Bad Blood? Not Anymore — News Corp Dismissed From Realtor.com Copyright Suit

News Corp, the parent company of Move and its subsidiary Realtor.com, has been dismissed from the Burns copyright lawsuit. 

The dismissal, which was granted Thursday by Missouri-based U.S. District Court Judge Greg Kays, comes after the plaintiff, Brynn Burns, filed a motion last week to dismiss News Corp without prejudice. A dismissal without prejudice means that Burns could refile the lawsuit against News Corp in the future.

Originally filed in October by Burns, a photographer, the lawsuit alleges that Realtor.com used copyright-protected photos of Travis Kelce’s estate without permission. The suit claims that Realtor.com capitalized on the news of Kelce’s engagement to Taylor Swift, 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. But copyright office records show that Burns took the photos in September 2022, prior to Kelce purchasing the home. 

According to the motion to dismiss, the plaintiff determined that News Corp was “arguably the incorrect defendant,” prompting her to file her motion to dismiss News Corp. 

In the motion, Burns noted that she maintains her claims against the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which she alleges is doing business as Realtor.com. NAR does not own, control or operate Realtor.com, and the trade group has not been involved with the site since the sale of Move to News Corp in 2014.

​​“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,” a NAR spokesperson told HousingWire. “NAR is not involved in any of Move’s editorial or publishing decisions, including those alleged by the plaintiff.” 

NAR filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this month. Burns also indicated in her motion that she will file a motion to amend the complaint and name Move as a defendant. 

News Corp did not respond to HousingWire’s request for comment.