They already did this with public domain works from the Library of Congress and the result of the legal case was that because the works are public domain, Getty is free to put them behind a pay wall and even potentially DMCA people for using those public domain works (in the case that the image was sourced from Getty instead of direct from the source and then shared elsewhere).

Basically Getty can bully anyone into paying them for using a public domain work and even if you fight them in court, the only recourse would be that they drop the charge (but not covering court fees).

Well… Kind of. Disney has a habit of pulling inspiration from public domain, then copyrighting their new version and using it to bully anyone who tries to use the original source material. Basically every Disney princess came from a story in public domain. But if you try to sell anything related to Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, etc I can almost guarantee Disney’s army of lawyers will be on your ass. Even if what you’re selling doesn’t include Disney’s material. They’ll try to bully you with lawsuits simply for using the same source and being tangentially related as a result.