The Corel Business User License Agreement (BULA) is a contract between Corel Corporation and a Business Customer, meaning a business, government agency, nonprofit organisation, academic institution or other group or entity, together with the individuals authorised to act for it.[1] The page states that it is current as of April 1, 2026.[1] Like the EULA it has General Terms and product Specific Terms, and the Specific Terms prevail in a conflict.[1] Its Specific Terms cover CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, CorelDRAW Standard and Technical Suite, Painter, PaintShop Pro, ParticleShop, AfterShot Pro, Photo Video Bundle, WordPerfect Office Standard and Professional, CorelDRAW.APP, Corel PDF Fusion, VideoStudio, WinDVD and Roxio Creator and Toast.[1]
General Terms
Users and restrictions
The BULA defines a User as an individual who is an agent, employee, contractor or temporary worker of the Business Customer, and makes the customer responsible for its Users’ compliance.[1] The licence restrictions largely match the EULA: no reverse engineering, sublicensing, timesharing or use for another’s benefit, and no AI or machine-learning training with the software or its data without Corel’s written consent. The BULA adds that parts of the software may not be separated and run on more than one device or upgraded or downgraded at different times, and that no third party other than Users may access the software.[1]
Perpetual licences and versions
Unless the customer has a Support Agreement entitling it to downgrade or to receive upgrades, a Perpetual License covers only the version stated on the License Certificate.[1] A License Certificate from Corel or the channel partner specifies the licence type, versions and editions, term, the number of permitted Users or devices, support, fees, taxes and licence keys.[1]
Fees, renewal and transfer
Fees are on Corel’s website or communicated by Corel or a channel partner, and all amounts are non-refundable without prejudice to mandatory law. Unless the Specific Terms provide for automatic renewal, Corel or its collection agent may send renewal reminders before expiry.[1] Neither Subscription Licenses nor, in general, Perpetual Licenses may be assigned. Only fully paid Perpetual Licenses for which the customer has bought Support Services beyond the free support may be assigned, and only with the transfer of hardware or employees in connection with a sale, merger, reorganisation, privatization or consolidation. The customer must notify Corel in advance with a licence transfer form, and the transferee must agree in writing to the BULA.[1]
Audit and compliance
The customer must keep records of all use, installation and deployment throughout its organisation and any Virtualization Environment. Corel may audit those records at its expense during the term of Subscription Licenses and for two years after, or the term of Perpetual Licenses and two years after termination, not more than once a year unless an audit reveals unlicensed use, when it may verify as often as quarterly. The customer must provide information on all installed or deployed software and purchase documentation within 30 days, onsite audits require 30 days’ notice, and shortfalls attract additional licence and maintenance fees, interest at 1.0 percent per month (or the legal maximum), and recovery expenses. If unlicensed use exceeds five percent of licensed quantities, the customer also reimburses audit costs, and Corel may suspend or disable the software for material noncompliance.[1] Remote monitoring through a reporting function in the software is also provided for.[1]
Specific Terms: metrics
The Specific Terms define the counting vocabulary.
| Term | Meaning in the BULA Specific Terms |
|---|---|
| Managed Device | Any physical or virtual device under the customer’s control or possession that can run the software and on which it directly controls one or more operating system environments |
| Per Managed Device | A single licence permits installation on or access from a single Managed Device, used by any number of Users on that device provided only one User uses it at a time |
| Per Virtualization Environment | Each licence permits access by a single named User profile within a Virtualization Environment; each User needs a separate licence |
| Virtualization Environment | A hardware partition, blade or terminal server within the customer’s internal network or VPN, or a remote or cloud server, that Managed Devices and Users connect to for access to the software |
The definitions are from section 2 of the Specific Terms.[2]
Applying the metrics
One licence must be dedicated to each instance installed on a Managed Device or accessed through a Virtualization Environment. A shared computer lab device needs one Per Managed Device licence if users take turns.[2] A User who accesses the software both on a licensed Managed Device and through virtualization needs two licences, and the same applies to a hybrid arrangement such as an office installation plus remote virtual access from home.[2] A single licence does not permit the same User to use the software simultaneously on several Managed Devices or environments, and unauthorised simultaneous use may automatically disable the software on all of them.[2]
User Credentials may not be shared between individuals, except where a centralised deployment method that Corel supports and expressly authorises allows administrator credentials to authenticate multiple installations within licence scope; a credential may be wholly reassigned to another individual.[2]
Virtualization
Installing in a Virtualization Environment is permitted for named Users, subject to the software’s ability to interoperate with the environment, and not in the Restricted Jurisdictions (Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam).[2] Customers holding only Perpetual Licenses who want virtualization must first buy Support Services for all of them and dedicate a Perpetual License to each Managed Device that installs the software or reaches it through virtualization.[2] Corel states that use in an environment the software was not designed for is at the customer’s own risk.[2]
Academic Site Licenses
A Qualified Institute (an accredited educational institution such as a school, college, university or polytechnic, or an organisation supervising such institutions) can use Academic Versions. Corel’s determination of whether an organisation qualifies prevails.[2] A Site License is a subscription that lets an unspecified number of Academic Users use the software through the institute’s Virtualization Environment, from multiple devices and locations, with each Academic User also permitted one installation on one device outside the Restricted Jurisdictions. Simultaneous use on two or more devices may disable access on all, and fees may vary by jurisdiction and be banded by number of Academic Users or full-time employees. Academic Versions may not be used for commercial or for-profit purposes.[2]
Maintenance
A Perpetual License must be bought with fixed-term maintenance and support through the CorelSure programme, and Subscription Licenses include it automatically.[2] CorelSure is covered in the subscriptions article.
Business offerings on the CorelDRAW site
Corel’s CorelDRAW business page offers an annual subscription and a one-time purchase that includes one year of maintenance, and says that medium and large enterprises with five or more seats can receive a solution designed to their needs, with special pricing for government agencies, charities, non-profits and educational institutions regardless of seat count.[3] Subscribers and active maintenance customers receive 2,000 AI credits per month under that offering.[3]
Legacy programmes
Two older programme documents remain published.
- Corel Transactional Licensing (CTL), a document marked June 2017 v1.0, lets customers subscribe to or buy software and maintenance by quantity in each transaction. It allows installation on employees’ home computers if fees are paid (prohibited in China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia), requires active maintenance for Virtualized Environments and multi-language features, and sets audit shortfall pricing at 110 percent of then-current list price, or 125 percent plus audit expenses if use is understated by more than five percent, with records produced within 30 days.[4]
- Corel Graphics Enterprise License Program (CGEL), with a footer dated 24-Feb-09, is a per-seat programme for an entire legal entity: each Authorized User (a person who actively uses a desktop or laptop as primary computer) is licensed, price levels A to D start at 250 Authorized Users, there is an annual true-up review with notice 60 days before the anniversary, and Corel may audit on 48 hours’ written notice. Maintenance may be bought for one, two or three years at purchase.[5]
Because both are older than the current EULA and BULA, practitioners should confirm with Corel which terms apply to a given contract.
Out of scope
This article does not cover EULA retail licences, WinZip or MindManager Specific Terms, or pricing.