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Getty Images is suing Stable Diffusion for using millions of unlicenced images to create their AI generated work and violating copyright laws.
The stock image site shared it believes Stable Diffusion unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright to train its software and that it will commence legal proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London against the business.
AI generated artwork is made by referencing millions of already existing images. It uses these images to learn keywords that people will enter to generate AI pictures of videos. For example, to learn what a mermaid needs to look like, the AI software needs to scan through thousands of images of mermaids to accurately generate a picture of one. To take these images, AI software scans the internet for these photos and often take content from creators without their consent.
Getty Images states that they provide “licenses to leading technology innovators for purposes related to training artificial intelligence systems in a manner that respects personal and intellectual property.” They are claiming that Stable Diffusion did not seek any such license when pursuing commercial interests. Therefore, it is a concern that they are operating by using others’ works without permission.
With artificial intelligence being a new business venture, this is an example of how issues dealing with licencing has not been addressed before firms have launched. This indicates that there could be an escalation in the developing legal battles between AI firms and content creators.
Speaking on the matter, Getty Images CEO has compared the issues with generative AI software to the early days of digital music. Piracy sites such as Napster would allow for illegal downloads of albums, songs and films before companies such as Apple and Google began to strike deals with license holders to sell digital music officially.
Although some AI image tools refuse to disclose the data they use to create their models, Stable Diffusion’s data is open source. After investigations, it was found that their AI programs used Getty Images and other stock image sites to contribute to a large portion of its contents. This was prominent because their software had a tendency to recreate the company’s watermark.
The full details of Getty Images’ lawsuit have not been made public, but their CEO has stated that the charges include copyright violation and violation to the site’s terms of service.
Getty Images has stated that it would not be seeking financial damages or stopping the development of AI software and technology. Instead, it hopes that this lawsuit will bring a similar solution to the Napster and Spotify licencing issues and hopes to strike a deal between the developers and property rights holders.
