There are many reasons to keep your software up-to-date: to access new features and functionality, close security vulnerabilities, maintain compatibility with collaborators and clients, and more. To that end, Adobe is taking the aggressive step of unlicensing older versions of its Creative Cloud applications to require users to upgrade.
In an email notification to customers, Adobe cautioned that users “are no longer licensed to use certain older versions of the applications or deploy packages containing these older versions.” Adobe went on to warn “if you continue to use or deploy these unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud, you may be at risk of potential claims of infringement by third parties.”
Which specific “third parties” Adobe is referring to is unclear, but Lawrence Abrams of BleepingComputer points to ongoing litigation with Dolby as the likely culprit. Dolby sued Adobe in 2018 over unpaid license fees, and many of the now de-authorized Creative Cloud versions contain Dolby technology. Going forward, users will only be able to download the two most recent major versions of Creative Cloud applications.
In light of this announcement, Nodal recommends that any users currently on older versions of Adobe Creative Cloud update to the latest versions at their earliest convenience. Adobe’s list of supported software versions can be found below:
If you have any questions about updating your Adobe software, or have concerns whether you are using the authorized versions, feel free to contact Nodal!