Nearly two years after entering an antitrust suit against Google, Getty Images announced on Friday (09) that it has signed a licensing agreement with the giant of Silicon Valley. The statement released by Getty does not provide many details about the deal, nor does it address whether the company has abandoned its legal actions against Google.
The message simply states that the two companies have agreed to a “multi-year global licensing partnership, allowing Google to use Getty Images content in its various products and services.” “This agreement between Getty Images and Google sets the stage for a productive relationship between our companies,” said Getty Images CEO Dawn Airey in the statement. “We will license our market-leading content to Google by working closely with them to improve the attribution of our taxpayers’ work and thus expand our ecosystem.”
Getty had been rather annoyed with Google for years, accusing the company of essentially stealing their images for its search engine. In April 2016, Getty filed an antitrust suit stating that when Google began displaying high-resolution photos in its search results, it was diverting traffic from Getty’s own site and making it very easy for users to download photos of the Getty collection without having to pay for the content or give them the credits.
The statement does not provide details about payments or royalties. “We are excited to have signed this license agreement with Getty Images, and will use their images on many of our products and services, starting immediately,” said Cathy Edwards, engineering director at Google.
