The Adobe Settlement Explained: What Lightroom Classic and Photoshop Users Might Receive

If you use Lightroom Classic or Photoshop, Adobe may owe you money. The US government reached a $150 million settlement with Adobe over deceptive subscription practices, and a portion of that is set aside for qualifying customers.

Coming to you from Nathan Cool Photo, this straightforward video breaks down what happened, who qualifies, and what compensation might actually look like. Cool explains that the settlement stems from Adobe violating the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) through deceptive fine print, buried hyperlinks, and unclear disclosures about early termination fees. What makes it worse: during the Federal Trade Commission's investigation, a document surfaced showing an Adobe executive described those termination fees as "a bit like heroin for Adobe," and acknowledged there was "absolutely no way to kill off ETF or talk about it more obviously without taking a big business hit." Cool doesn't mince words about that, calling it a "cheesy CD sales tactic" that was "terribly wrong." Adobe's longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen announced he was stepping down one day before the Department of Justice settlement, which Cool reads as a classic corporate move to let the next leader come in with clean hands.

The plan most likely to receive compensation is the annual paid monthly plan, since that was at the center of the lawsuit. Customers who paid early termination fees or canceled early may also be eligible. You can check your plan type directly in your Adobe account. Cool notes that while $75 million sounds like a meaningful sum, Adobe has tens of millions of customers, so the per-person compensation may amount to one or two months of Adobe Creative Cloud credit, along with possible refunds for anyone who paid out-of-pocket cancellation fees. The courts still have to determine the exact structure of compensation, so nothing is finalized yet.

Cool also takes a moment to be candid about his own relationship with Adobe. He uses Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Bridge, and Premiere Pro professionally for real estate photography and video work, and he's clear that the engineers behind those products do solid work. His frustration is directed squarely at the leadership decisions, not the software itself. He also flags that Adobe is facing real competitive pressure, particularly from Canva, which recently acquired Affinity and now offers Affinity Photo completely free. That shift in the competitive landscape puts even more pressure on Adobe to get its act together.

On the question of timing, Cool expects compensation details to surface sometime in the summer of 2026, and Adobe has agreed to reach out directly to affected subscribers rather than requiring you to sign up through a class action portal. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Cool.

Note: this does not serve as legal advice. Consult a lawyer before taking any action.