Earlier this week, real estate website Zillow demanded that Kate Wagner delete photos from her popular architecture blog, McMansion Hell. But after she refused to comply Thursday, relaunching the blog with all the photos still there, Zillow backed down and opted not to pursue legal action.

Posts on the McMansion Hell blog typically showcase giant homes with funny and sarcastic comments superimposed on real estate listing photos. The blog launched last year and has exploded in popularity in recent months.

Zillow sent its first letter to Wagner on Monday, demanding that she delete all photos obtained from Zillow's website, perhaps the largest and most influential real estate site on the internet.

Lawyers representing Wagner, who is a 23-year-old grad student, responded to Zillow on Thursday afternoon. Their letter states that Wagner "has no obligation to, and thus will not, comply with Zillow's demands."

The five-page letter from law firm Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that "McMansion Hell educates the public about architectural concepts, urban planning, environmentalism, and history."



"The site alternates comedy-oriented discussions of individual houses with weekly informative essays about urbanism, architecture, sociology, and interior design," the letter continues.

Zillow previously told BuzzFeed News that it does not own the photos that it uses. Instead, a company spokesperson said, the copyright owners are the original real estate agents who took the pictures and as a result "it could be liable" if someone was using the photos.

But the letter from Wagner's attorneys devotes nearly a page to refuting the argument that Zillow's own terms of use prevented Wagner from using the photos.

Wagner's attorneys also argue that the blog is covered by "fair use," a legal doctrine that under certain circumstances lets content creators use and modify other people's work for things like criticism and satire.

"Wagner transforms the photographs with her critical annotations

and uses the photographs for a radically different purpose than Zillow or the original

photographers," the letter states.



In a statement, EFF added that "Zillow’s demand letter made a number of highly dubious legal claims."