Italian Ministry of Culture court order forces Getty Images Italia to remove any content depicting Michelangelo’s David

According to a court order, Getty Images’ Italian website gettyimages.it will have to immediately cease making available all content depicting Michelangelo’s David – failure to do so could cost €50.000 a day.

The order also covers content showing the original statue or any replicas around the world. In a note to contributors Getty Images say they will continue to distribute Michelangelo’s David content throughout the world they just need uploaded content to “include the following keywords … “Michelangelo” AND “David” AND “statue” … Any failure to follow this guideline could result in court-ordered penalties of €50.000 per day. We reserve the right to pass along this penalty to you. Please review our IP Wiki entry for more information.”

Getty Images look like they are reviewing the court order, which is good. PAN reached out to them for a response – they sent us this:
“Getty Images Italia S.r.l. is facing, as defendant, a lawsuit before the Tribunal of Florence regarding the content depicting Michelangelo’s David. The legal action has been brought against Getty Images Italia S.r.l. by the Italian Ministry of Culture. After the initial rejection of the provisional request done by the claimant, at the reclamation stage the Tribunal of Florence deemed to grant the provisional request for the temporary removal of the content depicting Michelangelo’s David from relative local websites. Getty Images (US.) Inc., informed about the Tribunal of Florence provisional decision of the reclamation stage, has temporarily removed the content depicting Michelangelo’s David from its local Italian websites. Getty Images is convinced of the legitimacy of its conduct and will continue to defend its rights.
Getty Images.“

Has your photo library been sent the same order? Let me know [email protected]