Clarification for Pro 8 EULA

Report · Oct 07, 2007

I'd like to receive some clarification on an issue I certainly feel deserves it. Please keep in mind any reference to "original media" need not be digital at all or in any way under the control of Adobe before being loaded or converted to PDF format.

Please reference the text from the EULA below (on an Acrobat-installed machine found at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Legal\en_US):

14.13.1.1 "Deploy" means to deliver or otherwise make available, directly or indirectly, by any means, an Extended Document to one or more recipients.

14.13.1.2 "Extended Document" means a Portable Document Format file manipulated by Acrobat Professional Software to enable the ability to locally save documents with filled-in PDF forms.

14.13.3 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 Professional 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 Professional you may have obtained).

As I currently interpret these lines in regards to form submission and Usage Rights 14.13.3 sentence a) refers to the extraction of information from 500 unique instances of the document or a hardcopy representation thereof. Since this sentence refers to the Extended Document which is inherently an instance of the file itself I have interpreted as others have that the ultimate determinant and initial starting point for scope of these terms would be the file itself. Many developers are thus designing their apps to assume the role of file-instance tracking where, for example, a new package file could be manually created in Professional 8 from combined documents, have Usage Rights Enabled and then be re-used as a separate and digitally unique Extended Document after 500 is reached - per the terms of the EULA. In this way the instance of the file is tracked and removed from Deployment when the limit is met. There should be no insinuation in regards to this EULA discriminating against original media used to create the Extended Document, as these paragraphs specifically define the final "Extended Document" or the Deployed file itself as the basis for their language. I am not putting this in here to cause any debate, but merely to advise on my own and others' interpretation of the EULA in regards to what seems to be a very clear explanation, and a topic of interest to many developers who wish to make full use of the power Acrobat Professional 8 provides - while acting in accordance with said EULA.

In short there should be no bearing on the original media or their likeness (not necessarily digital or under any control of Adobe whatsoever at this point - as in before being loaded into or converted by Acrobat) in regards to the final created PDF file as a Usage Rights Enabled, or dare I say, Extended Document, correct? In my own professional interpretation as a developer this would be a correct understanding of your EULA. After all I would hope that Adobe would foster the sort of development and progression in web applications that this would afford without having to curtail to specific languages or existing, marketed technologies.

I would like to hear confirmation or clarification from an Adobe rep concerning this. I am mainly bringing this to light after reading the reference to hardcopy, but this should not be a problem as this clearly refers to the "extraction of information from...any hardcopy representation of such Extended Document", which would be after the Extended Document is created and in regards to it's submission, and so I am also verifying the ability to use similar original media in the creation of a new Extended Document (and inherently a completely new file) to be Deployed as this does not seem to be contrary to the EULA. I do appreciate the time.

Report · Oct 08, 2007

This is a user to user forum. Have you contacted Adobe Customer Support or cantacted an attorney about your legal question? An answer here is not binding on Adobe.

Try asking your question in the Acrobat Windows or Acrobat Macintosh forum, as these forums deal with the Acrobat Standard of Professional products and not the conferencing product Acrobat Connect.

http://forum.adobe.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bbeda8b/

Report · Oct 08, 2007

quote:

This is a user to user forum. Have you contacted Adobe Customer Support or cantacted an attorney about your legal question? An answer here is not binding on Adobe.

Oh don't worry I'm not trying to bind anyone and I have sent a request to Adobe Customer Support but was hoping to gain insight on the re-use of original media used to create the PDF and what others' experiences may have been in regards to their professional adherence to the EULA.

quote:

Try asking your question in the Acrobat Windows or Acrobat Macintosh forum, as these forums deal with the Acrobat Standard of Professional products and not the conferencing product Acrobat Connect.

Yes, I was hoping these forums deal with Acrobat Standard or Professional as I am talking about Acrobat Professional 8, I don't know why you think my question was related to Acrobat Connect, I don't even know what that is.

Contrary to what seems to be the "trend" on most tech-forums nowadays it was my hope that any subsequent replies would focus on the issue and/or topic at hand, although I would agree that an official answer would come direct from Adobe. Did not mean to direct such an official inquiry to the public but I am attempting to engage in General Discussion here after all. I will certainly take your advice to push the issue with Adobe, however I am also interested in the interpretation of developers such as yourself. These things happen with such a vague EULA - although when I rationalize the very terms they have defined it does not seem so vague, which is where my desire for confirmation would come from. If no one else feels like providing any insight then I will certainly have to see if I can come to some finality with an Adobe rep.