Getty Images has filed a competition law complaint with the European Commission against Google Inc. The complaint follows Getty Images’ submission in June 2015, when it joined as an interested third party in support of the European Commission’s existing investigation into Google’s anti-competitive business practices.
The Commission’s current proceedings against Google are wide-reaching, with Google accused of distorting search results in favor of its own services. This affects a myriad of industries, from media companies like Getty Images, to comparison shopping and travel websites. Just last week, a further set of proceedings were issued against the search engine, to address Google’s business practices around its
Android mobile operating system.
Getty Images’ complaint focuses specifically on changes Google made in 2013 to its Images search feature when it changed its presentation of imagery by displaying high res large-format content through Google Images, where previously low res thumbnails that clicked-through to source sites were displayed.
This format also promotes “right click” piracy by making hi res imagery easily available, with no requirement for the user to go to the source site to learn how they might legally license or seek permission to use the image in question. This feature promotes piracy, results in widespread copyright infringement and turns users into “accidental pirates.”
According to Getty Images’ General Counsel, Yoko Miyashita after Google made the 2013 changes Getty Images experienced an immediate drop in traffic on its .com and .co.uk domains. However, Google did not immediately implement the features on its .FR and .DE variants where traffic remained healthy.
Google’s practices involve presenting content in such a way that it deters users from engaging with content creators; this impacts artists’ ability to monetize users’ interest and thereby reduces the level of reinvestment available for the creation of new content. By creating its own captive, image-rich environment and cutting off user traffic to competing websites, Google is able to maintain and reinforce its dominance in search. It does this without making any contribution to the costs of creating the very images upon which it relies to attract and maintain users.
Miyashita continued, “Google’s actions have impacted the competitiveness of our business by siphoning off traffic and promoting piracy - to the detriment of the 200,000 contributors who rely on us to earn a living. On a broader scale, this has impacted the interests of content creators around the world, allowing Google not only to profit from their work, but also to reinforce its role as the internet’s dominant search engine and thus maintain its monopoly power.”
“By standing in the way of a fair marketplace for images, Google is threatening innovation, and jeopardizing artists’ ability to fund the creation of important future works. Artists need to earn a living in order to sustain creativity and licensing is paramount to this; however, this cannot happen if Google is siphoning traffic and creating an environment where it can claim the profits from individuals’ creations as its own.”
“Getty Images believes that images have the power to move the world by spurring action and driving change. It is key that these issues with Google are addressed and that the dominant search engine in Europe leads users to legitimate sources for imagery, rather than creating an environment that benefits Google alone. A fair marketplace will allow photographers to continue to capture the ground-breaking imagery that informs and impacts the world every day,” Miyashita continued.
Getty Images firmly supports a more image-rich, digital world, but one that recognizes and remunerates the content creators who create this imagery. In 2014, Getty Images launched its embed tool, which revolutionized the visual content industry by making imagery available for easy, legal sharing at no cost for non-commercial use. This embed functionality provides consumers with an easy, legal alternative to the “right click,” an alternative that ensures the content creator is appropriately credited for their work and that the image is clearly traceable to Getty Images in the event that a user wishes to license the image for a commercial purpose.
When Getty Images first raised concerns with Google three years ago, Google’s proposed solution was no solution at all: accept its presentation of images in high-res format, or opt-out of image search. This would mean allowing the harm to continue, or becoming invisible on the Internet, making it even more difficult for users to legitimately source and license images.
Getty Images’ submission builds upon earlier submissions made as an interested third party and also on an earlier complaint to the EU Commission made by CEPIC.
In the United States the search giant Google is facing massive copyright-related pressure on several fronts, not least the recent consultation on the efficacy of the
DMCA and the FCC’s proposals to open up the
set-top box market.