Overview
- On November 4, the High Court dismissed Getty Images’ secondary copyright claim and held that a model that does not store or reproduce works is not an infringing copy.
- Judge Joanna Smith recorded that Getty withdrew its primary training claim after conceding there was no evidence Stable Diffusion was trained in the United Kingdom.
- Limited trademark infringement was found where Getty and iStock watermarks appeared in some outputs, which the judge described as historic and extremely limited in scope.
- Responsibility for those trademark occurrences rests with the model provider rather than individual users, according to the judgment.
- Both companies claimed wins, with Getty saying it will use the ruling’s factual findings in its US case as legal experts and rights holders press for greater transparency and potential reform.