Canva Affinity Studio adds arbitration clause: Difference between revisions

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 At the start of October 2025 (approximately October 2nd based on Serif website archives<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creative Freedom Is Coming |url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251002034439/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ |archive-date=2025-10-02}}</ref>), the store page offering the V2 suite of Affinity applications was taken down, removing user's ability to purchase a new license to the V2 software; the [https://web.archive.org/web/20251002041803/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ main page (archived here)] displayed the text, "Creative Freedom Is Coming," and displaying the date, October 30th. On October 30th, the main Serif page announced that new Affinity Studio software arrived, encouraging viewers to visit the new [https://www.affinity.studio/ Affinity.Studio website] where users can download Affinity Studio, an application that is said to combine all three older Affinity applications into one and also adds Canva-backed features into the software.
-As soon as October 3rd, 2025, there was discussion and speculation on a Serif forum discussing the future of Affinity,<ref>{{Cite web |last=@RIP Affinity |date=2025-10-03 |title=Revealing the future of Affinity |url=https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ |url-status=live |access-date= |website=[[Affinity Forum]]}}</ref> and the original post reflects many aspects that happened, including that Affinity's software became free, that the new version of Affinity would be separated from the older versions, and that AI would be part of the new software. The post included concern that the forum may eventually be discontinued, and as of November 2nd, 2025, the forums are set to "read only." A pinned notice indicates that the forums went to read-only mode on October 6th, 2025, but Patrick Conner, the individual who wrote the read-me linked in the notice, indicated that the forums would still remain available, just without the ability to create new posts.
+As soon as October 3rd, 2025, there was discussion and speculation on a Serif forum discussing the future of Affinity,<ref name=":0" /> and the original post reflects many aspects that happened, including that Affinity's software became free, that the new version of Affinity would be separated from the older versions, and that AI would be part of the new software. The post included concern that the forum may eventually be discontinued, and as of November 2nd, 2025, the forums are set to "read only." A pinned notice indicates that the forums went to read-only mode on October 6th, 2025, but Patrick Conner, the individual who wrote the read-me linked in the notice, indicated that the forums would still remain available, just without the ability to create new posts.
 ===Caveats===
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 There is still public concern over the longevity of the "free" software and whether existing features may one day get locked behind a paywall. The company claims that the app is free forever; in a social media post, Affinity says that there isn't a catch, that user data isn't being sold, that user creativity isn't being monetized, and that data isn't being used to train AI models.<ref name=":2" /> However, [https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Canva's Privacy Policy] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260222212655/https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Archived]) indicates that information collected about their users is used for data analytics, service improvement (including analytics and machine learning), and for advertising purposes in addition to other purposes often included in a Privacy Policy.<!-- This could use further verification. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not an expert on the newer Affinity Studio software released by Canva. -->
-There's also concern as to whether the older versions of Affinity that provided a perpetual license may some day be revoked.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Revealing the future of Affinity |url=https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Serif / Affinity Forums |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251103042619/https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity%2F |archive-date=3 Nov 2025}}</ref> The EULA for the V2 Affinity applications indicate that Serif or Serif Licensors could suspend remove, modify, disable, or impose limits on access to Serif Software without notice or liability to the user, further increasing concern over if and when V2 or other Affinity Software may eventually be un-installable or otherwise rendered unusable for existing users.
+There's also concern as to whether the older versions of Affinity that provided a perpetual license may some day be revoked.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Revealing the future of Affinity |url=https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Serif / Affinity Forums |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251103042619/https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity%2F |archive-date=3 Nov 2025}}</ref> The EULA for the V2 Affinity applications indicate that Serif or Serif Licensors could suspend remove, modify, disable, or impose limits on access to Serif Software without notice or liability to the user, further increasing concern over if and when V2 or other Affinity Software may eventually be un-installable or otherwise rendered unusable for existing users.
 ==See Also==