If you’ve searched for images on Google before, you know that there is an option to “View image”, which when clicked will load the image file itself as opposed to the page that uses the image. In a way this is useful if all you want is the image, but at the same time this is a problem that resulted in Getty Images’ lawsuit against Google.
The lawsuit was filed a couple of years ago where Getty accused Google of “promoting piracy” with its Google Image feature, and that it might turn users into “accidental pirates”. However both companies have since come to an understanding and even formed a partnership, in which as part of the deal, Google will now remove direct photo links from Getty Images.
What this means is that when you click the “View image” button, you will be taken to Getty Images’ website instead of the image’s direct URL. There are some instances in which this has already been done by other websites, but it looks like it will apply to Getty Images now as well. The deal will also see Google make improvements to the attribution of contributors’ work, making it clearer as to who the image belongs to and the copyright notices.
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