As Getty Images has acquired other older photo agencies and archives, it has digitized their collections, enabling online distribution.

[11] In 2015, Jonathan Klein became the company's chairman and Dawn Airey was hired as chief executive officer (CEO) of Getty Images.

[12][13][14] Airey remained in the role until 31 December 2018, at which time she became a non-executive director member of its board and Craig Peters was appointed CEO.

[16] Later that year, it announced that due to customers' changing needs, it plans to phase out rights-managed imagery by 2020 in favor of royalty-free images.

[17] In December 2021, Getty Images announced its intention to become publicly traded once more through combination with CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II.

In July 2022, the SPAC merger was completed and the newly formed parent company of Getty Images went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GETY.

[18] Activist investor Trillium Capital made an unsolicited bid to acquire Getty for US$4 billion in April 2023 – representing nearly a 100 percent premium.

With the acquisition of the Hulton library, Getty Images took ownership of the rights to some 15 million photographs from British press archives dating back to the nineteenth century.

[24] Getty has branched out into stock audio, music and sound effects, and also video with the acquisition of EyeWire and Energy Film Library.

[26] In 2000, Getty acquired one of its main competitors, Archive Photos of New York (a division of The Image Bank), for US$183 million.

Their collections included archive images from The New York Times, Metronome and George Eastman House, and works by photographers such as Ruth Orkin, Anacleto Rapping, Deborah Feingold, Murray Garrett, Nat Fein and John Filo.

Concurrently, it was announced that VCG would, after a transition period, license distribution and marketing of the Corbis library outside of China to Getty.

[36] In February 2008, it was announced that Getty Images would be acquired by the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a transaction valued at an estimated US$2.4 billion.

Rather than pursue a policy of sending "cease and desist" notices, Getty typically mails a demand letter that claims substantial monetary damages from owners of websites it believes infringed on their photographers' copyrights.

Getty commonly tries to intimidate website owners by sending collection agents, even though a demand letter does not create a debt.

The diocese's communications director said: Getty was not playing ball or following the normal litigation or dispute resolution procedures and [I advised the church] to ignore them.

[42] The Guardian described other instances in which Getty or other stock photo businesses dropped a claim when a website owner refused to pay and hired a lawyer.

[46] On 15 February 2018, Google Images' interface was modified in order to meet the terms of a settlement and licensing partnership with Getty.

[47][48] In 2009, Car-Freshner Corp., makers of Little Trees, filed a lawsuit against Getty Images in U.S. Federal Court, Northern District New York (Case 7:09-cv-01252-GTS -GHL).

[49] Car-Freshner claimed that Getty Images had in its catalog photos that included the famous "tree-shaped" trademarked car fresheners.

[59][60] Highsmith found out about this when she received a letter from a law firm representing Getty, demanding $120 for displaying her pictures on a personal website of hers.

[67] Public-domain photos from historical photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans have long been available for unrestricted downloading from the United States Library of Congress.