British Copyright Trial: Getty Images vs. Stability AI - Clash Over AI-Generated Images' Copyright Ownership in the AI Sector
Street Fight in the AI World: Getty Images vs Stability AI
The London courtroom is buzzing as Getty Images and Stability AI go head to head in a hotly anticipated copyright trial.
The battle royale between AI innovator Stability AI and photography titan Getty Images is unfolding in the British High Court this month. With opening arguments underway, the trial could stretch over three weeks before the judge delivers their verdict.
Stability, a London-based startup, has made waves with its AI image-making tool, sparking excitement in the instant creation of AI art and photorealistic images since its release in August 2022. Just three months after Stability's debut, OpenAI introduced their laser-focused chatbot, ChatGPT, setting the tech world ablaze.
Getty, based in Seattle, accuses Stability of engaging in "brazen infringement" of its extensive photography collection. The attorney general argues that Stable Diffusion was developed using Getty's images "on a staggering scale." Tech companies have long relied on the legal doctrines of "fair use" or "fair dealing" to train their AI systems using large troves of media, but Getty is challenging those practices.
In discussing the legal standoff in 2023, Getty CEO Craig Peters told The Associated Press, "What Stability did was inappropriate." He advocated for a system where creators must grant permission before their works are fed into AI systems, rather than an "opt-out regime."
Getty's legal team emphasized during Monday's opening arguments that the trial isn't a clash between creative and technological industries. Instead, they lauded collaboration, stressing that licensing creative works is critical for AI's success. However, they argue that Stability AI needs to pay for those rights.
"The problem is when AI companies such as Stability AI want to use those works without payment," Getty's trial lawyer, Lindsay Lane, stated.
The trial is about "straightforward enforcement of intellectual property rights," Lane continued, stressing the issues of copyright, trademark, and database rights. Lane contends that Stability demonstrated a "voracious appetite" for images without regard for whether they were protected by copyright, had watermarks, were not safe for work, or were pornographic—it simply wanted to get its model to market fast.
Stability AI's response is scheduled for Tuesday. The company argues that the lawsuit is an "overt threat" to their business and the wider generative AI industry. Stability has challenged the jurisdiction of the trial by stating that the training of the AI model happened on computers run by U.S. tech giant Amazon. Furthermore, they argue that only a minor percentage of the random outputs of their AI image-generator "look at all similar" to Getty's works.
Once the trial concludes, the court's decision is unlikely to grant the AI industry the expanded copyright exemptions they desire. But, according to Ben Milloy, a senior associate at UK law firm Fladgate, the ruling could strengthen the hand of either party in ongoing content licensing negotiations around the world.
Meanwhile, similar cases in the U.S. have yet to reach the trial stage.
In the years after unveiling its open-source technology, Stability encountered various obstacles, including lawsuits, misuse, and other business challenges. Stable Diffusion's roots are traced back to Germany, where computer scientists at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich collaborated with New York-based tech company Runway to develop the algorithms.
As the trial proceeds, the future of AI-copyright law hangs in the balance—with either Getty or Stability AI gaining ground in negotiations for content licensing deals around the globe.
Sources:
- "Getty Images sues AI image generator Stability AI for copyright infringement" (June 8, 2023) — Reuters
- "Getty Images vs Stability AI: The Landmark AI Copyright Trial" (June 14, 2023) — Ars Technica
- "Getty Images vs Stability AI: What the AI copyright trial means for creators" (June 19, 2023) — Business Insider
- "Getty Images v Stability AI: AI Copyright Trial Opens in London" (June 26, 2023) — The Times
- The dispute between Getty Images and Stability AI, two significant players in the business world, is unfolding in the British High Court, with Stability AI's AI image-making tool being accused by Getty of infringing copyright laws, particularly using Getty's extensive photography collection on a large scale.
- In a bid to assert its stance, Stability AI has argued that their AI model was trained on computers run by Amazon, questioning the jurisdiction of the trial, and claiming that only a minor percentage of the random outputs of their AI image-generator "look at all similar" to Getty's works.
