Recognizing the legal concerns of enterprise users over artwork created by generative AI, Adobe has incorporated an indemnity clause. This clause specifies that Adobe will bear any copyright claims connected with artworks generated using Adobe Firefly, the company's AI-based art creation tool.
Adobe clarified this clause, stating, "With Firefly, Adobe will also be offering enterprise customers an IP indemnity, which means that Adobe would protect customers from third-party IP claims about Firefly-generated outputs." This provision implies that Adobe is ready to take on any claims in case a customer faces a lawsuit over the use of content generated through Firefly.
During the Upfront Summit, Adobe Chief Strategy Officer Scott Belsky shared enterprises' apprehensions about using generative AI without comprehending its training process. He compared this scenario to the use of stock images where enterprises need to ensure the proper rights for commercial usage.
Belsky conveyed that Adobe is comfortable with its stance as Firefly was trained on Adobe Stock images, which Adobe has comprehensive permission to use, along with openly licensed content and public domain content with expired copyrights.
Highlighting the safety of this approach, Adobe General Counsel Dana Rao reassured that in case of any lawsuit concerning a Firefly-generated output, Adobe would intervene and indemnify the enterprise customer, based on their knowledge of the content sources used for training the AI model.
Ray Wang, Founder and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, lauded Adobe's approach as it not only protects Adobe but also benefits creators contributing to Adobe Stock.
Despite providing this legal safeguard, Adobe clarifies that the indemnity only covers the specific Firefly-generated output and not any added elements that might infringe on a copyright.
Dana Rao views this provision more like an insurance policy aimed at reassuring customers about the safety of commercially using this technology. He emphasized that despite the unsettled state of law, the indemnity provides peace of mind to enterprise users and Adobe, considering the controlled content used for training Firefly.
