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Licensing
Programs
The verb
license or grant licence means to give permission. The
noun license (American English) or licence (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.
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. 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.
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.
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