Adobe at the heart of many controversies around Photoshop

For several months, the publisher responsible for Photoshop software has been subject to several controversies concerning its generative AI model and its various subscriptions.

The year 2024 is marked by controversy for Adobe. The company in charge of retouching software like Photoshop or Lightroom has had a series of disappointments for several months to the point of being caught in the middle of angry artists and dissatisfied users over its subscription termination conditions. We will explain everything to you.

“Adobe reserves the right to access your content”

The first big controversy regarding Adobe took place several weeks ago. Various users of the publisher’s software have noticed a particularly worrying line within Photoshop’s terms of use. Sections 2.2 and 4.1 of these terms have recently been amended by the company to inform users that Adobe reserves the right to access content created through the image creation and editing software.

The reactions were quick to follow. On the social network X (formally Twitter), many artists have called for a boycott of Adobe and the publisher’s various software:

The concern of the artists in question relates in particular to the use of their content by Adobe in order to improve and train its artificial intelligence solution called Firefly. In recent months, several artists have notably spotted illegal or illicit reproductions of their works using AI.

Adobe did not fail to react to the controversy and quickly backtrack on its terms of use for its software. The English page of the terms and conditions of use of Adobe solutions has recently been updated and now specifies the license surrounding content generated via Adobe applications does not allow the training of AI models. Unfortunately, artists now seem revolted by Adobe on the issue, but also on the company’s economic model.

Deceptive termination fees according to the FTC

For several years now, many Adobe software products have moved to a subscription-based business model. In the words of Dana Rao, legal director of the company, these subscription services are both convenient and flexible for users to choose the plan that best suits their needs.

Terms on which many users seem to disagree. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) recently spoke out against Adobe subscriptions, and especially the conditions for terminating them. According to the FTC, Adobe’s practices may be considered deceptive and may result in additional well-hidden costs, particularly if one wishes to cancel a subscription before its initial commitment period.

According to Samuel Levine, director of an office within the FTC, Adobe knowingly traps its customers through its annual subscriptions which fail to specify early termination fees as well as several obstacles to cancellation. The termination fee in question would be calculated at 50% of remaining payments when customers cancel their contracts during their first year, according to the FTC complaint. The latter also accuses Adobe of hiding their termination options through multiple pages, calls and transfers of their requests in order to dissuade them from stopping their current subscription.

A statement to which Adobe opposes through their website. The FTC’s legal action is therefore expected to continue in court within the next few months.