Adobe shouts "Update or get sued"??

Do Adobe have a death wish?.

Or as the article states, whatever licences Adobe had for parts of the software packages listed have run out and Adobe are informing their customers that they open themselves up to potential legal action for using partly unlicensed software. Adobe bashing seems to be the internet's favourite pastime at the moment but this is actually good customer service from them in letting customers know. Imagine if they hadn't sent this email out and then a company got sued for using an old version of PS with unlicensed software contained in it. They literally can't win
 
Or as the article states, whatever licences Adobe had for parts of the software packages listed have run out and Adobe are informing their customers that they open themselves up to potential legal action for using partly unlicensed software. Adobe bashing seems to be the internet's favourite pastime at the moment but this is actually good customer service from them in letting customers know. Imagine if they hadn't sent this email out and then a company got sued for using an old version of PS with unlicensed software contained in it. They literally can't win

I get what you say, but if I purchased a version of Photoshop a few years ago and am still using it because it still works then how am I using an unlicensed product?
 
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Or as the article states, whatever licences Adobe had for parts of the software packages listed have run out and Adobe are informing their customers that they open themselves up to potential legal action for using partly unlicensed software. Adobe bashing seems to be the internet's favourite pastime at the moment but this is actually good customer service from them in letting customers know. Imagine if they hadn't sent this email out and then a company got sued for using an old version of PS with unlicensed software contained in it. They literally can't win

Ok but Adobe do appear to be conflating by stating Creative Cloud (CC) products and then including, though not explicitly older legacy Perpectual License versions such as here "Lightroom Classic: CC 6, CC 5, CC 4 "

As far as I recall there were two products running in parallel in 2015 i.e. LR Classic 2015.1/ perpetual license v6 but the previous v4 and v5 AFAIK never had CC cousins.

This aspect seems to be, because they have not addressed it, to scare legacy users of the older perpetual licenses into going CC but I/we stuck with the old versions for a reason and that was not desire to go the CC route.

Nor is it clear whether the "third party software packages" about which they are warning folk were only in the CC variants or all the legacy products???
 
I get what you say, but if I purchased a version of Photoshop a few years ago and am still using it beacuase it still works then how am I using an unlicensed product?

I'm sure that's handled in the huge licensing agreement that everybody clicks they agree to without ever reading.
 
Reading the article, it seems that it's NOT Adobe themselves who might be chasing users but the 3rd party providers who could. As a PSE rather than CC user, I don't think I need to worry!
 
They are simply covering their backs. Large organisations using software need to be aware of changes to terms and conditions. I doubt the private users needs concern themselves. Of course, it’s a great excuse for the Adobe bashers to get their clubs out.
 
Gimp is good. So is Darktable.:clap:
 
I'm quite happy to be corrected on this but it looks as if Adobe have actually made a b***s up by incorporating some third party software into their own without thinking about the consequences.

So that's incompetence to add to the greed they are quite clearly manifesting over their pricing etc. What a combination! Still, profits are up!

As Private Eye would say "trebles all round!"
 
One third party application which is included in LR is Google Maps. You can only access Google Maps from current versions of LR cc. If you try old stand alone versions, Google Maps is no longer available. I suspect that this is because Google are now collecting a regular fee which Adobe can cover in its monthly fee but cannot for old versions as there is no income. You cannot have the most up-to-date version of LR cc on W8 anyway though I think this W8 is still OK.

Dave
 
One third party application which is included in LR is Google Maps. You can only access Google Maps from current versions of LR cc. If you try old stand alone versions, Google Maps is no longer available. I suspect that this is because Google are now collecting a regular fee which Adobe can cover in its monthly fee but cannot for old versions as there is no income. You cannot have the most up-to-date version of LR cc on W8 anyway though I think this W8 is still OK.

Dave


That makes sense but what do you mean by W8?
 
I get what you say, but if I purchased a version of Photoshop a few years ago and am still using it because it still works then how am I using an unlicensed product?

.... As I understand it, if you purchased a licence for a version of Photoshop outright prior to and without buying a subscriptions model, then your licence to use that particular software version remains for life - I think it's called a perpetual licence.

I think that Adobe are just technically-legally covering their arses re subscriptions, as someone here has already suggested.
 
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Tens of thousands of people have been using pirated illegal Abobe software since they started and they cant even sue them or even deter them lol.
 
And unfortunately, some of us have been using it without prior knowledge.

I bought an open box version of an older Photoshop through Amazon, and now get (un-removable) pop ups when I open it telling me that's it's illegal.

No recompense from Amazon and, funnily enough, the company that sold it to me don't respond to any of my emails.
 
Tens of thousands of people have been using pirated illegal Abobe software since they started and they cant even sue them or even deter them lol.

And people wonder why they went down the subscription route.... Everyone on here would rightly be aggrieved if some stole their images but the same people would have quite happily used a pirated version of Photoshop to process that image
 
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Adobe has been accused of underpaying royalties to Dolby. They have now moved to nativeOS support for Dobly codecs and thus want everyone to stop using their licensed codecs from Dolby. Perpetual license users need not worry apparently as a cost per perpetual license was already in place. Its only the cloud versions that have a problem.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/14/a_dolby_sues_adobe_for_dodging_cloud_license_fees/

Regards...

I'm left wondering how Dolby has anything to do with LR or PS for that matter.
 
And people wonder why they went down the subscription route.... Everyone on here would rightly be aggrieved if some stole their images but the same people would have quite happily used a pirated version of Photoshop to process that image

That's an interesting accusation to make here. I suspect you'll find the vast majority of TP users have purchased their software in good faith - like Kell for example - and would not consider pirated software. This why there is a loud and aggrieved group of people who feel like Adobe are not a good company.

You however seem to be very fond of adobe - employee by any chance?
 
I'm left wondering how Dolby has anything to do with LR or PS for that matter.
From court documents:
16 - For fifteen years, between approximately 2002 and 2017, Adobe benefited from numerous Dolby Technologies that enabled Adobe’s software products. In that time, Adobe incorporated Dolby Technologies in many popular Adobe software products including, but not limited to, Adobe’s Audition, After Effects, Encore, Lightroom, Media Encoder, Prelude, Premiere Elements, and Premiere Pro products.
17 - Dolby Technologies delivered functionality in these Adobe products by encoding and/or decoding high-quality digital audio.
 
That's an interesting accusation to make here. I suspect you'll find the vast majority of TP users have purchased their software in good faith - like Kell for example - and would not consider pirated software. This why there is a loud and aggrieved group of people who feel like Adobe are not a good company.

You however seem to be very fond of adobe - employee by any chance?

I was merely quoting the post above mine which stated lots of people use pirated software. And nope I'm not an employee, nothing at all to do with them I just find a lot of people bash them for basically everything they do. I am a big fan of Lightroom and the cloud element in particular.
 
Or as the article states, whatever licences Adobe had for parts of the software packages listed have run out and Adobe are informing their customers that they open themselves up to potential legal action for using partly unlicensed software.

When you cough money to a supplier you are in effect expecting them to indemnify you from such issues.

Adobe bashing seems to be the internet's favourite pastime at the moment but this is actually good customer service from them in letting customers know.

It's their responsibility. Trying to stick the customer or suggesting to the innocent customer that they may be in the legal firing line is simply out of order.

US law is a bit different. My impression is that Adobe tends to miss this on occasion.

Adobe bashing is - on this occasion - competely deserved - on this point.

It's also worth bearing in mind that this is an example of the greater risk of a subscription for the end user. Why? Well if you the customer buy a perpetual software licence and the vendor susbequenty has an issue with some included intellectual property then that os the vendor's problem. If you have a subscription then if the vendor has a dispute regarding included intellectual property then the impact on the end user may be rather sudden - worst case a switch off - more likely a sudden change in the software service and possible elimination of features.
 
I've never seen any other company do this sort of thing. If you pay a lot of money for something, you expect a professional service. Not threats.
It's yet another embarrassing cock up that will hopefully wake the blindly loyal up to Adobe's behaviour towards users. There is no sign it's going to stop either. As they still don't give a damn. Expect more of this bad behaviour.
 
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They literally can't win
This problem was caused by Adobe. They took peoples money and messed up.
Adobe have had a series of cock ups showing they don't really care. So it's not surprising, especially considering the price, that people are having a bash.
 
According to Victoria Bampton ("The Lightroom Queen") LR 6.14 is still available from the Adobe website. She undoubtedly has close links to Adobe and in her newsletters she does come across as an Adobe apologist. However she did provide a link as follows -

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-in...-previous-version-apps-download.html#2015apps

When I clicked on it I was asked to redirect to Adobe's UK site and there appears to be no obvious route to obtaining LR 6.14 from either location. But It might be worth investigating this a bit further if you want Lightroom but don't want to go down the subscription route
 
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My email from Adobe said I had been using Lightroom Classic cc 6.13. I cannot think why I would use it even though it was still installed as I have the most up-to-date version. However, I have deleted it now. I still have stand alone LR 4.4 and 5.7 installed but do not plan to delete those.

I have no reason to bash Adobe as I use and rely on their software. For photography, I cannot see anything that matches the Photoshop cc package. I would hate to have to move on from LR as I rely on the catalogue for searches having rated, colour coded and keyworded my images for a decade.

Dave
 
According to Victoria Bampton ("The Lightroom Queen") LR 6.14 is still available from the Adobe website.

It looks like it's still available as a download, though not useful without a license key.

If anyone does discover a way of actually buying LR 6 standalone on perpetual license then I'd be glad to hear it, but suspect that won't happen. There is simply no way that I'll go with SAAS.
 
It looks like it's still available as a download, though not useful without a license key.

A bit misleading from the Lightroom Queen, really.........

I would hate to have to move on from LR as I rely on the catalogue for searches having rated, colour coded and keyworded my images for a decade.

And there you have it......short and curlies........
 
i've jsut sent a post to the Lightroom Forum asking if she can clarify those links.

From the wording in the newsletter, I don't think she means to suggest you can buy it, just that you can still download the installer if you already have a key. The implication is that Adobe is not trying to block use of standalone LR6 if you have already bought it (or why would they continue to offer the download?). This is consistent with Adobe's badly phrased emails applying only to the equivalent CC version. Incidentally, I believe the LR6 download still linked from here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/creative-cloud-previous-version-apps-download.html

functioned initially as a demo, but could be licensed either as standalone LR6 or as LR CC. Perhaps using the same binaries has made it more difficult for Adobe to distinguish between LR6 installations and equivalent LR CC 2015 installations.

So why do Adobe want to stop customers using old versions of CC applications? Adobe couldn't care less if you are sued by 'third parties', but they care rather a lot when they are. My guess is that the emails are intended to achieve two things. First, Adobe can in any legal defence say they have done their best to stop their customers using the old, allegedly infringing, versions. Second, if they are ever audited for infringement, they want as few subscribers as possible to be using these old versions, since every active copy means that Adobe are continuing to profit from renting out software containing the allegedly infringing technology, which could mean they are liable for higher damages. Adobe are using the unlikely scenario of end users getting sued to 'encourage' them to upgrade, but it just makes Adobe look like they are (unconvincingly) trying to pass the buck.

So who does this actually affect? Not perpetual licence owners, or those with up to date CC installations, just the subset of users who (for whatever reason) have stuck with the old CC versions, perhaps for hardware compatibility, to to retain some feature that has been removed or changed in later versions.
 
i've jsut sent a post to the Lightroom Forum asking if she can clarify those links.
Apologies for the misunderstanding. For clarity, I should have started that sentence with "if you need to reinstall your perpetually licensed version...". The previous downloader page has gone missing during their website rejig, but that's the new location. It hasn't been made available for sale again, so this is just for people who already have a license.

And yes, this whole situation is a mess!
 
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Unfortunately it's a very different story for CS6 and other versions of CS. Adobe have removed all the public links to the installers, which are now only available by contacting Adobe Support, a process some customers are finding far from straightforward:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2620448

Luckily I've just managed to locate my original CS6 installer. While poking around the Adobe forums, I came across some interesting links about CS3:

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/creative-suite/kb/activation-fails-cs3-acrobat-8.html
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2385900

As with CS2, Adobe have switched off the activation servers and provided a modified version with a licence key that can be installed without activation, which I guess means CS3 is the most recent version that can be used completely outside Adobe's online control - all you need is the new offline installers and key (and possibly the installation tips in the second link). Unlike the activation-free CS2 downloads, they aren't giving this away to everyone - you need an original CS3 key to access the downloads. Since I have a valid CS3 Design Standard key, I grabbed the downloads before this page follows the equivalent CS2 page into online oblivion the next time they rejig the website. I'd advise anyone using CS3 (still a very capable version) to do the same.
 
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