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Photoshop Express Terms of Use Cause Stir, Will Be Revised

Posted by Soulskill on from the read-the-fine-print dept.

Earlier this week, we discussed Adobe's beta launch of Photoshop Express, a free, online version of the popular image editing software. However, as a number of readers pointed out, the terms of use included language which granted Adobe a wide range of rights to any photos that were made available on the site. Now, after receiving a great deal of feedback from potential users, Adobe has stated their intent to rewrite the terms of use, as Ars Technica reports. David Morgenstern of ZDNet also notes the impending change, and briefly discusses the privacy and ownership concerns involved with content you post online.

8 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Even if they "fix" it .. by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    who's to say they won't change it back again at some point in the future? This really highlights all the problems with using someone else's equipment to host and processes personal data files.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    1. Re:Even if they "fix" it .. by Vellmont · · Score: 3, Insightful


      who's to say they won't change it back again at some point in the future?

      Anything is possible. But what's more important is what's likely.

      Adobe has really little to gain by changing it back to current incarnation of the license. They're in the business of producing and selling software, not tricking people into given them rights to sell stock photography. They won't change it back because it'd be a pretty obviously dumb business move by Adobe.

      This really highlights all the problems with using someone else's equipment to host and processes personal data files.

      No, it really highlights the fact that many software companies don't really understand the legal implications of hosting someones data. They likely just called up the lawyers and said "make sure we don't get burned somehow by hosting this content". The lawyers pulled out some boilerplate language and changed it around a little bit, not thinking that the guy submitting content might actually want to retain some of his rights (end users have right? Who'd have thought that!).

      Not every company is trying to screw you over at every single moment. They tend to pick and choose those times carefully ;).

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      AccountKiller
  2. Re:Just use the GIMP by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Certainly Photoshop has a few remaining strengths over the GIMP

    Regardless of the technical merits, the reality is that Photoshop has the acceptance of professionals everywhere, and that kind of inertia will be hard to overcome even if GIMP ultimately exceeds Photoshop in capability and usability. "Free" means little to people that use something as a business tool that can be written off their taxes, and which they must trust to get the job done. That said, Photoshop is hardly perfect, Adobe is an obnoxious company, and I sincerely hope that the GIMP makes it out of amateur status and truly does go head-to-head with Adobe's stuff. Sooner or later it will, I think.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  3. I'm starting to wonder... by tech10171968 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm starting to wonder if "someone at Adobe" really thought this was a bad policy? Or, is this a case where Adobe tried to sneak one past the public and got busted (because someone did the unthinkable and actually read the EULA)? You'll have to excuse my cynicism: dealing with the EULA-based trickery of another particular software company (whose name I won't bother mentioning) is precisely what drove my ass to FOSS in the first place. Sure it's free as in beer, but the "free as in speech" part is more important than people will ever give credit for, and situations like TFA are a perfect illustration of this.

    --
    This space for rent!
    1. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by tech10171968 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Now that I think of it, you really do make a good point; we've all seen what happens when a corporation gets so damned big that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is up to (think Sony, Motorola). But that doesn't take away from the fact that, whether this was a mere oversight or not, the trap is still there. That steaming pile of dung has still been left on the sidewalk just waiting for someone to step in it. Maybe you're correct in saying this was a mistake, but it's still the type of legal risk to which I'm no longer willing to knowingly expose myself.

      --
      This space for rent!
  4. Re:Just use the GIMP by NeverVotedBush · · Score: 4, Insightful

    GIMP sure takes a beating for being unfriendly. I disagree with that label, though. I think GIMP is easy to use and does a great job. Plus it is free. It's a very capable and easy to use graphics editor.

    I think the real issue is GIMPs interface is just different. It looks a lot like PaintShopPro at least used to. I was a PaintShopPro user for some time and switching to GIMP was easy.

    I like the GIMP. Anyone interested in GIMP ought to just download it and try it out for themselves and see what they think. Give it some time. It always takes a while to learn a different interface. I think people would be pleasantly surprised if they would just try GIMP for a while instead of being turned off that its interface isn't the same as Photoshop's.

  5. Re:Just use the GIMP by richard.york · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That said, Photoshop is hardly perfect, Adobe is an obnoxious company, and I sincerely hope that the GIMP makes it out of amateur status and truly does go head-to-head with Adobe's stuff. Sooner or later it will, I think.

    Well, they might start by calling it something other than GIMP....

    Which of the more common definitions do you think people associate with this fine product?

    Gimp: lameness: disability of walking due to crippling of the legs or feet

    Gimp: is a usually derogatory term used to refer to a (male or female) sexual submissive person, typically dressed in black leather (or rubber), often in a gimp suit, and wearing a bondage hood or mask of the same material. ...

    Courtesy of http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+gimp

    Your average Joe isn't going to know that it means GNU Image Manipulation Program.

    For God sake, the most common definition implies that it is crippled! I haven't used the GIMP much, my company bought a copy of Photoshop just for little ol' me. So to me it makes no difference if the GIMP is free or not, setting aside its ridiculous name, I didn't have to pay for Photoshop anyway.

  6. Re:Just use the GIMP by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    7. Change the name.
    8. Offer a UI skin that is more like ps.