IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT NEWS—Photo agency Getty Images refiles infringement lawsuit against software developer in California, (Aug 18, 2025)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

A media agency lawsuit alleges that a UK software developer scraped millions of its copyrighted images to train its AI model.

A UK software developer copied more than 12 million photographs from the collection of Getty Images, along with the associated captions and metadata, as well as numerous copyrighted photographs from its licensees’ websites without permission or compensation in an effort to build a competing business, according to a complaint filed in the federal district court in San Francisco, California. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in Delaware and then voluntarily dismissed, also alleges that the developer, as part of an unlawful scheme, removed or altered the copyright management information, provided false copyright management information, and infringed on Getty Images trademarks, causing irreparable harm to the media company (Getty Images (US), Inc. v. Stability AI, Ltd., No. 3:25-cv-06891-LJC (N.D. Cal. filed Aug. 14, 2025)).

Visual media company Getty Images (US), Inc., a leading creator and distributor of digital content, operates a series of websites that enable businesses and consumers to license stock images, photographs, videos, and music. Over more than three decades, Getty Images has curated a collection of hundreds of millions of visual assets, many created by its staff photographers, others acquired from third parties with an assignment of the associated copyrights, and remainder have been licensed to Getty Images. The company serves creative, corporate, and media customers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The visual assets on Getty Images websites are accompanied by titles, captions, and/or descriptions which are original, watermarks with credit information and content identifiers, and metadata containing copyright management information.

Stability AI, Ltd. and Stability AI, Inc., software development group with a principal place of business in London, offer both open-source and revenue-generating software solutions that allow users to custom-generate artworks based on text queries. In 2022, Stability AI released the text-to-image model Stable Diffusion. Stability AI used artificial intelligence to generate digital content and engaged in “brazen infringement” of intellectual property on a “staggering scale.” Rather than attempt to negotiate a license with Getty Images for the use of its content, Stability AI has copied more than 12 million photographs from Getty Images’ database, along with the associated captions and metadata, without permission from or compensation to Getty Images, to train the original Stable Diffusion model, the complaint alleges.

According to the complaint, while some of the output generated through the use of Stable Diffusion is amusing and aesthetically pleasing, other output is of much lower quality and at time has ranged from the bizarre to the grotesque. As a result of Stability AI’s unauthorized copying, output generated by Stable Diffusion has often contained a modified Getty Images watermark, creating confusion as to the source of the images and falsely implying an association with Getty Images. Stability AI directly competes with Getty Images’ generative AI product and directly harms its potential licensing markets by producing vast quantities of substitutes for Getty Images visual assets and undermining its ability to license content for use in AI development.

The lawsuit alleges claims for copyright infringement, providing false copyright management information in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution under the Lanham Act, as well as claims for unfair competition and trademark dilution under California law. The company also seeks an injunction barring Stable Diffusion from further infringements, damages, disgorgement of profits, interest, costs, and attorney fees.

The Case is No. 3:25-cv-06891-LJC.

Judge: Cisneros, L.

Attorneys: David R. Singh (Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP) for Getty Images [US], Inc.

Companies: Getty Images (US), Inc.; Stability AI, Ltd.; Stability AI, Inc.; Stability AI US Services Corp.

News: AINews Copyright TechnologyInternet CaliforniaNews