Appeals court tosses VHT's $4 million copyright infrigngement award
A federal appeals court has thrown out a $4 million ruling awarded to Rosemont-based VHT Studios in a copyright infringement lawsuit it filed against online real estate company Zillow.
The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the award March 14, sending the case back to U.S. District Court in Seattle for further proceedings.
Ian Crosby, an attorney for Seattle-based Zillow, called the decision a major win for the company.
A spokesman for VHT Studios had no comment Wednesday.
VHT Studios, which specializes in professional real estate photography, filed the complaint in 2015, claiming VHT's images that appeared on Zillow and its related sites were in violation of copyright laws. In 2017, a federal court jury in Seattle awarded VHT $79,875 in actual damages and $8.24 million in statutory damages. Six months later, a judge reduced that award to $4 million after reviewing 28,000 images that were a part of the lawsuit. The judge reversed the jury's decision regarding certain categories of infringement, but upheld the decision on photos that showed Zillow had infringed on copyright laws.
• Associated Press contributed to this report