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Microsoft Takes Down Slideshow-Building Tool After Getty Images Lawsuit

Posted by samzenpus on from the big-and-small-pictures dept.

jfruh writes Slideshows are an increasingly popular (and, for publishers, lucrative) web content genre. So why not automate their production? Microsoft had a beta tool that was part of Bing Image Search that did just that, but took it down in the face of a lawsuit from Getty Images. It turns out that, unlike a human web content producer, Bing couldn't distinguish between images publishers have the rights to use and images they didn't.

2 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Missed Opportunity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    From TFA:
    Microsoft's Bing now says on its website that "We have temporarily removed the beta." The company said Monday in an email that it had temporarily removed the widget "so we can take time to talk with Getty Images and better understand its concerns."

    So it sounds like they are trying to do just that. The take down was probably to appease Getty so they don't harm the deal.

  2. Re:Did I miss an upgrade? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wrong, and wrong!

    Images, and content (news items) have copyright of their rightful owners.

    Now, some people prefer to ignore the rule of law, but copyright holders have the right to decide where and how their work is displayed.