Perplexity Finally Paid for Content (After Getting Caught)

Hey there! It’s Aaron.

An AI company just did something unusual: it paid for the content it uses.

Perplexity signed a deal with Getty Images this week… but only Getty got the check. Independent creators are still waiting in line.

Here's what changed, what didn't, and why you should be paying attention.

CATCH OF THE DAY

Perplexity Finally Paid for Content
(After Getting Caught)

Perplexity just did something weird for an AI company: it paid for the content it uses.

The AI search startup signed a multi-year deal with Getty Images, giving it official rights to display Getty’s photos in search results.

For a company that’s spent months dodging plagiarism accusations, it’s a rare moment of playing by the rules.

It shows that AI companies can pay for content; they just need enough legal pressure to remember how.

Perplexity’s deal with Getty means that when you see an image in its AI-generated answers, it will include proper credit and a link to the original source. On paper, that’s a small tweak. In practice, it’s a shift in how AI platforms treat creative work.

Imagine uploading your content visuals or tutorial screenshots and seeing them appear in AI search results with your name still attached. Not scraped. Not stripped of watermarks. Just credited, like it should have been all along.

That’s what Getty gets now. The rest of us are still waiting. But if this deal becomes the template, other licensing platforms might follow. Independent creators could finally have a way to get paid when AI uses their work. The question is whether AI companies will extend that courtesy beyond the big players.

Getty got the check, not the photographers or designers whose work fills its library. And everyone outside Getty’s walls — the bloggers, YouTubers, illustrators, and educators — still doesn’t have a seat at the table.

So why did Perplexity suddenly decide to play nice? Because the alternative was getting sued into oblivion.

Over the past year, Perplexity has operated in a gray zone, summarizing articles, quoting sources, and occasionally borrowing photos under the banner of fair use. That approach worked until publishers started complaining, Reddit filed a lawsuit, and The Wall Street Journal caught the company lifting paywalled content.

This deal with Getty is damage control, a peace offering disguised as progress. Getty’s vice president Nick Unsworth said it “acknowledges the importance of attributed consent.” In other words, you can use our library, but only if you ask first and pay for it.

Perplexity isn’t just cleaning up its image; it’s adapting to survive. Trust, not just speed or intelligence, is now the real currency in AI search. If users believe the visuals are sourced responsibly, they’re more likely to believe everything else the model says.

But this isn’t only about Perplexity making amends, it hints at a larger shift. AI companies are realizing that survival means joining the content ecosystem instead of raiding it.

Getty got paid today. Tomorrow, it might be independent creators cutting their own deals with platforms like Perplexity or OpenAI.

For creators outside Getty’s catalog, the play is simple: pay attention. If more licensing deals follow, platforms like Shutterstock, DeviantArt, or even collective creator networks could be next. That could mark the start of a more sustainable, less exploitative era for creative work in AI.

The Final Byte

AI companies are starting to move from “ask forgiveness later” to “get permission first.” For creators, that’s progress… even if it’s incomplete.

Getty got the first seat. If enough creators demand the same treatment, AI companies will have no choice but to make room. The real question now isn’t whether AI will pay for content.

It’s who gets a seat at the table.

See you in the next one,

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