage, it stays with the brokerage. Tell us at booking which applies so the invoice and license match, because sorting it out afterward is considerably harder.

6. Sellers, Builders And Other Parties

Sellers frequently want the photos. So do builders, stagers, designers and contractors who worked on the home. They are welcome to license them directly at our published rates, which are modest. What is not permitted is forwarding the files and hoping nobody notices, because that is copyright infringement and it puts the agent in the middle of it.

7. Commercial And Extended Licenses

Architecture, product, hospitality and brand photography is licensed by scope: where the images will appear, for how long and in what territory. Advertising, packaging, billboard and stock use require an extended license quoted at the time of booking. Tell us the intended use before the shoot, because pricing a license after the fact is awkward for everyone.

8. Virtual Staging Disclosure

Virtually staged images must be disclosed as such wherever they appear, and most MLS rules require it. We label the files clearly, and you are responsible for maintaining that disclosure in your listing.

9. Editing And Misrepresentation

You may crop and resize images to fit platform requirements. You may not alter them in ways that misrepresent the property, such as removing visible defects or adjacent structures. Doing so creates liability for you under real estate advertising regulations, not for us.

10. Our Portfolio Use

We may use images we create in our portfolio, website, social media and marketing. We do not publish addresses or client names without permission, and you may request in writing that a particular property not be used publicly.

11. Enforcement

Unauthorized use of copyrighted photographs may result in licensing fees, statutory damages and legal costs. Before any of that, we call. Most infringement in this industry is accidental, and a quick conversation and a modest relist license resolves it.

12. Questions

Licensing questions are always welcome and never a nuisance. Ask before you use, not after:

Photo-Tech, Inc., 1310 Western Pine Circle, Sarasota, FL 34240, phone 239-011-2683, email shoot@phototech.site