Adobe is cutting a $75 million check to settle a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice, and honestly, it’s about time. The tech giant has been getting away with some seriously sketchy subscription practices, but the feds finally decided to do something about it.

Back in 2024, the DOJ filed suit against Adobe, claiming the company violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a law from 2010 specifically designed to stop companies from pulling deceptive moves with online charges. The accusation? Adobe was making it ridiculously hard to cancel subscriptions and charging surprise fees that customers didn’t see coming. Sound familiar? Yeah, because Adobe’s cancellation process has been infamously frustrating for years.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. Adobe is settling the case without admitting to any wrongdoing. “While we disagree with the government’s claims and deny any wrongdoing, we are pleased to resolve this matter”, the company said in a statement. Translation: “We’re paying to make this go away, but don’t expect us to admit we did anything wrong”. Classic corporate move, right?

But wait, there’s more good news for people who’ve been burnt by Adobe’s subscription trap. The company is also throwing in $75 million worth of free services for affected customers. If you’ve been hit with a cancellation fee, you’re probably in that group. Adobe says they’ll reach out with specific details once the court approves everything, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Now, before you get too excited, let’s be real: this settlement probably won’t change how Adobe operates. The company has already made some adjustments to how it presents cancellation fees during checkout, and they’re banking on the fact that most people won’t notice or care. And honestly, with over $7 billion in net profit last year, dropping $75 million is basically pocket change for them. The company built its entire business model around Creative Cloud subscriptions, and those subscriptions have been making them serious money.

The silver lining here is that this lawsuit sends a message to other companies thinking about pulling similar tricks. The DOJ is watching, and if you’re being shady about subscriptions, you might end up in court too. For Adobe users, the settlement means a little financial relief if you’ve been caught by their cancellation fees. It’s not a complete victory, but it’s something. And in the wild west of tech company customer service, something is better than nothing.

So if you’ve been paying Adobe cancellation fees over the years, make sure to watch for their notification about free services. You’ve already suffered enough.