United Kingdom: Getty Images and several of its related companies filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Justice in England and Wales against Stability AI Limited

On 16 January 2023, Getty Images and several of its related companies filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Justice in England and Wales against Stability AI Limited. The plaintiffs accuse Stability AI of using Getty’s copyright-protected images without permission to train its Stable Diffusion generative AI model. Getty also claims that the AI system infringed its GETTY IMAGES and ISTOCK trademarks by producing synthetic images containing fake Getty-style watermarks. In addition, the lawsuit alleges database right infringement, secondary copyright infringement, and passing off related to the operation and distribution of Stable Diffusion in the UK.