Perplexity and Getty images have signed a new multi-year licensing deal according to which Perplexity will include images owned and copyrighted by Getty in its search results on a revenue sharing model and with rightful attribution.
With this deal, both, Perplexity, an AI search engine company and Getty images, a copyrighted image library company , will benefit from each other in today’s modern world where AI search is gaining popularity and content media companies are battling a large chunk of revenue loss to bots which scrape their copyrighted data without consent or attribution.
This article deals with the vast implications of this deal for both the parties as well as its effect on the current landscape of artificial intelligence, creative authorship, compensation models as well as to the ongoing lawsuits faced by AI companies.
1. Licensing deals becoming vast :
Since the rise of Artificial intelligence and generative AI content , the content media companies have been struggling with the decline in the revenue due to the popularity of AI chatbots like chatgpt which although use their data to train their models, does not share the revenue generated with them. The use of such licenses will provide a new revenue stream to these companies which can help them survive and thrive in the AI boom market.
2. Weaking of fair-use lawsuits against AI companies:
Although there are several ongoing trial against AI companies over the unfair use of copyrighted data to train their models, even Getty images had sued Stability AI , some experts believe that this new stance may weaken the position of content companies where only a few big names would be able to profit from the licensing deals offered by AI companies and the majority of small creators and businesses may be affected by the copyright infringement.
3. No need for Unethical Data scraping :
If the licensing model really takes off this would imply that the shared revenue model would be a win -win for both Perplexity and Getty where they can both contribute to each other’s growth in the long run. This would also make Perplexity get rid of unnecessary legal troubles and lawuits over its data scraping model like the recent one where Reddit sued Perplexity for data scraping.
4. Rise of AI- driven creativity:
The AI market is estimated to reach a whopping 4.8 trilion dollar valuation by 2033. This is mainly attributed to the growth of generative AI content among other things which is going to be a big part of this market share. Therefore, the responsible and ethical use of AI is useful for the distribution of this valution among all the shareholders in a reasonably fair way. This deal is definitely a further step in this direction.
5. Sharing with individual contributors:
Although it is not yet disclosed if the licensing fee would be shared with individual contributors on Getty but if this kind of revenue sharing model sustains and succeeds , this will definetly increase the earnings of individual contributors as well in the future. But as of now,the previous royalty model where contributors gain a percentage(typically 15% to 45%) of the sold price of their images will prevail until Getty anounces a new royalty structure for them.
6. Growth of AI led search engines:
This deal paves the way along with Perplexity for other AI led search engines as it forms a clearer precedent on the use of AI and the integration of content platforms with them to create a synergic effect on the quality of your search. This is a big step for the integration of AI in other search engines as well like Google.
7. Training rights:
This new deal specifically provides Perplexity the display rights only where it will link the image to its location on Getty’s website but does not provide any training rights to Perplexity to use the data, say the same image for training its AI model. This way Getty images still gets to protect its intellectual property while adding a new revenue stream to its earnings.
8. Precedent for responsible AI use:
Some experts see it as a fair deal in comparison to other recent deals where licensing agreements were made to train AI models over the copyrighted data through the license, which will esssentially endanger the content and make it reduntant in the long run. Therefore, this deal does markingly set a precedent for responsible and inclusive use of AI.
9. Strengthens the position of Perplexity as AI search engine:
The deal gives Perplexity a premium, trustworthy visual layer to its AI answers making it more appealing than plain-text search competitors. It positions Perplexity as a responsible AI company which becomes more and more crucial as regulators tighten rules on data use.Long term, it could make Perplexity’s platform more monetizable, attracting enterprise users, journalists, and educators who need reliable sources and visuals.
10. Getty images raised market value:
After the deal to acquire Shutterstock came to a hault earlier this year, this new deal with Perplexity definetly pushes up the market indicators of Getty with its stock surging upto 5% on Friday after the announcement of this deal. It reinforces its position in the market and helps it to integrate AI effectively and profitably with its platform.