Which regulatory agencies enforce this type of clause?

{'agency': 'FTC', 'reason': "The FTC has authority to investigate whether the broad scope of content licensing is adequately disclosed to consumers under FTC Act Section 5's prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices.", 'complaint_url': 'https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/'}

What is the severity of this clause?

ConductAtlas classifies this Content License Grant to Adobe clause as medium severity. Severity reflects the magnitude of rights affected, the breadth of users impacted, and the degree of discretion the platform retains.

Content License Grant to Adobe — Adobe

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What it is

By uploading content to Adobe's services, you give Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, and distribute your content to operate and improve their services, and potentially for promotion if you've shared it publicly.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Adobe holds a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to your uploaded content for operational and promotional purposes, meaning creative professionals should understand what 'publicly shared' means before posting work on Behance or other Adobe platforms.

Cross-platform context

See how other platforms handle Content License Grant to Adobe and similar clauses.

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

This broad license means Adobe can use your creative work to improve its products and, in some cases, promote its services — without paying you — whenever you upload content to cloud-based Adobe services.

View original clause language

Solely to the extent necessary for Adobe to provide, improve, and promote the Services and Software that you use, and subject to the privacy settings and permissions you establish, you grant Adobe a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free sublicensable license to use, reproduce, publicly display, distribute, modify, create derivative works based on, publicly perform, and translate the Content. For example, we may reproduce, publish, and display your portfolio on Behance on third-party sites and apps for promotional purposes. We will not use Content from your personal account or personal profile for our own marketing or promotional materials, except for (A) Content that you have publicly shared and (B) with your permission.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates copyright law (17 U.S.C. §106) as the licensor's grant of rights, GDPR Art. 6 regarding processing of personal data embedded in creative content, and CCPA §1798.100 regarding use of personal information beyond the original collection purpose. For EU users, the provision must be assessed against GDPR's purpose limitation principle (Art. 5(1)(b)) to determine if downstream use of content for marketing constitutes compatible processing. 2)

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Applicable agencies

FTC

The FTC has authority to investigate whether the broad scope of content licensing is adequately disclosed to consumers under FTC Act Section 5's prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices.
File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information

Document

Adobe Terms of Use

Entity

Adobe

Document last updated

April 29, 2026

Tracking information

First tracked

March 20, 2026

Last verified

April 27, 2026

Record ID

CA-P-003535

Document ID

CA-D-00199

Evidence Provenance

Source URL

https://www.adobe.com/legal/terms.html

Wayback Machine

View archived versions →

SHA-256

9cc2260378e6e0dd747c9fd82223c925a9726b28cc700b53d17dd54f1e17eb04

Verified

✓ Snapshot stored ✓ Change verified

How to Cite

ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Adobe | Document: Adobe Terms of Use | Record: CA-P-003535
Captured: 2026-03-20 04:51:07 UTC | SHA-256: 9cc2260378e6e0dd…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/adobe/adobe-terms-of-use/content-license-grant-to-adobe/
Accessed: May 2, 2026

Classification

Severity

Medium

Content License Grant to Adobe