Shake it off! NAR looks to dismiss Taylor Swift copyright claim

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is hoping to shake off a copyright lawsuit involving photos of an estate belonging to Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift’s fiancé. The trade association filed a motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit on Friday. 

Originally filed in U.S. District Court in Missouri in October by photographer Brynn Burns, the lawsuit alleges that Realtor.com’s parent company Move used copyrighted photos of Kelce’s estate without permission. The suit claims Realtor.com capitalized on Swift and Kelce’s engagement news, potentially damaging the photographer’s ability to sell or license the images. 

According to the complaint, Burns took the photos in 2023 and registered them with the U.S. Copyright Office in January 2024. However, copyright office records show that Burns took the photos in September 2022, prior to Kelce even purchasing the home. 

In addition to Realtor.com and Move, the suit also named NAR as a defendant, claiming that the trade association did business as Realtor.com. However, NAR has not been involved with Realtor.com since the sale of Move to News Corp in November 2014. 

In its motion to dismiss, NAR claimed that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over the trade group. According to NAR, by filing the suit against NAR in this court, Burns “has attempted to hale into this Court a company that does not have minimum contacts with this jurisdiction.” 

In a memorandum filed in support of the motion, NAR added that none of the alleged conduct took place in Missouri. 

“In fact, Missouri is not even the state in which the brunt of harm from the alleged infringement was likely felt; that state is Kansas, where the photographs which are the subject of Plaintiff’s Complaint were taken, where Plaintiff resides, and where Plaintiff’s business is registered,” the filing states.

NAR also emphasized that “does not even control or operate” Realtor.com.

In an emailed statement, a NAR spokesperson again reiterated the trade group’s lack of involvement with Realtor.com.

“NAR does not own, control, or operate the realtor.com® website,” the spokesperson wrote. “Move, Inc., a subsidiary of News Corp, operates the realtor.com® website under a licensing agreement with NAR, through which NAR licenses the REALTOR® trademark and the realtor.com® URL. NAR is not involved in any of Move’s editorial or publishing decisions, including those alleged by the plaintiff.”