License

License

The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license (American English) or licence (Indian English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English) refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.

A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an element of an agreement between those parties. A shorthand definition of a license is "an authorization (by the licensor) to use the licensed material (by the licensee)."

In particular a license may be issued by authorities, to allow an activity that would otherwise be forbidden. It may require paying a fee and/or proving a capability. The requirement may also serve to keep the authorities informed on a type of activity, and to give them the opportunity to set conditions and limitations.

Contents

Intellectual property

A licensor may grant a license under intellectual property laws to authorize a use (such as copying software or using a (patented) invention) to a licensee, sparing the licensee from a claim of infringement brought by the licensor.[1] A license under intellectual property commonly has several component parts beyond the grant itself, including a term, territory, renewal provisions, and other limitations deemed vital to the licensor.

Term: many licenses are valid for a particular length of time. This protects the licensor should the value of the license increase, or market conditions change. It also preserves enforceability by ensuring that no license extends beyond the term of the agreement.

Territory: a license may stipulate what territory the rights pertain to. For example, a license with a territory limited to "North America" (United States/Canada) would not permit a licensee any protection from actions for use in Japan.

Mass licensing of software

Mass distributed software is used by individuals on personal computers under license from the developer of that software. Such license is typically included in a more extensive end-user license agreement (EULA) entered into upon the installation of that software on a computer. Typically, a license is associated with a unique code, that when approved grants the end user access to the software in question.

Under a typical end-user license agreement, the user may install the software on a limited number of computers.

The enforceability of end-user license agreements is sometimes questioned.

Trademark and brand licensing

A licensor may grant permission to a licensee to distribute products under a trademark. With such a license, the licensee may use the trademark without fear of a claim of trademark infringement by the licensor.

Artwork and character licensing

A licensor may grant a permission to a licensee to copy and distribute copyrighted works such as "art" (e.g., Thomas Kinkade's painting "Dawn in Los Gatos") and characters (e.g., Mickey Mouse). With such license, a licensee need not fear a claim of copyright infringement brought by the copyright owner.

Artistic license is, however, not related to the aforementioned license. It is a euphemism that denotes approaches in art works where dramatic effect is achieved at the expense of factual accuracy.

Academia

National examples of the License are listed at Licentiate

A licence is an academic degree. Originally, in order to teach at a university, one needed this degree which, according to its title, gave the bearer a licence to teach. The name survived despite the fact that nowadays a doctorate is typically needed in order to teach at a university. A person who holds a license is called a licentiate.

In Sweden, Finland, and in some other European university systems, a licence or 'Licentiate' is a postgraduate degree between the master's degree and the doctorate. The Licentiate is a popular choice in those countries where a full doctoral degree would take five or more years to achieve.

In some other major countries, such as France, or Belgium or Poland, a licence is achieved before the master's degree (it takes 3 years of studies to become licentiate and 2 additional years to become Master) in France, while in Belgium the licence takes 4 years while the master itself takes 2 more years. In Switzerland, a licence is a 4-year degree then there is a DEA degree which is equivalent to the Master's degree. In Portugal, before the Bologna process, students would become licentiates after 5 years of studies (4 years in particular cases like Marketing, Management, etc.; and 6 years for Medicine). However, since the adoption of the Bologna Process engineering degrees in Portugal were changed from a 5 year licence to a 3 year licence followed by 2 years for the MSc: Not having the MSc doesn't confer accreditation by the Ordem dos Engenheiros)

See also

Intellectual property-related:

Other:

References

  1. ^ Intellectual Property Licensing: Forms and Analysis, by Richard Raysman, Edward A. Pisacreta and Kenneth A. Adler. Law Journal Press, 1999-2008. ISBN 973-58852-086-9

External links

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • license — li·cense 1 / līs əns/ n [Anglo French, literally, permission, from Old French, from Latin licentia, from licent licens, present participle of licēre to be permitted, be for sale] 1 a: a right or permission granted by a competent authority (as of… …   Law dictionary

  • license — li‧cense [ˈlaɪsns] also licence verb [transitive] LAW 1. to give official permission for someone to do something or for an activity to take place: • The building contractors we hired were licensed by the General Service Administration …   Financial and business terms

  • License — Li cense (l[imac] sens), n. [Written also {licence}.] [F. licence, L. licentia, fr. licere to be permitted, prob. orig., to be left free to one; akin to linquere to leave. See {Loan}, and cf. {Illicit}, {Leisure}.] 1. Authority or liberty given… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • license — or licence [lī′səns] n. [OFr < L licentia < licens, prp. of licere, to be permitted: see LEISURE] 1. a formal permission to do something; esp. authorization by law to do some specified thing [license to marry, practice medicine, hunt, etc.] …   English World dictionary

  • License — Li cense (l[imac] sens), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Licensed} (l[imac] senst); p. pr. & vb. n. {Licensing}.] To permit or authorize by license; to give license to; as, to license a man to preach. Milton. Shak. Syn: licence, certify. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • license — [n1] authority, permission authorization, carte blanche*, certificate, charter, consent, dispensation, entitlement, exemption, freedom, go ahead*, grant, green light*, immunity, independence, latitude, leave, liberty, okay*, permit, privilege,… …   New thesaurus

  • license# — license n liberty, *freedom Analogous words: *exemption, immunity: looseness, laxity, slackness, relaxedness or relaxation (see corresponding adjectives at LOOSE): privilege, prerogative (see RIGHT) Antonyms: decorum Contrasted words: *obligation …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • License — (engl., spr. leißens), s. Ticket of leave …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • License — См. Лицензия Термины атомной энергетики. Концерн Росэнергоатом, 2010 …   Термины атомной энергетики

  • license — see LICENCE (Cf. licence). Related: Licensed; licensing …   Etymology dictionary

  • license — (also licence) ► VERB 1) grant a licence to. 2) authorize. DERIVATIVES licensable adjective licenser (also licensor) noun. ORIGIN from LICENCE(Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

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