Adobe Announces Changes to Photoshop Express Terms of Use
In response to concerns expressed by Beta users of its new Photoshop Express site, Adobe has announced today a clarification of its terms of use. Of most interest will likely be the new wording of section 6. Use of Your Content, sub-section (a) By Adobe:
Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, we do need certain rights from you, with respect to Your Content, in order to operate the Service and in order to enable you to do all the things this Service affords you the ability to do. Therefore, with respect to Your Content, you grant Adobe a worldwide (because the internet is global), royalty-free (meaning we do not owe you any money), nonexclusive (meaning you are free to license Your Content to others) fully sublicensable (so that we can permit our affiliates, subcontractors and agents to deliver the Service on our behalf) license to use, reproduce and modify Your Content solely for the purposes of operating the Service and enabling your use of the Service. With respect to Your Shared Content, you additionally grant Adobe the rights to distribute, publicly perform and publicly display Your Shared Content (in whole or in part) for the sole purposes of operating the Service and enabling your use of the Service and to sublicense Your Shared Content to Other Users subject to the limitations of Section 7 below. These limited licenses do not grant Adobe the right to sell or otherwise license Your Content or Your Shared Content on a stand alone basis. Further, you may terminate Adobe’s right to distribute, publicly perform and publicly display Your Shared Content by making it no longer shared. You may terminate the remainder of Adobe’s rights by removing Your Content from the Service. (Detailed instructions on how to do these things can be found at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=74& catid=684&threadid=1351324&enterthread=y). Upon removal of Your Content from the Service or upon making Your Shared Content no longer shared, Adobe shall have a reasonable time to cease use, distribution and/or display of Your Content. However, you acknowledge and agree that Adobe shall have the right to keep archived copies of Your Content.
According to previous public statements made on this issue by Adobe, this new wording is in line with the spirit of the previous wording, which was simply to secure the legal rights needed to run the site. Adobe is obviously hoping that the more specific language will help ease user concern about what rights Adobe was claiming to user content.
I applaud Adobe for making their terms more understandable and still highly recommend the site as I did in my previous review of the beta when it was first announced.
