Who owns listing data? Brokers do, Realtracs says 

Realtracs is "putting a stake in the ground," President and CEO Stuart White announced this week.

The leader of Tennessee's largest MLS shared two updates — the launch of a new brokerage service agreement and data licensing model — emphasizing Realtrac's broker-first focus.

Part of a larger restructuring: Last week, Realtracs announced on its website that it had restructured its company in February "to better serve customers, accelerate product innovation, and support long-term growth." It now comprises three entities — RT Holding LLC, Realtracs Investments LLC and Realtracs LLC — with Realtracs LLC serving as the MLS and a product company with a seven-member board that includes four independent directors.

The change, the company said, "positions Realtracs to move faster, better support brokers, and deliver more value through its platform."

Its new broker agreements appear to align with those goals. 

More than 'a cosmetic change': On Tuesday, White announced that the company was replacing its Participation Agreement with a Brokerage Services Agreement to clarify "what should be apparent: the listing broker owns their listing content and the data that comes with it."

"This isn't a cosmetic change, but a structural change," White added. "Clear ownership gives brokers and agents a foundation to enforce their rights around copyright infringement and unauthorized use, no longer devaluing their role in the marketplace."

Hard-earned data is not an MLS asset: So why was this change needed? Because, White said, "our role is not ownership, it's enablement" — but as industry rules have evolved, the question of ownership has become obscured. 

"The uncomfortable reality is that our industry treats listing data as if they have a right to use it however they want. Brokers and agents earn listings and invest in them. The data that follows should not be treated as a commodity. It's their work product and a business asset."

In addition to clarifying ownership, White noted that the new brokerage agreement ensures "listing data can only move in ways that serve the brokerage's economic interest or operational efficiency. If it doesn't serve the broker, it doesn't happen."

A new licensing framework: Building on Tuesday's news, White announced Friday that Realtracs was also introducing a new "use-case based license agreement" that better serves the modern marketplace. 

The agreement "directly ties the cost of listing data to the value it creates for the data consumer," he said. "A national public portal derives greater value from listing content than a local broker website. A referral business built on listing data is a completely different use case than a back-office tool. And the licenses should reflect that," White emphasized.

A fair return for brokers: The model "is designed to compensate the listing broker for their work product and listing assets," giving brokerages "a direct financial stake in how their listings are used and how much value those listings generate downstream," White wrote. 

In turn, he argues, this creates an incentive for brokerages to share their complete listing inventory via the MLS — a win for listing brokers, and a win for buyers and sellers, White noted.

"Brokers built this data economy. We're excited for the economy to start working for them," he added. 

A path to more innovation: The new licensing model also aims to level the playing field for vendors. Up-and-coming technology providers that rely on listing data will benefit, according to White, because they pay less for data when their operations are small, and "their costs scale with their success." 

At the same time, established vendors "that built their businesses on underpriced listing data will pay more," White said. "That's not a penalty. That's a correction."