CoStar CEO Andrew Florance (Credit: iStock)
CoStar Group filed two copyright infringement lawsuits against firms it claims repurposed its data and illegally shared subscriptions.
The $17 billion real estate data giant, which has enjoyed a surge in market cap and share price in recent weeks following strong 2018 financial results, is known to go down the legal route to protect its data, and has filed dozens of lawsuits against firms it has accused of copyright infringement.
In one federal complaint filed Monday against New York-based Baron Realty Group in the Eastern District of New York, CoStar alleged that the commercial real estate firm did not pay for the service and then stole “tens of millions of data points” before making its own database for Baron employees.
A separate complaint also filed Monday against Realty Insight, alleged the New York-based commercial firm purchased CoStar subscriptions and then “secretly” resold them to five other commercial real estate firms.
Both firms could not be reached immediately for comment.
CoStar said in a statement that the lawsuits “continue the company’s long-running efforts” to protect its intellectual property, and end the defendants’ “cycle of theft and send the message to would-be thieves that CoStar will pursue legal action.”
In October, CoStar filed seven federal copyright-infringement lawsuits against firms it accused of stealing its data and illegally obtaining a subscription.