Getty and Google Drive Controversial Deal

Getty Images is under further scrutiny after being pushed to explain why some of its contributor’s commercial images have been made available on Google Drive, an application suite that can be accessed anywhere via the web, for free.

The news stems from a deal that was made between Getty and Google to add additional images to Google’s content within Google Drive. The deal was made last year, but did not come to light until some of Getty’s photographers realised that their photos were appearing on Google drive documents and spreadsheets.

There is nothing to stop these Drive documents being used commercially, although Getty’s spokeswoman told the BJP "Google users are not granted rights to use this imagery outside the context of Google Drive created content. No rights are granted to Google users to redistribute image files outside of the context in which they're used."

Over 5,000 new images were added to Google Drive, with photographers reportedly being paid $12 for the use of their images.

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