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Getty Images v Stability AI: Much ado about little

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
16 January 2026 / Tom Magnani , Dr Beatriz San Martin , Jessica Gillotte , Ally Myers
Issue: 8145 / Categories: Features , Copyright , Artificial intelligence , Intellectual property , Technology
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The Getty Images judgment fails to deliver on expectations. Experts from the IP & Technology teams at Arnold & Porter explain why
  • Summarises the highlights of the court’s findings in Getty Images v Stability AI— a ‘historic’ but ‘extremely limited’ ruling.
  • Sets out the impact the judgment will have on future AI infringement cases.

A judge in the High Court of Justice is the latest to weigh in on liability for use of intellectual property by AI companies, in Getty Images (US) Inc and others v Stability AI Ltd [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch). Mrs Justice Joanna Smith DBE considered claims that (i) Stability AI infringed Getty Images’ registered trade marks by generating synthetic image outputs containing similar marks using its AI model, Stable Diffusion, and (ii) Stability AI infringed the copyright in Getty’s visual content by using Getty’s images to train models of Stable Diffusion.

In a painstakingly detailed 205-page judgment, Mrs Justice

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