Almost certainly yes — but we ask everyone to confirm, because the way photo rights actually work in real estate isn't always what people assume. Here's the situation in plain English, and what the checkbox you're being asked to tick is really saying.
Under U.S. copyright law, the photographer who takes a photo technically owns the copyright by default — not the person who paid them. That sounds counterintuitive (it's the same rule that applies to wedding photographers, headshot photographers, and commercial photographers), but in practice almost every real estate photographer operates on an implied broad license: they understand that the agent paying them is going to put the photos on MLS, on social media, in email, on the brokerage website, and in marketing materials. That's what the payment is for, and that's how the relationship works.
What we want to confirm — and what the checkbox is really saying — is that you believe the photos are yours to use for marketing this listing. Because we're a vendor processing the photos to help you market the listing, we want to make sure that use is within the license you already have. It almost always is.
By checking the photo-rights box at signup, you're representing that, to the best of your knowledge:
That's it. We're not asking you to prove you own the copyright. We're asking you to confirm what you already believe to be true about the photos you're handing us.
You're fully set. You own the copyright; you have every right to use them and provide them to a vendor.
Almost certainly fine. Unless your photographer gave you a written license that explicitly limits your use to specific platforms (which is very rare in real estate — most photographers want you to use the photos broadly so the listing sells and they get more work), you have the implied right to use the photos for marketing this property, and providing them to a vendor that helps you market is part of that use.
Usually fine, but check your brokerage's policy if you've never asked. Some brokerages have explicit policies about third-party vendors; most don't. If your brokerage has not told you otherwise, you can reasonably check the box.
Generally fine if the seller represented the photos as theirs to share, but the seller's representation flows through to you. You're confirming to us what you believe to be true based on what the seller told you.
This is the one case to pause. If you're not the listing agent and you're using photos from someone else's MLS listing, you likely do not have the right to use them. Don't upload them.
By representing that you have the rights, you're agreeing to indemnify Parallax Listings against claims arising from the use of photos you didn't actually have the right to use — this is standard in vendor agreements and is how the responsibility for the photo-rights chain stays with the person who has the relationship with the photographer (you). In plain English: if a photographer later disputes a use, the conversation is between them and you, not them and us, because we processed photos in good-faith reliance on your representation.
This is why we ask. It's not a trap, and we don't expect to ever need to invoke it. It's a clean way to make sure the responsibility for the photo-rights chain stays where it belongs.
Independent of this checkbox, our use of your photos is narrow. We use them to produce the motion stills you ordered, store them in your account so you can access them later, and return them to you on request. We do not use them in marketing, training data, sample libraries, or any other use without your separate written consent. See how we use your data for more.
If you have questions about photo rights as they relate to using Parallax Listings, email hello@parallaxlistings.com and we'll do our best to help. We can't give you legal advice about your specific photographer agreement, but we can describe how we use your photos and what the checkbox covers.