Recently, Adobe started to discontinue older versions of its Creative Cloud products including Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and more. The company is now sending out warning emails to its customers who may be using older software. The emails state that they may face legal action from a third party if they continue to use said outdated software. Of course, if you’re updating to the newest versions available in your CC subscription, you won’t have to worry.
The reason Adobe may be going this route could be due to them being sued by Dolby back in March 2018. Dolby sued Adobe for not complying with their licensing deal. Dolby is accusing Adobe of selling products that use technology and not reporting each sale or pay any agreed-upon royalties that Dolby may own.
Depending on your preference settings, Adobe isn’t actually able to see if you are using any of its discontinued versions. Adobe has sent emails out to those customers who are currently using, or who maybe be using, discontinued software. The email being sent out reads as below:
Dear Valued Customer,
At Adobe, we always strive to deliver more value to our customers, including much requested new features and capabilities, critical bug fixes and security updates. For these reasons we recommend all customers use the latest release of our Creative Cloud applications.
We have recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications and as a result, under the terms of our agreement, you are no longer licensed to use them. Based on your preference settings, we are not able to see if you are using any of the discontinued versions.
Please be aware that should you use the discontinued version(s), you may be at risk of potential claims of infringement by third parties.
Please upgrade to the latest version(s) using the instructions below. By upgrading, you will continue to receive all the value that Creative Cloud has to offer.
Here’s what to do next:
- Review the list of discontinued versions below.
- If you are using any of these applications, please download and install the latest version(s) using the Creative Cloud Desktop application.
- If you do not have the Creative Cloud Desktop application, you can download and install it here.
- For detailed instructions on how to use the Creative Cloud Desktop application, click here.
- You can also download and install these applications (after signing in) from Adobe.com here.
Should you have any difficulties, Adobe’s Customer Support organization is available to answer any questions about upgrading your Creative Cloud software. Please contact them here. Finally, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Regards,
The Adobe Team
Please note: If a product is not listed in the table below, all versions continue to be authorized. All version numbers listed below are as they appear in the Creative Cloud Desktop App.
Discontinued Major Product Versions & all dot releasesPhotoshop
- CC18.1.6 and prior, CC 17, CC 16, CC 15, CC 14, 13
InDesign
- CC 9, 8
Premiere Pro
- CC 11, CC 10, CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
Media Encoder
- CC 11, CC 10, CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
After Effects
- CC 14, CC 13, CC 12, 11
Animate
- CC 16, CC 15, CC 14, CC 13, 12
Audition
- CC 10, CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, CC 6, 5
Lightroom Classic
- CC 6, CC 5, CC4
Bridge
- CC 7, CC 6
Prelude
- CC 6, CC 5, CC 4, CC 3, CC 2, 1
SpeedGrade
- CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
Captivate
- Captivate 2017 (10.0.0)
I doubt anyone is interested in facing any legal action from the unnamed third party, so it’s smart to just update to the latest software CC has to offer.
What do you readers think about Adobe taking this step on fully making sure customers aren’t using discontinued CC software? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, or MeWe.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
