--- title: "Adobe Says It’ll Cover Legal Bills for Its AI Tool" description: "As the copyright controversy shrouding generative AI outputs only continues to deepen, Adobe has planted its flag in the sand." date: "2023-06-08" modified: "2023-06-08" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/adobe-legal-bills-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "copyright law" - "image generator" - "the digest" --- # Adobe Says It’ll Cover Legal Bills for Its AI Tool ![As the copyright controversy shrouding generative AI outputs only continues to deepen, Adobe has planted its flag in the sand.]() *\Image: Adobe\* ## Got Your Back As the [copyright controversy]() shrouding the use of [generative AI tools]() continues to deepen, Adobe has planted its flag in the sand. According [to *Fast Company*](), Adobe is so confident that copyright law won't be an issue for users of their new generative AI-powered "Firefly" product that they've promised to cover any and all copyright-related legal costs that users might incur as a result of using it. Well, uh, *some* of its users, that is. The compensation — which will cover "full indemnification for the content created" according to Adobe VP of digital media Claude Alexandre — will reportedly only apply to users of Adobe's business-focused "[Firefly for enterprise]()" offering. In short, Adobe is ready to put its money where its mouth is. Offering legal backing against alleged copyright violation is "a proof point that we stand behind the commercial safety," as Alexandre told *Fast Company*, "and readiness of these features." ## Stocked Up Firefly, which was [recently released in beta form]() to Photoshop users, can reimagine highlighted sections of a given image by simply typing in a text prompt. Per the report, Adobe's argument hinges in large part on the claim that their AI has been trained primarily on stock images that they already own, as opposed to the wealth of data and imagery being scraped from across huge swathes of the web by the likes of Stable Diffusion or Midjourney. And Adobe has been in the stock image game for a while. Their new AI, they say, is really just an extension of that. "Adobe claims that Firefly has been trained on entirely legal inputs, mostly from their own extensive image libraries," Andres Guadamuz, an intellectual property law researcher at the University of Sussex, told *Fast Company.* "This is an indication that they have conducted a thorough investigation of their training sources and are happy that they will not get sued." ## Commercially Safe Alexandre also emphasized to *Fast Company* that Adobe did its homework and found that Firely is "as good or better in terms of field compliance and IP checks." "We feel very good this is totally and completely commercially safe," Alexandre added, although he did concede that "the risk is never zero, hence why we offer indemnification." There's some precedent of the creators of AI image generators being accused of having their tools come up with infringing material. Stock image giant Getty, for instance, [sued Stable Diffusion maker Stability AI]() earlier this year, arguing that it scraped millions of its images without a license. But with the rights to its own extensive catalog of images in hand, Adobe is well-positioned to defend the output of its latest AI image generator — and it's ready to put money behind that conviction. **More on generative AI:** [*Man Sues OpenAI after ChatGPT Claimed He Embezzled Money*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()