Estate agent using photo of my house in marketing flyer

poolprouk

I completed on a house a month and a half ago and today i got a flyer from the estate agent we went through with a picture of my house and enquiring if other people in the area were thinking of moving...i.e. drumming up business.

At no point do i believe i gave the agents permission to use a photo of the now 'my' house to use in their future marketing. Nor did they even bother to ask.:mad:

If they had I would definetley have said 'NO'.

Am i within my rights to complain about this or even seek compensation?

poolprouk

rosysparkle

If they took the picture, they own the copyright of it, and can use it in their marketing if they wish. Sorry.

Running_Horse

My EAs used the picture of my house they had sold for a similar flyer. Why would you object? They did the work and are now boasting. 10 years (or months) from now, who will care?

poolprouk

LOL, pure sour grapes on my part, I didn't like the way they accused me of shady tactics and their general attitude throughout, usual ea gripes really.

If it's the case that i can't do anything about it then that's fine but you'd think they'd have the courtesy to ask.

poolprouk

cattie

My ea used the the pics of my house in a flyer proclaiming that the house was sold at asking price within 48hrs & similar houses were required for waiting buyers.

Why would I want to object? They did the job I paid them & resulting in a swift sale for me. If they want to try to drum up more business for themselves then good luck to them. I'm recommending them to lots of local people anyway as I believe good service should be rewarded.

Debt_Free_Chick

It's quite possible that the contract signed by the seller included a term whereby the EA has the right to use any photos they took to market the property, for general (marketing) purposes "forever".

As roseysparkle suggests, they probably own the copyright - and that was probably in the contract that the seller signed too.

PasturesNew

Yes. It will be in what you signed, saying they can use photos for marketing the property and general marketing.

And as a matter of point, I could come down your road, photograph your house then put that photo onto a photo library. An estate agent anywhere in the world could then buy that photo and use it in their marketing so long as they were just saying "we sell houses like this one" and not "we sold this house".

It would therefore be possible and legal for every estate agent in the whole world to use a photo of your house on their flyers.