A lawsuit against Microsoft has been dropped by Getty Images over an alleged massive copyright infringement. With this step, both the companies have agreed upon an amicable plan where Getty Images would continue to serve images on Microsoft’s devices and Internet search engine – Bing.
Microsoft & Getty Images settle dispute
The American stock photo agency, Getty Images Inc has a collection of over 80 million still images and illustrations. Getty Images had approached federal court in Manhattan with an argument that the Microsoft’s online image tool – Bing Image Widget allegedly displayed copyrighted images provided by Bing search engine without any commitment like payment or attribution.
This Monday, Getty Images and Microsoft told the court that they are dismissing all the claims against each other. Getty Images also announced in a press release that both the companies will be co-developing applications on various Microsoft products which includes Bing and Cortana, the personal digital assistant.
Getty Images and Microsoft said that decision has been made keeping “broad business partnership” in mind.
Though Microsoft had removed the image widget immediately after the lawsuit was filed, Getty Inc, move forwarded with the case saying Microsoft could relaunch the widget any time. After the hearing in last November, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote refused Microsoft’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.
Peggy Johnson who is Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of business development said,
This collaboration enables Microsoft users to take full advantage of Getty Images’ speed to market, structured metadata and unrivaled content. We look forward to working with Getty Images to provide the next generation of image depth and breadth for our users
Reuters first reported about this case numbered 14-cv-7114 at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
