The Corbis Demand Letter Command Center

Corbis’s image licensing business was acquired by Visual China Group (VCG) in January 2016. The Corbis brand is effectively dormant. Corbis images are distributed by Getty Images outside of China and by VCG inside China. You will not receive a demand letter from ‘Corbis’ directly. Any enforcement action involving a Corbis image will come from Getty Images, PicRights (acting on Getty’s behalf), or VCG. The original Corbis entertainment division was spun off and rebranded as BENlabs, which is unrelated to image licensing.

Corbis was founded by Bill Gates in 1989, originally as Interactive Home Systems. Gates envisioned selling digital images for display in homes, schools, and businesses. The company amassed over 100 million images, including the Bettmann Archive of 11 million historic photographs. This matters because the sheer scale of the Corbis collection means its images are widespread across the internet, and many website owners may unknowingly have Corbis-originated content that is now enforced by Getty or VCG.

Yes. Corbis was documented charging $99 to $1,735 for images that were in the public domain, including Civil War-era photographs and materials from the Library of Congress. After Getty acquired Corbis distribution rights, the practice of watermarking and selling public domain images continued. If you receive a claim for a Corbis image, a forensic audit may reveal that the image is actually public domain and no one can claim copyright over it. PicDefense does not provide legal advice, but our forensic tools can help identify image provenance.

Visual China Group is China’s largest stock image and media provider and the third-largest in the world. VCG acquired Corbis’s image licensing business in 2016. VCG has faced significant controversy: in 2019, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV called VCG a ‘malignant tumor’ after VCG falsely claimed copyright over the first photograph of a black hole and the Chinese national flag. Chinese regulators fined VCG and partially suspended its services. VCG filed over 2,000 copyright lawsuits in 2017–2018.

Since Corbis images are now enforced through Getty’s pipeline, typical settlement demands range from $800 to $5,000+ per image, consistent with Getty’s standard demand amounts. The specific amount depends on the image’s commercial value, duration of use, and whether the copyright is registered. Amounts escalate significantly after the initial letter. PicDefense does not provide legal advice on settlement amounts — consult an IP attorney.

The validity of pre-2016 Corbis licenses depends on the specific license terms, scope, and whether the usage falls within the original grant. The transition from Corbis to VCG/Getty may have created gaps in license record databases, meaning Getty’s system may not recognize your valid license. Locate your original Corbis license agreement, purchase confirmation, and any associated correspondence. These documents are critical evidence. An IP attorney can advise on whether your specific license covers your current use.

The Bettmann Archive is a collection of approximately 11 million historic photographs, including iconic images such as the Hindenburg explosion and construction workers lunching above 1930s New York City. Corbis acquired the archive and moved it to Iron Mountain’s underground storage facility in western Pennsylvania, where it is preserved at −4 degrees Fahrenheit, 220 feet below ground. The archive is now owned by VCG and managed physically by Getty Images. Images from this archive may appear in demand letters.

In 2003, Corbis sued Amazon and 15 other defendants for copyright infringement of photographs displayed on IMDb.com and by Amazon marketplace vendors. Amazon successfully defended itself using the DMCA safe harbor provision. The court found that Corbis failed to notify Amazon of the alleged infringements before filing suit. This case is significant because it demonstrates that even Corbis’s own claims could be defeated when proper legal defenses are raised.