As part of their attempt to control the flow of real estate and property information, the National Association of Realtors today issued quidelines and sample contracts to enable brokers and local MLS to fully copyright their listings. Emphasis ours:
John Rees, a lawyer who worked with the association this year to hold workshops, gather input and produce the sample contracts, said he believes there is some urgency for industry participants to better protect copyrighted information associated with property listings, as Internet technologies can spawn a wide array of business models. "The biggest threat is probably what hasn't been developed yet... the only limit on the Internet pretty much is creativity."That's some scary shit, the Internet. We assume this is partly territory marking and a shot at the Department of Justice; the NAR is still the subject of ongoing anti-trust lawsuits regarding listings. And a week after Zillow announces it will accept listings from both realtors and owners. Plus, we hear rumors that all the Bay Area MLS are about to shut down public access to combine under one umbrella- not just SFARMLS- and funnel listings information through broker sites.
· NAR issues guidance on listings content copyright [Inman News]
· San Francisco Multiple Listing Service [SFARMLS]