getty images stealing other photos and putting thier own watermarks on it, and also losing to AI generated pictures.
So we can have the “View Image” button back in Google now, right?
There have been extensions for that since the day it happened.
Yep, but Google keeps breaking them on me in a game of cat and mouse. I’ve just about arrived at the point where it’s easier to simply not use Google.
Getty shares have lost about 99% of their value since returning to public markets in 2022 through a special purpose acquisition company that valued the company at about $4.8 billion, after 14 years as a private firm.
A SPAC strikes again!
It makes me curious how the financials could go so wrong for Getty. What are their operating expenses? Certainly fixed costs for the infrastructure for maintaining and distributing images and video, but with the royalties they charge I would imagine that is a tiny cost. I would also guess human staff needed for negotiating larger licensing/content deals would also exist. Even with these two expenses licensing images, I would think, would be very profitable.
The article mentioned bond holders, so they’re clearly carrying debt. I wonder if that was just for the attempted Shutterstock acquisition or if they’ve been borrowing to maintain operations for years and the worldwide credit crunch just caught up with them.
Combination of debt from the attempted Shutterstock acquisition and litigation from hedge funds/VC related to their initial public stock warrants.
From their 2nd quarter filings:
The Company’s liquidity position has been adversely affected by:
• ongoing Warrant Litigation, with the Company paying $110.9 million in judgment and associated interest in the second quarter of 2026 and carrying a remaining litigation reserve of approximately $99.5 million as of June 30, 2026. See “Note 11 - Legal Proceedings and Contingencies.”;
• significant costs incurred in relation to the recently terminated Merger (which was terminated by the Company on July 7, 2026), with the Company incurring approximately $60.4 million of legal, accounting and other direct costs through June 30, 2026; and
• high interest expense including net interest expense associated with the financing that was obtained in anticipation of the recently terminated Merger, with the Company incurring approximately $30.1 million of interest expense, net of interest earned on the escrowed funds through June 30, 2026, along with $13.5 million in associated financing fees.
The people a Youdontsurf are going to be devastated.
I hope that means I can once again view more than 5 pages of images without being registration blocked.
deleted by creator
