Cancel Adobe if you are a creative under NDA with your clients

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Scope of Adobe’s ToS Changes

  • New terms give Adobe a broad, sublicensable license over “Content” created with or imported into its services/software, and allow automated and manual access for moderation and “improving” products, including via machine learning.
  • Many see this as incompatible with NDAs, client IP ownership, and regulated data (e.g., medical, legal, corporate secrets). Even Adobe’s blog “clarification” is read as “trust us,” not as a binding limit.

Legal and Contract Implications

  • Several commenters note that unilateral ToS changes are often not enforceable without offering penalty‑free cancellation, especially in the EU and some common‑law countries; in practice, enforcing this may require lawyers or small‑claims actions.
  • US users face binding arbitration and class‑action waivers. Chargebacks are suggested by some; others warn about collections and credit damage.
  • A repeated concern: users cannot grant Adobe rights they don’t own, so freelancers could be in breach of client contracts if Adobe later reuses or trains on that work.

Cancellation Fees and Workarounds

  • Adobe’s standard early‑termination fee (~50% of remaining annual obligation) is heavily criticized as predatory.
  • Widely shared workaround: switch to a cheaper plan, then cancel within the 14‑day cooling‑off period for that new plan to avoid the fee. Some report using payment method changes; others report debt collectors when simply cutting off payment.

Alternatives and Lock‑In

  • Many tools are suggested: Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher, Krita, GIMP, Photopea, Pixelmator, DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Natron, Capture One, Darktable, etc.
  • Experiences are mixed: some professionals report being happy after switching; others argue nothing matches Photoshop, After Effects, Lightroom, or InDesign for depth, ecosystem, and file compatibility.
  • Lock‑in via “industry‑standard” formats, client expectations, and years of legacy projects makes quitting Adobe costly in time and productivity.

Broader Themes

  • Strong resentment toward SaaS, dark patterns (cancellation fees, ToS creep), and using customer content as free AI‑training data.
  • Some see this as part of wider “enshittification” and cloud‑driven privacy erosion; others note that many competing platforms and even OS vendors have similarly broad data‑access language.