Getty Images Drops Copyright Claims Against Stability AI

Getty Images Narrows Legal Battle with Stability AI

Getty Images has withdrawn its primary allegations of copyright violation against Stability AI during proceedings at the High Court in London. This action significantly reduces the scope of a prominent legal dispute concerning the utilization of copyrighted material for training artificial intelligence models.

Case Continues, Despite Setback

While this development doesn’t fully resolve the legal matter – Getty continues to pursue additional claims, alongside a separate lawsuit filed in the United States – it highlights the ambiguities surrounding intellectual property rights and usage in the era of generative AI.

The situation unfolded shortly after a U.S. court ruled in favor of Anthropic in a comparable case. This earlier decision addressed whether training AI systems on books without obtaining author consent constitutes copyright infringement.

Initial Claims and Allegations

Getty initiated legal action against Stability AI – the company responsible for the AI image generator Stable Diffusion – in January 2023.

The lawsuit asserted that Stability AI had employed millions of images protected by copyright to train its AI model without securing the necessary permissions.

Concerns Over Generated Content

Furthermore, Getty contended that numerous images produced by Stable Diffusion exhibited similarities to the copyrighted content used during its training phase.

Getty also stated that some generated images even contained its distinctive watermarks.

Both of these specific claims were officially dropped by Wednesday.

Reasons for Dropping Claims

According to Ben Maling, a partner at the law firm EIP, the decision to abandon the training-related claim likely stems from Getty’s inability to demonstrate a strong enough link between the alleged infringement and the jurisdiction of UK copyright law.

He suggests the output claim was likely dropped because Getty failed to prove that the AI-generated content substantially replicated elements of the original copyrighted images, such as those created by a photographer.

Getty’s legal team explained during closing arguments that the claims were dropped due to insufficient evidence and a lack of expert testimony from Stability AI.

The company characterized this move as strategic, allowing the court to concentrate on allegations that Getty believes are more likely to succeed.

Remaining Claims and Future Strategy

The remaining aspects of Getty’s lawsuit involve a claim of secondary infringement, as well as allegations of trademark infringement.

The secondary infringement claim centers on the argument that the AI models themselves may be violating copyright law.

Getty argues that utilizing these models within the UK could be considered importing infringing materials, even if the initial training occurred outside of the country.

Maling emphasized that secondary infringement holds the broadest relevance for generative AI companies conducting training outside the UK.

Stability AI’s Response

A spokesperson for Stability AI expressed the company’s satisfaction with Getty’s decision to withdraw multiple claims following the completion of witness testimony.

Stability AI believes that Getty’s trademark and “passing off” claims will ultimately fail.

They contend that consumers do not perceive the watermarks as originating from Stability AI as a commercial message.

U.S. Lawsuit and Further Litigation

Getty’s U.S. division also filed a lawsuit against Stability AI in February 2023, alleging both trademark and copyright infringement.

In this case, Getty claims that Stability AI utilized as many as 12 million copyrighted images to train its AI model without authorization.

The company is seeking damages totaling $1.7 billion, calculated at $150,000 per infringement for 11,383 works.

A Getty spokesperson clarified that the decision to drop copyright infringement claims in the UK does not affect the ongoing U.S. case, which is currently awaiting a ruling on Stability AI’s motion to dismiss.

Additional Legal Challenges

Stability AI is also a defendant in another complaint, alongside Midjourney and DeviantArt, brought by a group of visual artists alleging copyright infringement.

Getty’s Own AI Offering

Getty Images has developed its own generative AI platform.

This tool utilizes AI models trained on Getty’s iStock photography and video collections, enabling users to create new, licensable images and artwork.

This article has been updated to incorporate additional information from Getty regarding its U.S. legal action against Stability AI.