The short version
Getty Images is appealing a High Court ruling as its case against Stability AI moves to the Court of Appeal. The appeal will test if AI models trained overseas on copyrighted images can be deemed infringing when used in the UK.
What happened
Getty Images sued Stability AI, claiming the firm copied and processed millions of its copyrighted photographs to train the Stable Diffusion image‑generation model.
A High Court judgment in November dismissed most of Getty’s claims, leaving only a secondary copyright infringement argument and some trademark issues.
The case is now before the Court of Appeal, where Getty asks judges to interpret whether an AI model trained abroad on protected images counts as an ‘infringing copy’ when imported to the UK.
The background
Stability AI says the images were downloaded and kept in data centres located outside the UK, so UK copyright law should not apply.
Getty also pursued trademark infringement and passing‑off claims, succeeding only on limited examples involving older models.
What it means for owners and operators
If the appeal decides that overseas training does not create an infringing copy, AI developers could continue using large image datasets without UK liability.
Conversely, a ruling that treats the trained model as an infringing copy would force operators to secure licences for any copyrighted material used in training.
Owners of large visual content libraries may need to audit how their assets are accessed by AI firms and consider contractual protections.
The numbers
Getty Images entered US bankruptcy proceedings last month while it seeks to restructure.
The firm had previously planned a $3.7bn merger with Shutterstock, which it abandoned after UK competition scrutiny.
Our take
Analysis by Infercline
The appeal highlights a pivotal moment for UK copyright law as it meets cross‑border AI training practices.
What to do in your business tomorrow
- Review any licences you hold on visual assets to confirm they cover AI training use.
- Audit your data pipelines to ensure images used for model training are sourced with proper rights.
- Monitor UK copyright rulings for updates that could affect your AI development or content licensing strategy.
Related coverage
Sources
- cityam.com: Getty Images faces London AI firm in court
- City A.M.: Getty Images faces London AI firm in court