Getty Images (US), Inc. v. Stability AI, Inc.

Filing 13

AMENDED COMPLAINT against Stability AI, Inc., Stability AI, Ltd.- filed by Getty Images (US), Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - B)(Mercer, Tammy)

Case 1:23-cv-00135-GBW Document 13 Filed 03/29/23 Page 1 of 38 PageID #: 1397

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
GETTY IMAGES (US), INC.
Plaintiff,
v.
STABILITY AI, LTD. and STABILITY AI,
INC.
Defendants.

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C.A. No. 23-135 (GBW)
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

AMENDED COMPLAINT
Plaintiff Getty Images (US), Inc. (“Getty Images” or “Plaintiff”), by and through its
undersigned attorneys, for its Amended Complaint against Defendants Stability AI, Ltd. and
Stability AI, Inc. (collectively “Stability AI” or “Defendants”), hereby alleges as follows:
NATURE OF ACTION
1.

This case arises from Stability AI’s brazen infringement of Getty Images’

intellectual property on a staggering scale. Upon information and belief, Stability AI has copied
more than 12 million photographs from Getty Images’ collection, along with the associated
captions and metadata, without permission from or compensation to Getty Images, as part of its
efforts to build a competing business. As part of its unlawful scheme, Stability AI has removed
or altered Getty Images’ copyright management information, provided false copyright
management information, and infringed Getty Images’ famous trademarks.
2.

Getty Images brings this action to recover damages that it has suffered and is

continuing to suffer, and to prevent the irreparable harm caused by Stability AI’s intentional and
willful acts in violation of United States and Delaware law.
3.

Getty Images is one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of digital

content. At great expense, over the course of nearly three decades, Getty Images has curated a

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collection of hundreds of millions of premium quality visual assets, most of which are still,
photographic images. Many of these images were created by Getty Images staff photographers
as works made-for-hire, others have been acquired by Getty Images from third parties with an
assignment of the associated copyrights, and the remainder have been licensed to Getty Images
by its hundreds of content partners or hundreds of thousands of contributing photographers, who
rely on the licensing income Getty Images generates for them.
4.

Getty Images makes hundreds of millions of visual assets available to customers

throughout the world and in this District via websites, including but not limited to
www.gettyimages.com and www.istock.com. The visual assets on Getty Images’ websites are
accompanied by: (i) titles and captions which are themselves original and creative copyrighted
expression; (ii) watermarks with credit information and content identifiers that are designed to
deter infringing uses of the content; and (iii) metadata containing other copyright management
information.
5.

Getty Images serves creative, corporate, and media customers in more than 200

countries around the world, and its imagery helps its customers produce work which appears
every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films,
television programs, books and websites. In appropriate circumstances, and with safeguards for
the rights and interests of its photographers and contributors and the subjects of the images in its
collection, Getty Images also licenses the use of its visual assets and associated metadata in
connection with the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. Getty
Images has licensed millions of suitable digital assets to leading technology innovators for a
variety of purposes related to artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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6.

Getty Images’ visual assets are highly desirable for use in connection with

artificial intelligence and machine learning because of their high quality, and because they are
accompanied by content-specific, detailed captions and rich metadata.
7.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI was founded in 2020 by Emad

Mostaque, a former hedge fund executive, as a for-profit company. According to press reports in
October 2022, Stability AI raised more than $100 million from venture capital investors and was
already valued at $1 billion. According to more recent press reports, Stability AI is now seeking
to raise even more money at a valuation of approximately $4 billion. On the back of intellectual
property owned by Getty Images and other copyright holders, Stability AI has created an imagegenerating model called Stable Diffusion that uses artificial intelligence to deliver computersynthesized images in response to text prompts. In additional to offering open-source versions of
Stable Diffusion, Stability AI offers a revenue-generating user interface called DreamStudio that
is powered by its Stable Diffusion model. DreamStudio enables users to obtain images from the
Stable Diffusion model on their own personal computers without the need for software
installation or coding knowledge, and Stability AI charges fees for that service.
8.

Rather than attempt to negotiate a license with Getty Images for the use of its

content, and even though the terms of use of Getty Images’ websites expressly prohibit
unauthorized reproduction of content for commercial purposes such as those undertaken by
Stability AI, Stability AI copied at least 12 million copyrighted images from Getty Images’
websites, along with associated text and metadata, in order to train its Stable Diffusion model.
9.

Stability AI now competes directly with Getty Images by marketing Stable

Diffusion and its DreamStudio interface to those seeking creative imagery, and its infringement
of Getty Images’ content on a massive scale has been instrumental to its success to date.

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10.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI was well aware that the content it was

scraping without permission from Getty Images’ websites was protected by U.S. copyright law.
11.

Often, the output generated by Stable Diffusion has contained a modified version

of a Getty Images watermark, creating confusion as to the source of the images and falsely
implying an association with Getty Images. While some of the output generated through the use
of Stable Diffusion is aesthetically pleasing, other output is of much lower quality and at times
ranges from the bizarre to the grotesque. Stability AI’s incorporation of Getty Images’ marks
into low quality, unappealing, or offensive images dilutes those marks in further violation of
federal and state trademark laws.
12.

Getty Images therefore brings this action alleging claims under the Copyright Act

of 1976, 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq., the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., and Delaware
trademark and unfair competition laws to bring an end to Stability AI’s blatantly infringing
conduct in the United States and in Delaware and to obtain redress for Stability AI’s callous
disregard for its intellectual property rights.
PARTIES
13.

Plaintiff Getty Images (US), Inc. is a New York corporation with headquarters in

Seattle, Washington. It is the owner or exclusive licensee of the copyrights subject to the
copyright infringement claims at issue and the owner of the trademarks at issue.
14.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Stability AI, Inc. is a Delaware

corporation with headquarters in London, UK.
15.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Stability AI, Ltd. is a UK corporation

with headquarters in London, UK. As set forth more fully below, Defendants Stability AI, Ltd.
and Stability AI, Inc. are alter egos of one another and operate as a single enterprise.

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE
16.

This action arises under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq., the

Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., and Delaware trademark and unfair competition laws.
This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338, and 1367.
17.

This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant Stability AI, Inc. because

Stability AI, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware.
18.

Defendant Stability AI, Ltd. is an alter ego of and operates as a single enterprise

with Defendant Stability AI, Inc. The two corporations share the same CEO and founder: Mr.
Mostaque. Upon information and belief, in addition to serving as CEO and Director of Stability
AI, Inc., Mr. Mostaque controls 75% or more of the voting rights, 75% or more of the shares,
and has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors of Stability AI, Ltd.
Stability AI, Inc. and Stability AI, Ltd. also present themselves as a single enterprise: their
principal offices are located at the same physical London address and share both an email
domain (@stability.ai) and website (https://stability.ai/).
19.

According to Dun & Bradstreet, Stability AI, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Stability AI,

Inc. and, as of November 2022, Stability AI, Ltd.’s sole share was owned by Stability AI, Inc.
And, according to the records of the Delaware Secretary of State, Stability AI, Inc.’s corporate
charter was voided for non-payment of taxes and/or failure to file a complete annual report in
2022, and Stability AI, Inc. subsequently filed a certificate to revive its charter, indicating that
Stability AI, Inc. is not an independently-operating company.
20.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI, Ltd. employs all of the company’s

employees and conducts all of the company’s activities, while Stability AI, Inc. is a shell holding
company, which has no employees or day-to-day operations. But, according to SEC filings, in

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October 2022, Stability AI, Inc. raised over $75 million through a securities offering (including
around $11 million of convertible indebtedness and accrued interest). Upon information and
belief, the funds raised by Stability, AI, Inc. are used to fund the activities of Stability AI, Ltd.,
including those described in this Amended Complaint.
21.

This Court also has personal jurisdiction over Defendant Stability AI, Ltd. based

on Stability AI, Ltd.’s contacts with Delaware and the United States.
22.

Stability AI, Ltd. operates a website that is accessible to internet users in

Delaware and elsewhere in the United States. From that website, users throughout the United
States, including in Delaware, can access Stability AI’s offerings, such as Stable Diffusion and
DreamStudio.
23.

The Stability AI, Ltd. website does not specifically target users in any one state of

the United States, and instead targets users across the United States, including users located in
Delaware.
24.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI, Ltd. maintains cloud computing and

physical server resources in the United States.
25.

The Stability AI, Ltd. website expressly states that the site (i.e.,

https://stability.ai/) and its content are “protected by copyright, trade dress, trademark, moral
rights, and other intellectual property laws in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other
international jurisdictions.” As a result, Stability AI, Ltd. has demonstrated its intent to avail
itself of jurisdiction and the legal protections of the United States.
26.

Accordingly, Stability AI, Ltd. has sufficient contacts with the United States to be

subject to personal jurisdiction in Delaware. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2).

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27.

Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because

Defendant Stability AI, Inc. is subject to personal jurisdiction in this District. Venue is also
proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1400(a), because Stability AI or its agents reside
or may be found in this District.
ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
A. Getty Images, Its Extensive Collection, and Its Worldwide Reputation for
Premium Visual Content
28.

Getty Images is a preeminent global visual content creator and a leading source

for visual content around the world. Getty Images operates websites for the purpose of licensing
its works, including, inter alia, at www.gettyimages.com and www.istock.com. Its collection,
which currently contains hundreds of millions of visual assets, is renowned worldwide for its
unmatched depth, breadth, and quality. That visual content is included in a robust database (the
“Database”) that also contains detailed, original text titles and captions associated with the
individual photographs and rich, image-specific metadata to provide the highest quality user
experience to customers and to ensure appropriate compensation for contributors and content
partners.
29.

By visiting Getty Images’ websites, its customers and potential customers can

search and browse its collection before purchasing a license for specific content. For example,
customers looking for an image from a wedding might search “a couple exchanges rings.”
Among the search results, they might find the following image available for license with an
accompanying title that reads, “Valentine’s Day Group Wedding Held at Palm Beach County
Clerk’s Office,” a caption that reads, “A couple exchanges rings as they are wed during a group

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Valentine's day wedding at the National Croquet Center on February 14, 2014 in West Palm
Beach, Florida” and a photo credit that reads “(Photo by Joe Readle/Getty Images)”:1

30.

As the foregoing example reflects, the search results contain, in addition to

images responsive to the search terms, watermarks on the images to deter infringing uses, credits
and other metadata, and options for purchasing a license for further use.
31.

Getty Images has more than 500,000 contributors (80,000 of which are exclusive

to Getty Images), over 300 premium content partners, more than 115 staff photographers,
videographers, and other content experts who guide and contribute to the creation of awardwinning content, and a unique and comprehensive visual archive collection covering a broad
range of subject matter. Contributors choose to work with Getty Images to benefit from its
reputation and goodwill as a preeminent content licensor, its robust platform, its global
distribution network, and the royalty income Getty Images generates for them.

1

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/couple-exchanges-rings-as-they-are-wedduring-a-group-newsphoto/469378943?phrase=a%20couple%20exchanges%20rings&adppopup=true.

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32.

Getty Images’ customers come to Getty Images for its easy-to-use platform, its

comprehensive suite of content (including certain types of content for which authorized copies
are exclusive to Getty Images), its variety of licensing options and services, and the assurance
that the images they obtain from Getty Images will not infringe third-party copyrights.
B. Getty Images’ Intellectual Property Rights and Terms of Use
1. Copyright
33.

Most of the images and videos displayed on Getty Images’ websites are original,

creative works that enjoy protection under U.S. copyright laws. For many of these visual assets,
including all of the assets subject to the copyright infringement claims at issue in this action,
Getty Images either owns the copyright or is an exclusive licensee; for others, Getty Images is a
non-exclusive licensee.
34.

For purposes of the copyright infringement claims set forth herein and

establishing the unlawful nature of Stability AI’s conduct, Getty Images has selected 7,216
examples from the millions of images that Stability AI copied without permission and used to
train one or more versions of Stable Diffusion. The copyrights for each of these images (as well
as for many other images) have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. A list of these
works, together with their copyright registration numbers, is attached as Exhibit A.
35.

As noted above, for the images displayed on its websites, Getty Images also

typically provides a detailed corresponding title and caption. Image titles and captions, which
are authored either by a Getty Images staff member or by an image contributor or partner,
typically reflect originality and creative choices. For example, for the image below, the
accompanying title reads, “Malnourished Sea Lions Continued To Be Rescued Off California
Shores” and the accompanying caption reads: “A sick and malnourished sea lion pup sits in an

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enclosure at the Marine Mammal Center on March 18, 2015 in Sausalito, California. For the
third winter in a row, hundreds of sick and starving California sea lions are washing up on
California shores, with over 1,800 found and treated at rehabilitation centers throughout the state
since the beginning of the year. The Marine Mammal Center is currently caring for 224 of the
emaciated pups.”2

36.

Each of the images available through Getty Images’ websites has an associated

page that contains a unique URL pointing to a location where the image is stored together with
an “alt text” tag containing the image title and caption. The image URLs, titles, and captions,
along with other current metadata for each image, such as keywords and author and ownership
data, are populated from the Database.

2

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sick-and-malnourished-sea-lion-pup-sits-inan-enclosure-at-news-photo/466716732

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37.

Getty Images has spent years coordinating and arranging the Database, including,

inter alia, by setting criteria for inclusion of images, selecting specific images for inclusion,
creating and incorporating detailed captions and other text paired with images, creating and
assigning unique asset identifiers that can be linked to specific contributors, and arranging the
contents of the Database so that the Database is searchable and results can be filtered.
Additionally, Getty Images has and continues to invest significantly in maintaining the contents
of the Database. Between 2017 and 2020 alone, Getty Images and its affiliates invested more
than $200 million to maintain the Database.
38.

Getty Images has registered its copyright of the Database with the United States

Copyright Office. The copyright registration number is TXu002346096.
2. Trademarks and Goodwill
39.

Getty Images’ name and trademarks are renowned in the U.S. and around the

world. Customers perform over 2.7 billion searches annually on the Getty Images’ websites,
which exist in 23 languages. Through its full range of content solutions, Getty Images served
over 836,000 purchasing customers in the last year alone, with customers from almost every
country in the world, ranging from media outlets, advertising agencies, and corporations of all
sizes to individual creators. Customers rely on Getty Images for the best content and service,
and trust the trademarks and service marks associated with its content.
40.

Since its founding in 1995, Getty Images has been using its name and associated

trademarks in commerce continuously in connection with the distribution, promotion, and
marketing of its services and visual content in the United States, including the uses described
above. Getty Images has used its name and trademarks exclusively and extensively in the United

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States and in Delaware, and its trademarks are widely recognized as representing premium
quality visual content.
41.

Getty Images uses its name and trademarks prominently on the Getty Images

websites. Each image available for viewing and purchase prominently displays a watermark that
contains an affiliated trademark, as illustrated in the images depicted in paragraphs 29 and 35
above.
42.

Getty Images owns trademarks registered on the Principal Register in the United

States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) relating to its iconic brand. True and correct
copies of the federal registration certificates evidencing Getty Images’ ownership of the
trademarks shown below are attached hereto as Exhibit B.
Mark Name
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
43.

Reg. Number
2,656,652
2,837,208
2,842,851
2,844,647
3,603,335
4,968,996
4,968,997
5,200,414

Reg. Date
12/03/2002
04/27/2004
05/18/2004
05/25/2004
04/07/2009
05/31/2016
05/31/2016
05/09/2017

Getty Images also owns common law rights in the mark GETTY IMAGES.

Together with Getty Images’ federally registered trademarks, these are referred to collectively as
the “Getty Images Marks.”
3. Website Terms and Conditions
44.

Stability AI accessed Getty Images’ collection of visual assets through Getty

Images’ public-facing websites. The Getty Images websites from which Stability AI copied
images without permission are subject to express terms and conditions of use which, among
other things, expressly prohibit, inter alia: (i) downloading, copying or re-transmitting any or all

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of the website or its contents without a license; and (ii) using any data mining, robots or similar
data gathering or extraction methods. Such restrictions apply not only to the photographic
images and videos that Getty Images licenses, but also to the valuable and proprietary title and
caption information, keywords, and other metadata associated with the visual assets, all of which
is highly desirable for use in connection with developing AI tools such as Stable Diffusion.
C. Stability AI Infringes Getty Images’ Copyrights on an Enormous Scale and
Exploits Getty Images’ Resources for its Commercial Benefit
45.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI was founded in 2020 and is engaged in

the development of tools and models to generate digital content using artificial intelligence.
46.

Stability AI created and maintains a model called Stable Diffusion. Upon

information and belief, Stability AI utilizes the following steps from input to output:
a. First, Stability AI copies billions of text-and-image pairings—like those available
on Getty Images’ websites—and loads them into computer memory to train a
model.
b. Second, Stability AI encodes the images, which involves creating smaller versions
of the images that take up less memory. Separately, Stability AI also encodes the
paired text. Stability AI retains and stores copies of the encoded images and text
as an essential element of training the model.
c. Third, Stability AI adds visual “noise” to the encoded images, i.e., it further alters
the images so that it is incrementally harder to discern what is visually
represented because the images have been intentionally degraded in visual quality
in order to “train” the model to remove the “noise.” By intentionally adding
visual noise to the existing images with associated text, Stability AI teaches the
model to generate output images to be consistent with a particular text description

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(e.g., “a dog playing on the beach during sunset”).
d. Fourth, the model decodes the altered image and teaches itself to remove the noise
by comparing the decoded image to the original image and text descriptions that
have been copied and stored. By learning to decode noise, the model learns to
deliver images similar to—and, in some cases, substantially similar to—the
original without noise.
47.

Upon information and belief, the third and fourth steps described in the preceding

paragraph are part of “training” the model to allow Stable Diffusion to understand the
relationships between text and associated images and to use that knowledge to computationally
produce images in response to text prompts, as explained further below.
48.

Stable Diffusion was trained on 5 billion image-text pairs from datasets prepared

by non-party LAION, a German entity that works in conjunction with and is sponsored by
Stability AI. Upon information and belief, Stability AI provided LAION with both funding and
significant computing resources to produce its datasets in furtherance of Stability AI’s infringing
scheme.
49.

Upon information and belief, LAION created the datasets of image-text pairs used

by Stability AI by scraping links to billions of pieces of content from various websites, including
Getty Images’ websites.
50.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI followed links included in LAION’s

dataset to access specific pages on Getty Images’ websites and copied many millions of
copyrighted images and associated text. Such copying was done without Getty Images’
authorization and in violation of the express prohibitions against such conduct contained in its
websites’ terms of use.

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51.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI then created another copy of the content

to encode it into a form its model could interpret.
52.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI then created yet additional copies with

visual noise added, while retaining encoded copies of the original images without noise for
comparison to help train its model.
53.

Upon information and belief, the unauthorized copies of Getty Images’ content

made by Stability AI are neither transitory nor ephemeral, and they were made with the express
aim of enabling Stability AI to supplant Getty Images as a source of creative visual imagery.
54.

To date, Getty Images has identified over 12 million links to images and their

associated text and metadata on its websites contained in the LAION datasets that were used to
train Stable Diffusion. Among the millions of links was a link to the photograph of the couple
exchanging rings displayed in paragraph 29 above as well as to each of the other images
identified in Exhibit A.
55.

Getty Images’ content is extremely valuable to the datasets used to train Stable

Diffusion. Getty Images’ websites provide access to millions of high quality images and a vast
array of subject matter. High quality images such as those offered by Getty Images on its
websites are more useful for training an AI model such as Stable Diffusion than low quality
images because they contain more detail or data about the image that can be copied. By contrast,
a low quality image, such as one that has been compressed and posted as a small thumbnail on a
typical social media site, is less valuable because it only provides a rough, poor quality
framework of the underlying image and may not be accompanied by detailed text or other useful
metadata.

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56.

Stability AI has developed and released different versions of Stable Diffusion

over time, including, upon information and belief, to users located in Delaware. The core dataset
used to train Stable Diffusion version 2 was a subset of LAION 5B called LAION-Aesthetics,3
which was created to exclude images that were not sufficiently aesthetically pleasing.4 Targeting
its copying in this way allowed Stability AI to further benefit from Getty Images’ efforts over
many years to amass its renowned collection of high quality images and from the significant
investments required to generate such a collection and to develop and maintain the Database in
which it is stored.
57.

Second, Getty Images’ websites include both the images and corresponding

detailed titles and captions and other metadata. Upon information and belief, the pairings of
detailed text and images has been critical to successfully training the Stable Diffusion model to
deliver relevant output in response to text prompts. If, for example, Stability AI ingested an
image of a beach that was labeled “forest” and used that image-text pairing to train the model,
the model would learn inaccurate information and be far less effective at generating desirable
outputs in response to text prompts by Stability AI’s customers. Furthermore, in training the
Stable Diffusion model, Stability AI has benefitted from Getty Images’ image-text pairs that are
not only accurate, but detailed. For example, if Stability AI ingested a picture of Lake Oroville
in California during a severe drought with a corresponding caption limited to just the word
“lake,” it would learn that the image is of a lake, but not which lake or that the photograph was
taken during a severe drought. If a Stable Diffusion user then entered a prompt for “California’s
Lake Oroville during a severe drought” the output image might still be one of a lake, but it would

3

https://stability.ai/blog/stable-diffusion-announcement.

4

https://laion.ai/projects/.

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be much less likely to be an image of Lake Oroville during a severe drought because the
synthesis engine would not have the same level of control that allows it to deliver detailed and
specific images in response to text prompts.
58.

Upon information and belief, when Stability AI ingested the image below of Lake

Oroville with a corresponding caption that reads “A section of Lake Oroville is seen nearly dry
on August 19, 2014 in Oroville, California. As the severe drought in California continues for a
third straight year, water levels in the State's lakes and reservoirs is reaching historic lows. Lake
Oroville is currently at 32 percent of its total 3,537,577 acre feet,”5 its use of the accompanying
text enabled the model to learn even more about the image and its contents and thus generate
output that competes with Getty Images’ own offerings much more effectively.

5

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/section-of-lake-oroville-is-seen-nearly-dryon-august-19-news-photo/453834006

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D. Stability AI Competes Commercially with Getty Images
59.

Once an artificial intelligence model like Stable Diffusion has been trained on

enough data to learn the relationship between text prompts and images, it can be used to generate
new images derived from the images and text the model’s creator has copied. For example, if a
model has been trained with image-text pairs of cats and image-text pairs of clothing, then a user
can use the text prompt “cat in a scarf” and the model will generate an image that looks like a cat
in a scarf:

60.

To be clear, the image above is not a photograph of an actual cat wearing an

actual scarf. It is a computer-synthesized image that resembles a cat wearing a scarf. Upon
information and belief, Stability AI was able to generate the image above because it used enough
images of real cats paired with rich text captions and images of real scarves with rich text

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captions to train Stable Diffusion that the model can generate this type of output. Stable
Diffusion is able to combine what it has learned to generate this artificial image, but only
because it was trained on proprietary content belonging to Getty Images and others.
61.

As a result, Stable Diffusion at times produces images that are highly similar to

and derivative of the Getty Images proprietary content that Stability AI copied extensively in the
course of training the model. Indeed, independent researchers have observed that Stable
Diffusion sometimes memorizes and regenerates specific images that were used to train the
model.6
62.

In many cases, and as discussed further below, the output delivered by Stability

AI includes a modified version of a Getty Images watermark, underscoring the clear link
between the copyrighted images that Stability AI copied without permission and the output its
model delivers. In the following example, the image on the left is another original, watermarked
image copied by Stability AI and used to train its model and the watermarked image on the right
is output delivered using the model:

6

See, e.g., Nicholas Carlini et al., Extracting Training Data from Diffusion Models (2023),
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.13188.pdf; see also Gowthami Somepalli et al., Diffusion Art or
Digital Forgery? Investigating Data Replication in Diffusion Models (2022),
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.03860.pdf.

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63.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI offers Stable Diffusion as open source

software, meaning that Stability AI permits third party developers to access, use, and further
develop the model without paying license fees to Stability AI. Those third parties benefit from
Stability AI’s infringement of Getty Images’ copyrights and, in turn, Stability AI benefits from
the widespread adoption of its model.
64.

While Stability AI has made Stable Diffusion open source, Stability AI is also

directly monetizing the tool through a commercial platform it calls DreamStudio. DreamStudio
allows customers to access Stable Diffusion to generate images without the need for any of their
own heavy-duty processing power, software installation, or coding knowhow. According to Mr.
Mostaque, Stability AI plans to further monetize Stable Diffusion by training and deploying
customized, non-open source versions of Stable Diffusion for customers for use on a large scale,

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and Stability AI reportedly was valued at $1 billion by late 2022 and is seeking additional
funding at a valuation of approximately $4 billion.7
65.

Upon information and belief, although Stability AI only released DreamStudio in

August 2022, millions of people already have used DreamStudio and collectively created
hundreds of millions of images. Yet Stability AI has not paid a cent to Getty Images or other
content owners from which it reproduced copyrighted content without permission to train its
highly lucrative model.
66.

The gravity of Stability AI’s brazen theft and freeriding is compounded by the

fact that, by utilizing Getty Images’ copyrighted content for artificial intelligence and machine
learning, Stability AI is stealing a service that Getty Images already provides to paying
customers in the marketplace for that very purpose. Getty Images has licensed millions of
suitable digital assets for a variety of purposes related to artificial intelligence and machine
learning in a manner that respects personal and intellectual property rights. While Getty Images
licenses its proprietary content to responsible actors in appropriate circumstances, Stability AI
has taken that same content from Getty Images without permission, depriving Getty Images and
its contributors of fair compensation, and without providing adequate protections for the privacy
and dignity interests of individuals depicted.
E. Stability AI’s Attempts to Circumvent Getty Images’ Watermarks
67.

As noted in paragraph 41 above, each copyrighted image on Getty Images’

public-facing websites contains a watermark that is intended to indicate provenance and prevent

7

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/17/stability-ai-the-startup-behind-stable-diffusion-raises101m/; https://fortune.com/2023/03/04/stability-ai-raise-funds-4-billion-valuation-artificialintelligence-captivates-investors/.

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infringement. The watermark includes both a Getty Images-owned mark and credit information
for the image.
68.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI has knowingly removed Getty Images’

watermarks from some images in the course of its copying as part of its infringing scheme. At
the same time, however, as discussed above, the Stable Diffusion model frequently generates
output bearing a modified version of the Getty Images watermark, even when that output is not
bona fide Getty Images’ content and is well below Getty Images’ quality standards. Examples of
this practice include:

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69.

Making matters worse, Stability AI has caused the Stable Diffusion model to

incorporate a modified version of the Getty Images’ watermark to bizarre or grotesque synthetic
imagery that tarnishes Getty Images’ hard-earned reputation, such as the image below:

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70.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI is well aware that Stable Diffusion

generates images that include distorted versions of Getty Images’ watermark and other
watermarks, but it has not modified its model to prevent that from happening.
71.

Upon information and belief, unless enjoined by this Court, Stability AI intends to

continue to infringe upon Getty Images’ copyrights and trademarks in the United States and
otherwise to profit from its unauthorized use of Getty Images’ intellectual property. Getty
Images has no adequate remedy at law to redress all of the injuries that Stability AI has caused,
and intends to continue to cause, by its conduct. Getty Images will continue to suffer irreparable
harm until Stability AI’s infringing conduct is enjoined by this Court.
CLAIM I
Copyright Infringement (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.)
72.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 1 through 71 above.
73.

Getty Images is the owner or exclusive licensee of copyrights identified in Exhibit

A, and therefore is entitled to the exclusive rights under copyright law associated therewith,
including the rights set forth in 17 U.S.C § 106.
74.

Getty Images has obtained copyright registrations in the United States for each of

the works identified in Exhibit A.
75.

Getty Images is the owner of, and has obtained a U.S. copyright registration for,

the Database.
76.

Stability AI obtained access to the registered images and the associated titles,

captions, and other metadata in the Database through Getty Images’ websites.

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77.

By and through the actions alleged above, Stability AI has infringed and will

continue to infringe Getty Images’ copyrights in the United States by, inter alia, reproducing
Getty Images’ copyrighted works and creating derivative works therefrom without any
authorization from Getty Images.
78.

Stability AI’s acts of copyright infringement have been intentional, willful, and in

callous disregard of Getty Images’ rights. Stability AI knew at all relevant times that the content
on Getty Images’ websites is copyrighted, that Getty Images is in the business of licensing visual
content, and that its acts were in violation of the terms of use of Getty Images’ websites.
79.

Stability AI engaged in the infringing acts described herein for its own

commercial benefit.
80.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of infringement and continuing to use and
distribute Stable Diffusion models trained using Getty Images’ copyrighted content without
permission, Stability AI will cause additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate
remedy at law. Getty Images is thus entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability
AI, its agents, affiliates, employees and all persons acting in concert with it from engaging in any
further infringement of Getty Images’ content.
81.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the infringing acts alleged above, together with any
additional profits obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be
fully ascertained by Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.

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82.

For any infringing acts in the United States occurring after registration of the

applicable Getty Images’ copyrights, Getty Images is entitled, at its election, as an alternative to
an award of actual damages and any additional profits earned by Stability AI, to recover statutory
damages of up to $150,000 for each infringed work.
83.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs in prosecuting its copyright

infringement claims in this action and its attorneys’ fees.
CLAIM II
Providing False Copyright Management Information in Violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1202(a)
84.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 1 through 83 above.
85.

The watermarks that Getty Images applies to images made available on its public-

facing websites constitute copyright management information for purposes of Section 1202 of
the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 1202.
86.

By applying a modified version of Getty Images’ watermarks to output generated

through use of Stable Diffusion and the DreamStudio interface, Stability AI has provided false
copyright management information in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1202(a). Stability AI’s provision
of false copyright management information has been done knowingly and with the intent to
induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement of Getty Images’ copyrights.
87.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of providing false copyright management
information, Stability AI will cause additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate
remedy at law. Getty Images is thus entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability

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AI, its agents, affiliates, employees and all persons acting in concert with it from providing false
copyright management information.
88.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the unlawful acts alleged above, together with any
additional profits obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be
fully ascertained by Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.
89.

Getty Images is entitled, at its election, as an alternative to an award of actual

damages and any additional profits earned by Stability AI, to recover statutory damages of up to
$25,000 for each violation of Section 1202(a).
90.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims under Section 1202(a).
CLAIM III
Removal or Alteration of Copyright Management Information
in Violation of Section 1202(b)
91.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 1 through 90 above.
92.

Stability AI has intentionally removed or altered Getty Images’ watermarks and

metadata associated with the images Stability AI impermissibly copied from Getty Images’
websites. Such watermarks and metadata contain copyright management information. Stability
AI’s removal or alteration of Getty Images’ copyright management information has been done
knowingly and with the intent to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement of Getty
Images’ copyrights.
93.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination

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and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of removing or altering copyright
management information, Stability AI will cause additional irreparable harm for which there is
no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is thus entitled to permanent injunctive relief
preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates, employees and all persons acting in concert with it
from removing or altering Getty Images’ copyright management information.
94.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the unlawful acts alleged above, together with any
additional profits obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be
fully ascertained by Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.
95.

Getty Images is entitled, at its election, as an alternative to an award of actual

damages and any additional profits earned by Stability AI, to recover statutory damages of up to
$25,000 for each violation of Section 1202(b).
96.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims under Section 1202(b).
CLAIM IV
Trademark Infringement in Violation of Section 32 of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)
97.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 1 through 96 above.
98.

Getty Images has expended substantial time, money, and resources collecting,

distributing, promoting, marketing, and advertising the millions of images it offers on its
websites and the Getty Images Marks associated therewith.
99.

The Getty Images Marks are in full force and effect. Getty Images has never

abandoned them, nor has Getty Images ever abandoned the goodwill of its businesses in

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connection thereto. For example, Getty Images continues to use and prominently display Getty
Images Marks on its websites, as well as on and in connection with the many millions of images
it offers. Getty Images intends to continue to preserve and maintain its rights with respect to the
Getty Images Marks.
100.

The Getty Images Marks are distinctive and have become associated in the minds

of the public with Getty Images, its brand, and its reputation for high-quality visual content.
101.

The Getty Images Marks and the goodwill of the business associated with them in

the United States are of great and significant value to Getty Images.
102.

Getty Images’ use of the Getty Images Marks and Stability AI’s infringing uses of

the same marks are in competitive proximity to one another, as they are both used in connection
with, inter alia, the marketplace for visual content.
103.

Stability AI’s unauthorized use of Getty Images Marks in connection with synthetic

images generated through the use of Stable Diffusion and DreamStudio constitutes trademark
infringement in violation of Section 32 of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C § 1114(1), as such use likely
has caused and will continue to cause members of the consuming public to be confused, mistaken
or deceived into believing that Getty Images has granted Stability AI the right to use the Getty
Images Marks and/or that Getty Images sponsored, endorsed, or is otherwise associated, affiliated,
or connected with Stability AI and its synthetic images, all to the damage and detriment of Getty
Images’ reputation and good will.
104.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI is and has been at all relevant times

aware of Getty Images’ prior use, and/or ownership of the Getty Images Marks. Thus, Stability
AI’s conduct, as described above, is willful, intentional, in bad faith, and designed specifically to

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permit Stability AI to profit from such misuse in violation of Getty Images’ rights in the Getty
Images Marks.
105.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of trademark infringement, Stability AI will
cause additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is
thus entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates,
employees and all persons acting in concert with it from infringing the Getty Images Marks.
106.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the unlawful acts alleged above, together with the profits
obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be fully ascertained by
Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.
107.

Getty Images is entitled to recover treble damages or profits, whichever is greater,

for Stability AI’s use of a counterfeit mark.
108.

Getty Images is entitled, at its election, as an alternative to an award of actual

damages and profits earned by Stability AI, to recover statutory damages of up to $2,000,000 per
counterfeit mark used.
109.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims for trademark infringement.
CLAIM V
Unfair Competition in Violation of Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)
110.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set forth

in paragraphs 1 through 109 above.

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111.

Stability AI’s unauthorized use of the Getty Images Marks in the United States

in connection with synthetic images generated through the use of Stable Diffusion and
DreamStudio constitutes unfair competition and false designation of origin in violation of
Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C § 1125(a), as such use likely has caused and will
continue to cause members of the consuming public to be confused, mistaken or deceived into
believing that Getty Images has granted Stability AI the right to use the Getty Images Marks
and/or that Getty Images sponsored, endorsed, or is otherwise associated, affiliated, or connected
with Stability AI and its synthetic images, all to the damage and detriment of Getty Images’
reputation and good will.
112.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI is and has been at all relevant times

aware of Getty Images’ prior use, and/or ownership of the Getty Images Marks. Thus, Stability
AI’s conduct, as described above, is willful, intentional, in bad faith, and designed specifically to
permit Stability AI to profit from such misuse in violation of Getty Images’ rights in the Getty
Images Marks.
113.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of trademark infringement, Stability AI will
cause additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is
thus entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates,
employees and all persons acting in concert with it from competing unfairly with Getty Images.
114.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the unlawful acts alleged above, together with the profits

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obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be fully ascertained by
Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.
115.

Getty Images is entitled to recover treble damages or profits, whichever is greater,

for Stability AI’s use of a counterfeit mark.
116.

Getty Images is entitled, at its election, as an alternative to an award of actual

damages and profits earned by Stability AI, to recover statutory damages of up to $2,000,000 per
counterfeit mark used.
117.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims for unfair competition and false designation of origin.
CLAIM VI
Trademark Dilution in Violation of Section 43(c) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c)
118.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set forth

in paragraphs 1 through 117 above.
119.

The Getty Images Marks are distinctive and famous.

120.

Stability AI has used the Getty Images Marks in commerce in the United States,

and Stability AI’s commercial use of the Getty Images Marks commenced after those marks
became famous.
121.

Stability AI’s use of the Getty Images Marks on lower quality, and in some cases

bizarre or grotesque images, dilutes the quality of the Getty Images Marks by blurring or
tarnishment. Upon information and belief, Stability AI’s use of the Getty Images Marks on
lower quality, and in some cases bizarre or grotesque images, has been and continues to be
knowing, willful, and in bad faith.

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122.

Stability AI’s unauthorized use of the Getty Images Marks in connection with

lower quality synthetic images generated through the use of Stable Diffusion and DreamStudio
constitutes trademark dilution in violation of Section 43(c) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C §
1125(c).
123.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of trademark dilution, Stability AI will cause
additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is thus
entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates, employees
and all persons acting in concert with it from diluting the Getty Images Marks.
124.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI the damages it has

sustained and will sustain as a result of the unlawful acts alleged above, together with the profits
obtained by Stability AI. The amount of such damages and profits cannot be fully ascertained by
Getty Images at present but will be established according to proof at trial.
125.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims for trademark dilution.
CLAIM VII
Deceptive Trade Practices in Violation of Delaware’s
Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act
126.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 1 through 125 above.
127.

Stability AI’s unauthorized use of the Getty Images Marks in connection with

synthetic images generated through the use of Stable Diffusion and DreamStudio constitutes a
deceptive trade practice in violation of Delaware law, as such use likely has caused and will

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continue to cause members of the consuming public, including in Delaware, to be confused,
mistaken or deceived into believing that Getty Images has granted Stability AI the right to use
the Getty Images Marks and/or that Getty Images sponsored, endorsed, or is otherwise
associated, affiliated, or connected with Stability AI and its synthetic images, all to the damage
and detriment of Getty Images’ reputation and good will.
128.

Upon information and belief, Stability AI is and has been at all relevant times

aware of Getty Images’ prior use, and/or ownership of the Getty Images Marks. Thus, Stability
AI’s conduct, as described above, is willful, intentional, in bad faith, and designed specifically to
permit Stability AI to profit from such misuse in violation of Getty Images’ rights in the Getty
Images Marks.
129.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further deceptive acts, Stability AI will cause additional
irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is thus entitled to
permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates, employees and all
persons acting in concert with it from engaging in deceptive trade practices.
130.

Getty Images is further entitled to recover from Stability AI treble the damages it

has sustained and will sustain as a result of Stability AI’s acts in violation of Delaware law. The
amount of such damages cannot be fully ascertained by Getty Images at present but will be
established according to proof at trial.
131.

Getty Images is entitled to recover its full costs and attorneys’ fees in prosecuting

its claims for deceptive trade practices.

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CLAIM VIII
Trademark Dilution in Violation of Section 3313 of the Delaware Trademark Act
132.

Getty Images realleges and incorporates by reference herein the allegations set forth

in paragraphs 1 through 131 above.
133.

The Getty Images Marks are distinctive and famous.

134.

Stability AI has used the Getty Images Marks in commerce, and Stability AI’s

commercial use of the Getty Images Marks commenced after those marks became famous.
135.

Stability AI’s use of the Getty Images Marks on lower quality, and in some cases

bizarre or grotesque images, dilutes the quality of the Getty Images Marks by blurring or
tarnishment. Upon information and belief, Stability AI’s use of Getty Images Marks on lower
quality, and in some cases bizarre or grotesque images, has been and continues to be knowing,
willful, and in bad faith.
136.

Stability AI’s unauthorized use of the Getty Images Marks in connection with

lower quality synthetic images generated through the use of Stable Diffusion and DreamStudio
constitutes trademark dilution in violation of Section 3313 of the Delaware Trademark Act.
137.

As a direct and proximate result of Stability AI’s wrongful conduct, Getty Images

has been substantially and irreparably harmed in an amount not readily capable of determination
and, unless permanently enjoined from further acts of trademark dilution, Stability AI will cause
additional irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Getty Images is thus
entitled to permanent injunctive relief preventing Stability AI, its agents, affiliates, employees
and all persons acting in concert with it from diluting the Getty Images Marks.

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PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Getty Images respectfully requests judgment in its favor and
against Defendants Stability AI as follows:
A. Finding that Stability AI has infringed Getty Images’ copyrights;
B. Finding that Stability AI’s copyright infringement was willful;
C. Finding that Stability AI has provided false copyright management information;
D. Finding that Stability AI has removed or altered copyright management
information;
E. Finding that Stability AI has infringed Getty Images’ trademarks;
F. Finding that Stability AI has diluted Getty Images’ trademarks;
G. Finding that Stability AI has tarnished Getty Images’ trademarks;
H. Finding that Stability AI’s trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark
dilution, and deceptive trade practices were willful and in bad faith;
I. Finding that there is a substantial likelihood that Stability AI will continue to
infringe Getty Images copyrights and trademarks unless enjoined from doing so;
J. Issuing a permanent injunction enjoining Stability AI and its agents, servants,
employees, successors and assigns, and all persons, firms and corporations acting
in concert with it, from directly or indirectly infringing Getty Images’ copyrights,
from providing false copyright management information, from removing or
altering Getty Images’ copyright management information, and from infringing,
diluting, or tarnishing Getty Images’ trademarks;
K. Ordering the destruction of all versions of Stable Diffusion trained using Getty
Images’ content without permission;

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L. Ordering Stability AI to provide a full and complete accounting to Getty Images
for Stability AI’s profits, gains, advantages, and the value of the business
opportunities received from its infringing acts;
M. Entering judgment for Getty Images against Stability AI for all damages suffered
by Getty Images and for any profits to or gain by Stability AI attributable to its
infringement of Getty Images’ copyrights and its acts in violation of 17 U.S.C.
§ 1202
N. Entering judgment for Getty Images against Stability AI for all damages suffered
by Getty Images for any profits to or gain by Stability AI attributable to its
infringement and dilution of Getty Images trademark and its unfair competition
and deceptive trade practices in amounts to be determined at trial, with the greater
of such damages and profits trebled;
O. Entering judgment for Getty Images for statutory damages for Stability AI’s
willful acts of copyright infringement, its provision of false copyright
management information, and its removal or alteration of Getty Images’ copyright
management information;
P. Entering judgment for Getty Images for statutory damages for Stability AI’s
willful acts of trademark infringement and unfair competition;
Q. Awarding Getty Images its costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees;
R. Awarding Getty Images pre-judgment and post-judgment interest to the fullest
extent available; and
S. Granting such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

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DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiff Getty Images demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable.

Dated: March 29, 2023

YOUNG CONAWAY STARGATT &
TAYLOR, LLP
/s/ Tammy L. Mercer
Tammy L. Mercer (No. 4957)
Robert M. Vrana (No. 5666)
1000 North King Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
Benjamin E. Marks (admitted pro hac
vice)
Jared R. Friedmann (admitted pro hac
vice)
Melissa Rutman (admitted pro hac vice)
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10153
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Attorneys for Plaintiff Getty Images (US),
Inc.

38