Real Estate Group Files Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) has filed a $136 million lawsuit against PDFfiller.com, charging the company with the unauthorized use and publication and sale of its copyrighted real estate forms.

The lawsuit charges PDFiller.com with misappropriation and copying of dozens of the association’s forms and encouraging individuals to reusable and fillable forms based on these copyright-protected documents. CAR stated that PDFfiller.com’s Web site claimed that it sold and granted access to CAR’s proprietary documents to hundreds of thousands of people.

“CAR forms are copyrighted and are the gold standard in the industry,” said CAR President Pat “Ziggy” Zicarelli. “Realtors use CAR's original forms because they are heavily vetted and kept up to date with current laws and best practices. We unapologetically protect our work from unauthorized copying and tampering to protect the reliability, quality, and security of our work. This protects the integrity of the real estate transaction with the most up-to-date documentation.”