Google and Getty Images have recently come out to announce that they have signed a multi-year deal that will allow Google to use images from Getty across their different products and services. The specifics of the deal haven’t yet been revealed, but in many ways, any agreement is a bit of a surprise due to the ongoing conflict between the two companies.
For years now, Getty has been accusing Google of stealing its images for their search engine. They even filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2016 claiming that Google diverted traffic away from the Getty website, and also made it too easy for Google users to download their photos without paying for them. They have not officially stated whether this deal will end the lawsuit or not, but that seems likely.
Getty Images’ CEO, Dawn Airey, comment on this deal, “This agreement between Getty Images and Google sets the stage for a very productive, collaborative relationship between our companies. We will license our market leading content to Google, working closely with them to improve attribution of our contributors’ work and thereby growing the ecosystem.”
Cathy Edwards, Google’s engineering director, also commented saying, “We’re excited to have signed this license agreement with Getty Images, and we’ll be using their images across many of our products and services, starting immediately.”
