This is a topic that comes up over and over in staging groups, and sometimes seems to be misunderstood in realtor groups too. The answer might surprise you!
Even though realtors pay a photographer to go into a property to take photos, the PHOTOGRAPHER is always the copyright owner unless they have chosen to sell or give away the rights to the photos.
Generally, what a realtor is purchasing by hiring a photographer is a limited license to use the photos for the purposes of listing the property. Many photographers will allow use of the photos for the realtor’s social media, and will sometimes extend that permission to the stagers as well.
But just because a realtor has paid the photographer does NOT mean they can share the photos with their stager or another realtor without getting permission from the photographer. The rights also do not belong to the home owner. And the penalty for any infraction can be expensive.
This is why, when we stage empty homes, we hire our own professional real estate and architectural photographer, and purchase a listing license for the realtors who work with us as well. That way, we never have to worry about getting permission to use photos to promote the property listing or our work.
If our realtor clients want to bring in their own photographer that’s great, but our vacant staging photos are simply the best, and are an added value for our real estate clients. These gorgeous photos, for example, were taken by MidIsland Photos.
