New Paragraph in Listing Forms Helps Protect You Against Lawsuits

March 01, 2018

The Texas REALTORS® listing agreements for residential sales, farm-and-ranch sales, and residential leasing now contain a paragraph that helps to protect brokers from claims of copyright infringement. Paragraph 6B, Listing Content, specifies that the seller or landlord grants the broker permission to use copyrightable elements relating to the listing, such as photographs, drawings, videos, written descriptions, and pricing information.

The paragraph, which explains that the broker has the right to provide the information to the MLS, also defines which content belongs to the seller or landlord and which belongs to the broker.

A related addition to these agreements is located in Paragraph 12, Seller’s/Landlord’s Representations, where it specifies that the listing content the seller/landlord provided to the broker does not violate the copyright of any other person or entity.

The Residential Leasing and Property Management Agreement also contains this new provision in Paragraph 4F(4) and Paragraph 8A(h).

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