Copyright Protection

"Appraisal alternatives" get their sales data from a number of different sources. Among the most common -- and by far the most reliable -- is from professionally prepared appraisal reports themselves. That's right: Companies whose stated goal is to put appraisers out of business try to do so by using appraisers' own work product. The internal contradiction -- if they're successful in making appraisers obsolete, where are they going to get their data? -- is one thing. The fact they don't compensate appraisers to re-use their work product against them is another, and an incredibly important issue for appraisers today.

Appraisal reports are owned by the appraiser who prepared them. That author has all the copyright protection under federal law of a software developer, poet or musician. Appraisers sell their reports to clients for the purpose of evaluating property as collateral for a loan. If the client wants to re-use or re-sell the contents of a report to create a derivative work, they should pay extra to do so.

When you purchase word processing software, you are entitled to use it for the purpose contemplated -- word processing. You agree to a license that limits your use. You can't deconstruct the software code and re-use it to sell a competing word processing program. Yet data companies and some lenders do just that with appraisal reports.

The word processing software developer would probably sell you the right to re-use their product to create a derivative work, but would surely charge more than they do for a limited license to use their software for word processing. The same ought to be true in the appraisal market.

Appraisers create work that has significant value, but it's being stolen. Data companies and AVM developers are seizing private property without compensation for the "greater good" of faster, cheaper, less reliable valuations. This isn't good for the economy and it isn't good for the appraiser.

The Appraisal Adovcacy Coalition maintains resources and guides to help appraisers protect their copyright rights to their intellectual property. In time, the inefficient market whereby appraisers' work product is re-used without consent or compensation will be corrected, and appraisers will earn their fair share.