Google was sued by Getty Images, the online stock image repository, back in 2016 when the latter alleged that Google’s Image Search promoted piracy. Two years later, Google and Getty have reached a new licensing partnership instead of going to trial. As per the agreement between Google and Getty, the formed will be making a number of changes to its Image Search section.
For starters, Google will make copyright disclaimers more prominent and visible. Getty Images had a problem with Google displaying full-resolution images in its Image Search section, which would lead to searchers rarely visiting the original source of the image. Now, as per Google and Getty’s multi-year licensing deal, Google will be able to display copyright content through its various products, but will improve contributor’s attribution.
“This agreement between Getty Images and Google sets the stage for a very productive, collaborative relationship between our companies,” said Dawn Airey, CEO, Getty Images. “We will licence our market leading content to Google, working closely with them to improve attribution of our contributors’ work and thereby growing the ecosystem.”
According to reports, Google will also remove the “View Image” button in Image Search results. The “View Image” button currently leads to the URL of the photo.