Adobe warning of legal problems if subscribers keep using old versions of Creative Cloud a...
Users of older versions of Creative Cloud apps, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic, have been told by Adobe that they are no longer licensed to use them, and anyone who continues to use these versions could face "infringement claims" from other companies.
Users of older versions of Adobe Creative Cloud apps including Photoshop have been told to stop using them or face potential "infringement claims" from third-party companies who are unnamed but suspected to be Dolby. Adobe cites only "ongoing litigation" as the reason for the abrupt announcement.
"Adobe recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications. Customers using those versions have been notified that they are no longer licensed to use them and were provided guidance on how to upgrade to the latest authorized versions," said Adobe in a statement to AppleInsider.
"Unfortunately, customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud may face potential claims of infringement by third parties. We cannot comment on claims of third-party infringement, as it concerns ongoing litigation."
Instead, users are receiving the equivalent of a cease and desist email, informing them that the apps that they are using are discontinued.
Twitter user Matt Roszak was the first to report on the official Adobe email but many others have now followed suit. Each person has received a personalised email specifying the older apps they are using, which so far appear to include Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom Classic, Animate and Media Director.
In response to other complaints on Twitter, the company's @AdobeCare account repeated the information and added one more detail. "We cannot comment on claims of third party infringement," says a series of tweets, "as it concerns ongoing litigation. Third parties include any person or company who may have a claim of copyright or other IP infringement by virtue of your continued use of the unauthorized products."
Another similar support response says that this is "due to a copyright dispute."
While Adobe has not said who the dispute is with, the company is presently being sued by Dolby. Through a legal complaint filed in March 2019 with the US District Court and the Northern District of California, Dolby is seeking a jury trial over issues of "copyright infringement and breach of contract" against Adobe.
Prior to the creation of the Creative Cloud subscription service, Adobe licensed certain technologies from Dolby with an agreement based on how many discs of certain apps were sold. Now that the software is distributed online, the companies reportedly renegotiated their agreement to be based on how many users are actually running the software.
According to Dolby's legal filing, this agreement was subject to the figures Adobe reported being examined by a third-party audit. "When Dolby sought to exercise its right to audit Adobe's books and records to ensure proper reporting and payment, Adobe refused to engage in even basic auditing and information sharing practices; practices that Adobe itself had demanded of its own licensees," says the filing.
"Adobe apparently determined that it was better to spend years withholding this information from Dolby than to allow Dolby to understand the full scope of Adobe's contractual breaches," it continues. "Yet the limited information that Dolby has reviewed to-date demonstrates that Adobe included Dolby technologies in numerous Adobe software products and collections of products, but refused to report each sale or pay the agreed-upon royalties owed to Dolby."
Earlier in May, Adobe announced that that users will no longer be able to stay on just any older version they want.
"Please note that going forward, Creative Cloud customers will only have direct download access... to the two most recent major versions of Creative Cloud desktop applications," says the company in a blog post.
If you are a Creative Cloud subscriber using the latest releases, or a recent version, then your apps continue as normal and you need do nothing. This should mean that the majority of users are unaffected. However, up until now, if you pay your subscription you have been entitled to use whichever version you want -- and there are strong reasons to stay on older editions of Adobe apps.
Users may prefer to wait until any potential bugs are found and fixed in the latest edition, for instance. They may also be unwilling to risk a major update while they are in the middle of a project. Or users may well have chosen to stay on prior versions of the software because they don't want to have to update their Macs to get the best from the newest editions.
Users of older versions of Adobe Creative Cloud apps including Photoshop have been told to stop using them or face potential "infringement claims" from third-party companies who are unnamed but suspected to be Dolby. Adobe cites only "ongoing litigation" as the reason for the abrupt announcement.
"Adobe recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications. Customers using those versions have been notified that they are no longer licensed to use them and were provided guidance on how to upgrade to the latest authorized versions," said Adobe in a statement to AppleInsider.
"Unfortunately, customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud may face potential claims of infringement by third parties. We cannot comment on claims of third-party infringement, as it concerns ongoing litigation."
Instead, users are receiving the equivalent of a cease and desist email, informing them that the apps that they are using are discontinued.
I just got an email from @Adobe that I'm no longer allowed to use the software that I'm paying for. Time to cancel my subscription I guess.
Share plz. pic.twitter.com/ZIIdqK5AkM-- Matt Roszak (@KupoGames)
Twitter user Matt Roszak was the first to report on the official Adobe email but many others have now followed suit. Each person has received a personalised email specifying the older apps they are using, which so far appear to include Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom Classic, Animate and Media Director.
In response to other complaints on Twitter, the company's @AdobeCare account repeated the information and added one more detail. "We cannot comment on claims of third party infringement," says a series of tweets, "as it concerns ongoing litigation. Third parties include any person or company who may have a claim of copyright or other IP infringement by virtue of your continued use of the unauthorized products."
Another similar support response says that this is "due to a copyright dispute."
While Adobe has not said who the dispute is with, the company is presently being sued by Dolby. Through a legal complaint filed in March 2019 with the US District Court and the Northern District of California, Dolby is seeking a jury trial over issues of "copyright infringement and breach of contract" against Adobe.
Prior to the creation of the Creative Cloud subscription service, Adobe licensed certain technologies from Dolby with an agreement based on how many discs of certain apps were sold. Now that the software is distributed online, the companies reportedly renegotiated their agreement to be based on how many users are actually running the software.
According to Dolby's legal filing, this agreement was subject to the figures Adobe reported being examined by a third-party audit. "When Dolby sought to exercise its right to audit Adobe's books and records to ensure proper reporting and payment, Adobe refused to engage in even basic auditing and information sharing practices; practices that Adobe itself had demanded of its own licensees," says the filing.
"Adobe apparently determined that it was better to spend years withholding this information from Dolby than to allow Dolby to understand the full scope of Adobe's contractual breaches," it continues. "Yet the limited information that Dolby has reviewed to-date demonstrates that Adobe included Dolby technologies in numerous Adobe software products and collections of products, but refused to report each sale or pay the agreed-upon royalties owed to Dolby."
Customers who continue to use or deploy, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud may face potential claims of infringement by third parties. We can not comment on claims of third party infringement, as it concerns ongoing litigation. ^CS https://t.co/wx2K8MXov9
-- Adobe Customer Care (@AdobeCare)
Earlier in May, Adobe announced that that users will no longer be able to stay on just any older version they want.
"Please note that going forward, Creative Cloud customers will only have direct download access... to the two most recent major versions of Creative Cloud desktop applications," says the company in a blog post.
If you are a Creative Cloud subscriber using the latest releases, or a recent version, then your apps continue as normal and you need do nothing. This should mean that the majority of users are unaffected. However, up until now, if you pay your subscription you have been entitled to use whichever version you want -- and there are strong reasons to stay on older editions of Adobe apps.
Users may prefer to wait until any potential bugs are found and fixed in the latest edition, for instance. They may also be unwilling to risk a major update while they are in the middle of a project. Or users may well have chosen to stay on prior versions of the software because they don't want to have to update their Macs to get the best from the newest editions.
Comments
Adobe has already been warning people with older versions NOT to install updates to those versions because it would remove functionality with certain features due to licensing. This was clearly provided in the blue link under the individual update for all older versions. Believe this impacted everything from CC 2017 and previous.
If they really do 100% CUT OFF access to CC 2014 or CC 2015 versions (or prior), that's when an uproar is warranted. As it stands currently, if users have those versions installed and they continue to function as-is (without further updates) I do not see a problem with no longer offering the downloads. It had to eventually happen and you cannot expect them to continue offering 10+ versions of software forever.
Adobe has actively released updates for almost every older version of their software in the past year to remove Dolby functionality related to this exact issue. Ultimately, this is a licensing issue on both sides. People using older software MAY have class-action status based on how the subscription was sold to them and the terms they agreed to at the original purchase. This would mostly include those who signed up for Creative Cloud the first year or two of it being offered and have continued to subscribe (without lapse).
"Adobe is engaged in a legal dispute with certain other companies. As a result, we've been informed that Creative Cloud users who are still using older versions of (insert titles) could be subject to legal action from third parties. Because we value our customers and don't want to see them negatively affected, we want to advise you of this development. We strongly recommend you download the free upgrades of CC apps. This will help ensure your interests as a customer. Please be aware that if you choose to keep using older versions, Adobe cannot be responsible for the actions of third parties."
Something like that. Apparently they don't have anyone at Adobe who can write a letter.
My industry has mostly shifted to Sketch and Figma, and their response (Adobe XD) has fortunately found only moderate traction.
Photoshop Pixelmator Pro. Unlike Photoshop, which is full of clunky cross-platform Adobe Air code, Pixelmator is a real Mac native app. The performance is just bewildering. Affinity Photo looks promising but I don't know much about it.
Illustrator Affinity Designer. Illustrator also has the drawback of having huge chunks written in freakin’ Java. Slow and decrepit UI, inconsistent not only with Mac but the rest of the Adobe "suite." Affinity Designer is modern, native, and full-featured. I am unsure if the color separation features are as robust as Illustrator, unfortunately. CorelDRAW also has a new native Mac version (and, subjectively to me, a better UI, but that's very controversial), not many reviews thus far. Inkscape has okay word of mouth but it kind of smells of GIMP to me.
InDesign Affinity Publisher. Still in beta. tbh I'm skeptical that it will be competitive out of the gate, but worth a look.
Lightroom Apple Aperture. haha just kidding
The biggest drawback to switching, in my experience, has nothing to do with features or performance or cost, but everything to do with familiarity. Artists don't like to retrain themselves to use different tools. I know countless graphic designers and artists who simply can't handle the mental hurdle of retraining all their keyboard shortcuts. It's a miracle that the industry managed the switch from Quark Xpress to InDesign…
Yup that's a major drawback for those of us using Adobe for a decade or more. Old dogs and all....
For me it is ubiquity and compatibility of file formats. We hire freelancers and do a lot of collaboration. For that to work we all need to be on the same platform.
There are a few things that caused the mass migration from Quark. One, unlike inDesign Quark did not have drop shadows, did not support Photoshop files, you had to be connected to the internet every time you launch it to check your serial number it didn’t support drag and drop from the Finder and Adobe was giving inDesign away for free to anyone with a license to Pagemaker. inDesign had much better PDF export workflow capabilities. Given all that along with other outstanding features made it a no brainer to switch.