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
The clause establishes restrictions on technical analysis and competitive product development based on the Software. By prohibiting AI/ML-assisted analysis and source code extraction, the provision creates operational constraints on how users and third parties may interact with and study the Software's technical architecture.
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.
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.
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Restricted Content includes clear violations of our Content Policy or applicable laws, and is subject to immediate action. Content designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to systems or devices. Content that attempts to transmit or generate malicious code (e.g., malware, trojans, vir...
You agree not to post, upload, publish, submit, or transmit any Content or use the Services to create any Output that: (a) infringes, misappropriates, or violates a third party's patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights, or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity o...
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"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
(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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The clause establishes restrictions on technical analysis and competitive product development based on the Software. By prohibiting AI/ML-assisted analysis and source code extraction, the provision creates operational constraints on how users and third parties may interact with and study the Software's technical architecture.
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.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Adobe.