Overview

• Getty Images alleges that Stability AI scraped millions of its copyrighted photographs without permission to train its Stable Diffusion model.
• Stability AI denies infringement and claims that large-scale data use is protected by fair use and essential for technological innovation.
• The trial, which opened on June 9 before Mrs Justice Joanna Smith, is set to last three weeks at the London High Court with judgment to follow.
• Legal experts warn that the verdict could set a global precedent for AI developers and reshape future content licensing arrangements.
• Getty’s lead barrister Lindsay Lane KC stressed that copyright enforcement and AI progress can coexist, while Stability’s Hugo Cuddigan KC labelled the lawsuit an existential threat to the industry.