Google tackles image copyright infringement with latest design tweak

Google’s latest design adjustment attempts to stop copyright infringements by making it more difficult for internet users to save images. The search engine giant has removed the “View Image” and “Search by Image” buttons from its Google Images results page. “View Image” allowed users to open individual pictures in their web browsers, making it easy to download and save them. “Search by Image” meant that internet users could easily find larger versions of specific images.

The changes come about after complaints made by Getty Images to the European Commission about Google’s anti-competitive practices. Getty Images is a photo library that sells photographs to newspapers and broadcasters. The company was angry over the ease with which users could access images without visiting the Getty Images homepage. Google’s tweaks have made the “copyright” disclaimer more prominent and have made it harder for users to find images without accessing the original websites.

The changes were originally announced on Google’s Twitter account, Google SearchLiaison: “Today we’re launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they’re on.”