If that happened, it is an error. I believe the flow these days is to go through Sales, but you do not have to buy or have a current subscription to install.

I'll repeat that: You can install a hundred times if you need. You do not have to buy or have a current subscription to install.

The license server counts installations and flags for verification after a certain number because it's quite common for people to install far more times (ie, for more people) than they actually bought. All that is required after you install a one-person license enough times to trigger the server asking questions is to contact us and let us know you really are using it legally. Then you're good to go.