Last July, photographer Carol Highsmith filed a
copyright infringement lawsuit against Getty Images for $1 billion after discovering that Getty and its subsidiaries had been charging customers fees to license her images of Americana.
Highsmith learned of Getty’s actions when a year ago she received a letter from Getty accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website. Getty demanded payment of $120.
Highsmith had donated her images to the Library of Congress so the images could be used by the public for free. She said she had never granted Getty any rights to sell her work. Getty countered that Highsmith had signed away her copyright when she placed the images in the public domain. Getty also noted that is it “standard practice” for image libraries to distribute and provide access to public domain content.
When the suit was first announced many thought Getty would eventually have to pay a very stiff penalty.
When the case was heard by US District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff in October 2016 he agreed with Getty’s argument and dismissed all of Highsmith’s federal copyright claims—which were the foundation of her lawsuit.
He left three of Highsmith’s state law claims intact, and said he would issue a written explanation of the ruling “in due course.” Instead, he signed a terse order of “voluntary dismissal” of the remaining claims on November 16, after Highsmith and Getty agreed to settle the case. It is unclear what, if anything, Highsmith received in the way of a settlement fee.
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PDN for more on the story.