A photographer suing the Detroit Lions over using a copyrighted image of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders as a reference for a statue dropped his claims against Getty Images, according to a court filing.

Allen Kee on Thursday dismissed, without prejudice, his claims against Getty. He’s accused the NFL’s Lions of “slavishly” copying his 1995 photograph.

In his initial complaint, filed in January in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Kee alleged Getty had licensed the photograph without permission.

Kee also dropped his claims against the NFL for sanctioning the use …