Developer uses Claude Opus 5.5 to clone seven Adobe apps as open source
In a column for Huxiu, lawyer You Yunting describes how developer Brandon Thomas announced on Reddit that he used Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 and the Rust language to build seven open-source applications matching the functions of Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat Pro, released on GitHub. The article applies copyright ideas such as the idea-expression dichotomy and the "access plus substantial similarity" test, arguing Adobe would struggle to prove infringement because the interfaces and code differ and the developer says the work was clean-room. It also catalogues user grievances over Adobe's subscription-only licensing, annual lock-ins and its China channel sales and enforcement practices, which the author says explain the widespread cheers for the clones.