Getty Images has sued Microsoft this week over the launch of their new "Bing Image Widget," a piece of software that the company claims leads to "massive infringement" of copyrighted images.
The Widget lets publishers create an easy to use panel on their sites or blogs that can show off images that are supplied through Microsoft's Bing image search.
Getty claims that Bing's engine does not only just take pictures from a pool of licensed digital images, but rather from the billions of images that can be searched for online, copyrighted or not.
"In effect, defendant has turned the entirety of the world's online images into little more than a vast, unlicensed 'clip art' collection for the benefit of those website publishers who implement the Bing Image Widget, all without seeking permission from the owners of copyrights in those images," the lawsuit claimed.
Getty is asking for an immediate injunction and monetary damages and appears to have a strong case.
Source:
Reuters
Getty claims that Bing's engine does not only just take pictures from a pool of licensed digital images, but rather from the billions of images that can be searched for online, copyrighted or not.
"In effect, defendant has turned the entirety of the world's online images into little more than a vast, unlicensed 'clip art' collection for the benefit of those website publishers who implement the Bing Image Widget, all without seeking permission from the owners of copyrights in those images," the lawsuit claimed.
Getty is asking for an immediate injunction and monetary damages and appears to have a strong case.
Source:
Reuters
