After taking a US$280 million write-off and loss in the third quarter caused by the settlement of a court case against it, News Corp will be able to book its share of a US$130 million settlement in its favour from a legal action against rival digital property group Zillow. In an announcement this morning, Zillow said it had settled the lawsuit with News, News’ online property group Move, and the National Association for Realtors. Move had sued Zillow for trade secret theft over its hiring of two former Move execs and had claimed US$2 billion in damages. Zillow lost an important ruling last month on key parts of its defence. The case was due to go to trial overnight, our time. The realtors’ association will be entitled to 10% of the settlement (US$13 million), with Move (News Corp) getting the remainder (US$117 million). That will help boost fourth-quarter earnings and partially offset the $280 million loss from earlier in the year.
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