AI Copyright Lawsuits: Getty Vs Stability AI And Authors Unite With NYT Vs OpenAI & Microsoft

The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making people and businesses–from animators and artists to major news companies and media outlets–rethink intellectual property rights, especially in creative fields. We’re sure you must have come across raging debates on AI’s right to train on copyrighted material, amid worries that it’s happening without permission.

This debate was captured by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, who strongly criticized AI-generated animation, calling it "an insult to life itself."

His words come from a deep respect for human creativity and hard work, highlighting a key question: can machines really create, or are they just copying and repackaging human work without giving credit or fair pay?

This ongoing clash between innovation and IP protection shows just how much is at stake for creators and the future of AI. Creators argue that AI models trained on their work fuel unfair competition and, at times, amount to theft.

As courts weigh copyright, fair use, and ownership, a few landmark cases will reshape how AI and human creativity coexist.

So, let’s take a closer look at some of the most impactful legal battles shaping the AI debate, starting with one of the most high-profile cases in the visual world.
 

Getty Images Sues Stability AI Over Copyright Theft

In a significant legal challenge, Getty Images, a prominent photo licensing company, is investing "millions and millions of dollars" in its pursuit of legal action against Stability AI.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.K. and U.S., claims that Stability AI copied 12 million images without permission, consent, or payment to train its AI model, Stable Diffusion.


Getty Images CEO Craig Peters said in a recent interview that Stability AI and similar companies are "stealing copyright-protected material to train their AI models for commercial gain."

He views these actions as "unfair competition," a stark contrast to legitimate market disruption. “That’s disruption under the notion of ‘move fast and break things,’ and we believe that’s unfair competition," Peters stated.

“We’re not against competition. There’s constant new competition coming in all the time from new technologies or just new companies. But that’s just unfair competition, that’s theft,” he added.

Stability AI has countered these claims, arguing they lack merit, though they concede that "at least some images from the Getty Images websites were used to train its Stable Diffusion model."

The company argues it’s protected by “fair use,” which allows limited use of copyrighted material if it transforms the original by adding new meaning or purpose.

However, Peters dismisses this as "a world of rhetoric," emphasizing the prohibitive expense of pursuing such cases. “Even for a company like Getty Images, we can’t pursue all the infringements that happen in one week,” he explained, citing the "prohibitively expensive" nature of court cases.

Getty’s lawsuit against Stability AI is strategic, despite high legal costs. The June 9 trial could set a key precedent for using visual content in training AI. However, this fight over image rights is just one part of a larger wave of legal battles as creators across industries push back against AI companies.

This struggle is also unfolding in the lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft!
 

Authors Unite With NYT On Lawsuits Against OpenAI And Microsoft

A major legal battle, similar to Getty Images’ fight, unfolded last month as twelve U.S. copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft were consolidated in New York.

This unified case, involving top authors and major news outlets like The New York Times, accuses the tech giants of using copyrighted material without permission to train AI models like ChatGPT and Copilot.


Though plaintiffs resisted, the cases were combined to simplify the process and avoid conflicting decisions. This shows the main issue: using creative works without permission to develop AI, with a ruling that could impact AI and copyright laws.

This wave of legal battles shows how much creators and AI companies are clashing over the use of creative work. However, amid these conflicts, Thomson Reuters’ recent win against Ross Intelligence shows a glimmer of hope in ‘fair use’ lawsuits.
 

Thomson Reuters’ Landmark Win On AI Copyright

A few months back, in a significant ruling, Thomson Reuters secured a landmark "fair use" victory against its AI competitor, Ross Intelligence. A federal judge found Ross's copying of Thomson Reuters' content to build its AI legal platform unfair, as it directly competed with the original creator.


This first U.S. ruling on AI’s fair use will be crucial for the ongoing Getty Images-Stability AI lawsuit. This signals that using copyrighted material for AI training, even without direct output reproduction, may not be deemed fair use if it creates a competing product.

This precedent sets a strong tone for AI companies to comply with fair use rules, while Reuters’ win emphasizes the need to respect existing intellectual property rights.

Do you think AI companies should be penalized for using copyrighted work without permission?
 
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!