Adobe's End User License Agreement (EULA) provisions regarding Reader Extensions are an important point of reference for those planning to deploy PDFs with Acrobat-conferred Reader Extensions.
Adobe's End User License Agreement (EULA) for Acrobat limits the usage of Reader Extensions in several important ways. To get Reader Extensions without such limits, at this time, you must either purchase your Reader Extensions from Adobe Systems via their Enterprise Licensing model, or else execute an OEM agreement.
The following text is copied from the Acrobat 9.0 EULA document, which all end-users agree to honor when they install Adobe's Acrobat software (it's part of the legalese everyone clicks through). Without offering anything like legal advice, we have boldfaced the sections that seem to us to be of interest.:
15.12 Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Pro Extended Feature.
15.12.1 Definitions.
15.12.1.1 “Deploy” means to deliver or otherwise make available, directly or indirectly, by any means, an Extended Document to one or more recipients.
15.12.1.2 “Extended Document” means a Portable Document Format file manipulated by Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended Software to enable the ability to locally save documents with filled-in PDF forms.
15.12.2 If the Software includes Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended, the Software includes enabling technology that allows you to enable PDF documents with certain features through the use of a digital credential located within the Software (“Key”). You agree not to access, attempt to access, control, disable, remove, use or distribute the Key for any purpose.
15.12.3 For any unique Extended Document, you may only either (a) Deploy such Extended Document to an unlimited number of unique recipients but shall not extract information from more than five hundred (500) unique instances of such Extended Document or any hardcopy representation of such Extended Document containing filled form fields; or (b) Deploy such Extended Document to no more than five hundred (500) unique recipients without limits on the number of times you may extract information from such Extended Document returned to you filled-in by such Recipients. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, obtaining additional licenses to use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended shall not increase the foregoing limits (that is, the foregoing limits are the aggregate total limits regardless of how many additional licenses to use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended you may have obtained).
See the entire Adobe Acrobat EULA (PDF).
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