hi Alison,
You don't need to activate the EAR checks to classify your product. Yes right.
But if you would like to maintain license it means you are trying to use the functionality of EAR check and license determination. So, it's obvious that system expects you to activate legal regulation.
So, to keep it simple. If you want to maintain license, system assumes you are activating checks and expects the LR to be activated.
Regards
Dhilipan