Crystal Reports Viewer Component - Royalty Free?

Question

Does anyone know if the Crystal Reports Viewer that comes with Visual Studio 2008 is a royalty free distribution for C# apps?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Here's what the license agreement says:

USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF RUNTIME SOFTWARE. 4.1 Deployment and Distribution of Client Applications. Crystal Decisions grants you a personal, nonexclusive, limited license to deploy, reproduce and distribute Client Applications to end users, if you comply with all of the terms of this license agreement, including section 4.4.

4.2 Deployment Within Your Organization of Server/Web Applications. After you have activated your copy of the Software, you may install and use Server/Web Applications in one or more Server Environments owned or operated by you for your internal business purposes. You may not use the Software or a Server/Web Application on a rental or timesharing basis or to operate a service bureau facility for the benefit of third-parties unless you first acquire an Application Service Provider License from Crystal Decisions. The Runtime Software may be installed on only one server in each Server Environment, and only one instance of the Runtime Software per Server/Web Application may be utilized on that Server at any one time. While you may allow Access to the Runtime Software by an unlimited number of users, the version of the Runtime Software provided with Visual Studio .NET is a performance limited edition intended for development purposes and use with Server/Web Applications accessed by small groups. If multiple users are simultaneously accessing the Runtime Software, performance will be affected and users may be unable to access the Runtime Software. If you want to deploy the Runtime Software in a production environment or extend the performance of the version of the Runtime Software provided with Visual Studio .NET, you may purchase additional licensing from Crystal Decisions as a stand-alone offering. For more information, please visit the Crystal Decisions' Web site at http://www.crystaldecisions.com/net/licensing.

4.3 Distribution to Third Parties of Server/Web Applications. This license agreement does not in itself give you any right to distribute Server/Web Applications to third parties. If you want to distribute Server/Web Applications to third parties, you must obtain written authorization from Crystal Decisions to do so. If you obtain written authorization from Crystal Decisions to distribute Server/Web Applications to third parties, you may reproduce and distribute copies of Server/Web Applications to end users of Server/Web Applications so long as you comply with all of the terms of this license agreement, including section 4.4. For more information, please visit the Crystal Decisions' Web site at http://www.crystaldecisions.com/net/licensing.

4.4 Runtime Software Distribution Requirements. If you distribute the Runtime Software to Third Parties pursuant to sections 4.1 or 4.3, you agree to comply with the following requirements:

4.4.1 You distribute copies of the Runtime Software solely as a part of specific-purpose application programs written using an authorized copy of the Software;

4.4.2 You remain solely responsible for support, service, upgrades, and technical or other assistance, required or requested by anyone receiving such Runtime Software copies or sample applications;

4.4.3 You do not use the name, logo, or trademark of Crystal Decisions, or the Software, without written permission from Crystal Decisions;

4.4.4 You do not alter, disassemble, decompile, translate, adapt or reverse-engineer the Runtime Software;

4.4.5 You do not alter, disassemble, decompile, translate, adapt, reverse-engineer, or convert the report file (.RPT) format to an alternative format, including but not limited to report file formats of general purpose report writer or database querying products that are not property of Crystal Decisions, except as permitted by the Software, without written permission from Crystal Decisions;

4.4.6 You do not use the Client Application or the Server/Web Application on a rental or timesharing basis or to operate a service bureau facility for the benefit of third-parties unless you first acquire an Application Service Provider License from Crystal Decisions.

4.4.7 You will defend, indemnify and hold Crystal Decisions harmless against any claims or liabilities arising out of the use, reproduction or distribution of Runtime Software;

4.4.8 You shall secure the end user's consent to terms substantially similar to the following:

End User agrees not to alter, disassemble, decompile, translate, adapt or reverse-engineer the Runtime Software or the report file (.RPT) format;

End User agrees not to use, distribute or integrate the Runtime Software with any general-purpose report writing or report delivery product that is generally competitive with Crystal Decisions product offerings;

End User agrees not to use the Software on a rental or timesharing basis or to operate a service bureau facility for the benefit of third-parties unless End User first acquires an Application Service Provider License from Crystal Decisions;

End User may not use the Software or Runtime Software, together or separately or in combination with Server Environments, as part of a Report Distribution System, without obtaining an additional license from Crystal Decisions;

So it really depends on the type of application you are doing. A "specific purpose" client application is royalty-free, but a server/web application may not be.

Answer 2

You may need to double-check the EULA, but I'm pretty certain the one that's part of the .NET library is, indeed, royalty free. BTW - it is not exactly the same version you'd get if went and actually bought a version of Crystal Reports. They sometimes (as in, every time I've seen someone try) have issues if you want to integrate the two.