After finding out that my MLS photos had been stolen by another agent, I went on the hunt for this post by Roberta Anderson. I had hoped that this would shed a little light for me and hopefully answer my questions, but really it has only made me think more about it.
Yes, I agree that IF the Homeowner/Agent pays for the services of a Stager, then perhaps, ownership of the photos should remain with the Homeowner/Agent.
I take my own photos, and charge nothing up front for doing so. It's just part of the job. I make nothing until the home sells and usually spend hundreds of dollars on advertising before receiving a check. It sickens me when I lose a listing for any reason. Most of the times, it is for reasons that I have no control over. This particular listing was a hard sell to begin with, and I knew that going in. It is the nicer home in a small subdivision that was built by a builder with a bad reputation.
The Homeowners actually listed the home with me twice. They took it off of the market for a few months the first time that it expired, then they called me last Spring to list again. It expired again, and they have had it off the market for another 6 months waiting for the market to recover some. This morning, I noticed that it is back in MLS with a different agent now, and they are using MY photos.
Knowing how much time, money, sweat, tears, and effort I put into this home, it REALLY angers me that another agent would be so LAZY as to use my work, instead of getting up off their a$$ and doing their job.
Do the homeowners know that they have a hired a "lazy" agent who won't even take the time to drive out of town to take pictures of their home? (Yes, I think I failed to mention that the new listing agent is from out of the area)
How do you handle this? What do you do?
UPDATE: This is what MLS terms of use says:
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