Adobe · Adobe Terms of Use · View original document ↗

No Reverse Engineering and AI/ML Restrictions

Low severity Medium confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Document Record

What it is

You cannot reverse engineer Adobe's software, use AI tools to analyze its code, or use Adobe products to build a competing service.

This analysis describes what Adobe's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

The explicit prohibition on using AI and machine learning tools to analyze Adobe's software is a recently emerging provision in technology agreements that reflects growing concerns about AI-assisted competitive intelligence.

Interpretive note: EU Software Directive interoperability rights may limit the enforceability of the reverse engineering prohibition for EU-based users in specific interoperability contexts; the AI/ML-specific restriction is a novel clause type with limited enforcement history.

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
May 11, 2026
First Seen
May 22, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 646 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Developers, researchers, and technically sophisticated users cannot use AI tools to analyze or extract information from Adobe's software, and cannot build competing products using Adobe services as a development base.

How other platforms handle this

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"Content" means anything you or your Customers create or make available through the Service in connection with your Account, including your intellectual property (e.g. trademarks, trade names, service marks, and copyrighted works); the products or services you offer (e.g., courses, coaching, members...

ConvertKit Medium

By posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting your Content you grant Kit, its affiliated companies and necessary sublicensees permission to use your Content in connection with the operation of their Internet businesses including, without limitation, the rights to: copy, distribute, trans...

Epic Games Medium

By submitting, sharing, or otherwise making User-Generated Content available through any of the Licensed Products, including by submitting User-Generated Content using UEFN, you grant Epic a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modi...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
You may not modify, port, adapt, or translate the Software. You may not reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code of the Software. You may not use the Services and Software to develop a competing product or to build a product using similar ideas, features, functions, or graphics. You agree that you will not use any artificial intelligence or machine learning tools or technologies (including Large Language Models) to reverse engineer, decompile, analyze, or extract any portion of the software architecture, code, data, or proprietary information from the Services and Software.

— Excerpt from Adobe's Adobe Terms of Use

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Reverse engineering prohibitions in software licenses interact with the EU Software Directive (Article 6), which provides a limited right to decompile software for interoperability purposes that cannot be contractually waived under EU law. In the US, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act provide relevant legal context. The AI-specific reverse engineering prohibition is a newer category of contractual restriction whose enforceability has not been broadly litigated. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium for developers and enterprises. Organizations building integrations with Adobe products should confirm their technical analysis methods do not inadvertently trigger this provision. The AI/ML tool restriction is broadly worded and could potentially capture legitimate security research or interoperability testing. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU users and organizations have statutory interoperability rights under the Software Directive that may override this contractual prohibition in specific circumstances. Security researchers operating in jurisdictions with bug bounty safe harbor provisions should assess applicability. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Technology companies and developers building on Adobe's APIs or integrating Adobe products should review this provision carefully, particularly the prohibition on using Adobe services to develop competing products. The AI-specific restriction may affect automated code analysis tools used in enterprise software development pipelines. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Development teams using Adobe products should review their software development toolchains to identify any AI-assisted analysis tools that could implicate this provision, and ensure acceptable use policies for Adobe products are communicated to technical staff.

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Applicable regulations

DSA
European Union

Provision details

Document information
Document
Adobe Terms of Use
Entity
Adobe
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 20, 2026
Last verified
May 11, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-010086
Document ID
CA-D-00199
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
9cc2260378e6e0dd747c9fd82223c925a9726b28cc700b53d17dd54f1e17eb04
Analysis generated
March 20, 2026 04:51 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Adobe
Document: Adobe Terms of Use
Record ID: CA-P-010086
Captured: 2026-03-20 04:51:07 UTC
SHA-256: 9cc2260378e6e0dd…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/adobe/adobe-terms-of-use/no-reverse-engineering-and-aiml-restrictions/
Accessed: July 4, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Low
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Adobe's No Reverse Engineering and AI/ML Restrictions clause do?

The explicit prohibition on using AI and machine learning tools to analyze Adobe's software is a recently emerging provision in technology agreements that reflects growing concerns about AI-assisted competitive intelligence.

How does this clause affect you?

Developers, researchers, and technically sophisticated users cannot use AI tools to analyze or extract information from Adobe's software, and cannot build competing products using Adobe services as a development base.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Adobe?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Adobe.