Getty Images and Stability AI clash in UK AI copyright trial

New Delhi: On June 9, 2025, a trial commenced at London’s High Court, pitting global photography giant Getty Images against London-based artificial intelligence firm Stability AI in the UK’s first major copyright case concerning generative AI. 

The case, which could reshape the legal landscape for AI development, centres on allegations that Stability AI’s image-generating tool, Stable Diffusion, unlawfully used millions of Getty’s copyrighted images for training purposes.

Getty Images, headquartered in Seattle, claims that Stability AI “scraped” vast numbers of its copyrighted photographs and metadata from its websites without permission to train Stable Diffusion, a popular AI model launched in August 2022 that creates photorealistic images from text or image prompts. Getty’s legal team, led by lawyer Lindsay Lane, argued that Stability AI’s actions constitute “brazen infringement” on a “staggering scale,” violating copyright, trademark, and database rights. Lane emphasised that the case is not an attack on AI innovation but a defense of intellectual property, stating, “The problem is when AI companies like Stability want to use those works without payment.”

In court, Getty alleged that Stability AI was “completely indifferent” to the nature of the images used, including copyrighted works, watermarked images, and even illicit content, in its rush to bring Stable Diffusion to market. The agency highlighted specific examples, such as images of Jürgen Klopp by photographer Andrew Livesey and Donald Glover by Alberto Rodriguez, claiming some outputs bore Getty’s watermarks.

Stability AI, backed by high-profile investors like former Facebook president Sean Parker and filmmaker James Cameron, denied the allegations. The company argued that the training of Stable Diffusion occurred outside the UK, primarily on Amazon’s US-based cloud servers, challenging the UK court’s jurisdiction. Stability’s lawyer, Hugo Cuddigan, countered that Getty’s claims pose “an overt threat” to the generative AI industry, asserting that the model’s outputs rarely resemble Getty’s images and that its technology builds on “collective human knowledge” under fair-dealing principles.

The trial, expected to last three weeks with a written decision to follow, will explore complex issues, including whether UK copyright law applies to AI training conducted abroad and whether Stable Diffusion’s software qualifies as an “article” under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act for secondary infringement claims.