Get the weekly research letter
Companies change their terms quietly. We read every version and catch what actually changed. One email a week on the changes that matter and what they mean. No account.
Users who upload photos, text, listings, data, or other content to Zillow's Services grant Zillow an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free worldwide license to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, sublicense, and create derivative works from that content in any media, without payment.
This analysis describes what Zillow's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision grants Zillow broad exploitation rights over all user-submitted content with no expiration, no compensation obligation, and sublicensing authority, meaning the rights persist even if the user deletes their account or removes the content from the Services.
The updated terms establish explicit consent for Zillow to contact you through email, phone calls, text messages, and in-app features using automatic dialing systems and prerecorded voices. These communications may include advertising or marketing offers alongside transactional messages. Message and data rates may apply depending on your carrier, and contact frequency will vary based on your account activity. You can opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP, and calls with Zillow employees may be recorded for quality control and internal business purposes.
View change record →Under this clause, any content a user submits to the Services, including listing photographs, text descriptions, and data, becomes subject to Zillow's perpetual and irrevocable commercial use rights. The agreement states Zillow will not compensate users for this license, and the irrevocable nature means users cannot unilaterally terminate these rights after submission.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Irrevocable Perpetual User Materials License and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →Monitoring
Zillow has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 25 platforms.
"by uploading or otherwise providing User Materials to the Services, you grant us an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free worldwide license to: (i) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, prepare derivative works of or incorporate into other works, and translate your User Materials, in connection with the Services or in any other media; and (ii) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. We will not pay you for your User Materials or to exercise any rights related to your User Materials set forth in the preceding sentence.Excerpt from Zillow's Terms of Use
1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision implicates copyright law and applicable intellectual property frameworks. For real estate professionals submitting client-owned listing photographs or proprietary data, the license grant may intersect with agency obligations and client consent requirements under state real estate licensing law. The FTC's guidance on unfair or deceptive practices may be relevant if the scope of rights is not adequately disclosed at point of submission. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The irrevocable and perpetual nature of the license, combined with sublicensing rights and the absence of any compensation obligation, creates ongoing IP exposure for users who submit proprietary content including professional photography, floor plans, or market data. Real estate professionals acting in a Pro Use capacity (as defined in Section 4(A)) should assess whether client authorization covers this license scope. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU and EEA users may have rights under GDPR regarding personal data embedded in submitted content (such as images containing identifiable individuals) that interact with the perpetual license assertion. The document acknowledges the license applies to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, which introduces jurisdictional variability. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Real estate brokerages, photographers, and data providers whose content is uploaded through agent or professional accounts should evaluate whether their vendor or licensing agreements with Zillow or with the content creators address this license grant. The sublicensing right means Zillow may authorize third parties to use the content without further notice. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams at real estate firms should assess whether client consent processes address the scope of this license, particularly for listing photographs and property descriptions. Data mapping exercises should identify what proprietary content is submitted through Zillow's Services and under what ownership structure, to assess exposure from the irrevocable grant.
Full institutional analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Monitor: same-day alerts on the platforms you choose. Analyst: full institutional analysis.
Compliance Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Compliance includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
This provision grants Zillow broad exploitation rights over all user-submitted content with no expiration, no compensation obligation, and sublicensing authority, meaning the rights persist even if the user deletes their account or removes the content from the Services.
Under this clause, any content a user submits to the Services, including listing photographs, text descriptions, and data, becomes subject to Zillow's perpetual and irrevocable commercial use rights. The agreement states Zillow will not compensate users for this license, and the irrevocable nature means users cannot unilaterally terminate these rights after submission.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zillow.