AI search and discovery platform Perplexity has entered into a multi-year partnership with Getty Images to display licensed visuals across its products. The announcement led to a five per cent rise in Getty Images’ shares on Friday.
The agreement marks the latest collaboration between AI startups and digital content providers, as both sectors explore new ways to generate revenue while safeguarding intellectual property.
Under the deal, Getty Images will supply visuals to Perplexity through an API integration, allowing the AI platform to access and display licensed images directly from Getty’s extensive media library. This will provide users with high-quality, properly attributed visual content within their search and discovery experiences.
Perplexity also plans to include image credits and source links to ensure compliance and transparency in the use of licensed visuals.
The use of copyrighted material by AI companies has drawn growing global scrutiny and led to several lawsuits. Getty, which also licenses content through platforms such as iStock and Unsplash, had previously filed a lawsuit against Stability AI over image scraping.
Perplexity has faced similar legal challenges, including copyright lawsuits from Japanese publishers such as Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun. In response, the company has introduced a revenue-sharing model and partnered with media organisations like TIME and Der Spiegel to promote fair collaboration.
Legal experts note that while such licensing agreements strengthen copyright protection, they may also complicate AI firms’ legal defence in ongoing fair-use cases. “AI companies will end up paying some entities, like Getty, that have large collections of high-quality content. But the licensing model isn’t going to work for all the content on the internet, because training depends on too many inputs,” said Mark Lemley, director of the Stanford Programme in Law, Science and Technology.
The partnership is part of Getty Images’ wider strategy to support responsible AI-driven creativity. It enables users to generate and use visuals safely through licensed content, ensuring that AI-generated outputs respect copyright standards.
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