Adobe Sues Forever 21 for using Pirate Copies

Sky News is reporting that High street fashion chain Forever 21 is being sued by Adobe for allegedly using pirated copies of Photoshop.

The Los Angeles based retailer, Forever 21, has 480 shops worldwide, with 8 of those located in large Shopping Centres in the UK.  The retail chain which sells contemporary fashion clothing is accused of using a raft of well-known software tools and not paying license fees.  The allegations surround Adobe's graphics and web software, 3D design and rendering products from Autodesk and graphics and file compression software from Corel.

The detailed lawsuit was filed this week and includes the registration numbers of the software products involved, plus dates on which the software was used.

The claim is for copyright infringement where a party copies someone else's product without permission.  In this case the permission is a licence fee which has not been paid. Adobe wants the court to issue an injunction to prevent further misuse and a cash sum for lost revenue, court costs and additional damages.

It will be interesting to understand how Adobe discovered its software was being wrongly used by Forever 21.  It is understood that Adobe has actively encouraged people to turn in employers who are using software which has not been paid for.

The case has been commenced in California, where Forever 21 are based.  If the allegations are proven then Forever 21 may find itself on the wrong end of a significant additional damages claim.