17/10/2026
Getty Images is a huge name, maybe the biggest when it comes to editorial and stock photography. I have had an account on one of their websites, iStock, for almost 10 years now. I was kind of shocked to hear that they will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
They started back in 1995 from the idea of Mark Getty (a descendant of oil magnate J. Paul Getty). In 1997, Getty Communications combined with PhotoDisc to create Getty Images.
They grew big by buying a lot of photo archives, from sports to history, such as Liaison Agency, Allsport, Newsmakers and Hulton Press Library, among many others. After that they went for other “small” companies such as Archive Photos, iStockphoto and MediaVast. In 2016 they were huge and with no competition after Corbis, Bill Gates’ rival agency, sold its license. In 2025 Getty reported an annual revenue of 981.3 million USD.
On October 12 of this year they announced that they will enter a bankruptcy process. A few reasons: first, they have a heavy debt of $2.1 billion against only 51 million in cash. Another reason is the failed merger with Shutterstock, and of course the AI competition.
Now, how will the future look for contributors and photographers? In the short term, the company said that contributors, customers and vendors will be unaffected and will be paid. But some contributors have reasons for distrust, as over 9,000 photographers on iStock (me included) were told that they had been overpaid and that the amounts would be deducted from future royalties. However, Getty projects its editorial stock to grow from 369 million to 400 million, so photographers who are covering real events look a bit better than the microstock photographers who are competing against AI. Also, for now the trials are not a safety net for the copyright owners, as many of the photos on Getty and its subsidiaries were sent for AI training.
Some advice for photographers is to document what Getty owes them, keep their agreements and any official emails and conversations, and watch for the official notes from the company.
I collected some information from websites such as Marketing-Interactive, ThePrint, The Post Millennial, bdnews24 and PetaPixel.
📸 Do you sell your photos or designs online? Tell us in the comments how you’re dealing with AI competition.
