Too busy to write a blog post, so here are a few thoughts on the Getty Images legal action against StabilityAI. 🧵
Conversation
Firstly, Getty haven't filed an action yet, this is the first stage, so we don't know which legal arguments they'll use. The claim in the press release is that Stability has "unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright and the associated metadata".
1
14
They're not suing LAION, the makers of the dataset, they're specifically targetting StabilityAI, I can't comment on their legal reasoning, but it will be interesting to read what they claim is being copied, and at what stage.
1
1
20
I think that this is a negotiating tactic trying to get StabilityAI to pay for a licence. They're clear that Getty has seen the writing on the wall, and they mention that AI has a future in the creative industries. To me they are signalling that they want a piece of the action.
1
1
30
Needless to say, this lawsuit has the potential to be more serious and dangerous than the class action suit we saw last week. The fact that this will be in the UK is interesting because I believe that the clock is ticking.
1
1
25
The UKIPO has published a consultation in which they have mentioned that the law will change to extend the data mining fair dealing exception. So Getty has to strike now while StabilityAI are under pressure with the other suit, and before the law changes
2
6
34
So much happening, so little time.
4
1
27
You’re unable to view this Tweet because this account owner limits who can view their Tweets. Learn more
Yeah I’ve been thinking about this for a while.
They have a great set of init images: either buy the image “as is”, or tweak a remix out of it (which also gives them another thing to sell).
Quote Tweet
Replying to @GuyP
It’s like the Shutterstock of the future.
Or imagine Shutterstock doing this. Buy an existing image, or create an AI variation out of any existing image, or create a new one. Store the results, rinse and repeat. Would be crazy if they wouldn’t plan this already.
1
5
You’re unable to view this Tweet because this account owner limits who can view their Tweets. Learn more
Kind of mixed messages. All generators are currently basically SD derived - how would you ship your own product based on it while suing Stability.ai at the same time… :) I guess they’d want a licensing deal, but for long term business it’s a dumb move…
Who can reply?
People @technollama follows or mentioned can reply
Industries under threat rarely think rationally, same as with the music industry during P2P and Napster.
4