For Wikipedia's licensing policy see Wikipedia:Copyrights. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009) Property law Part of the common law series Acquisition Gift  Adverse possession  Deed Conquest  Discovery  Accession Lost mislaid and abandoned property Treasure trove   Bailment  License Alienation Estates in land Allodial title  Fee simple  Fee tail Life estate  Defeasible estate Future interest  Concurrent estate Leasehold estate  Condominiums Conveyancing Bona fide purchaser Torrens title  Strata title Estoppel by deed  Quitclaim deed Mortgage  Equitable conversion Action to quiet title  Escheat Future use control Restraint on alienation Rule against perpetuities Rule in Shelley's Case Doctrine of worthier title Nonpossessory interest Easement  Profit Covenant Equitable servitude Related topics Fixtures  Waste  Partition Riparian water rights Prior-appropriation water rights Lateral and subjacent support Assignment  Nemo dat Property and conflict of laws Other common law areas Contract law  Tort law Wills trusts and estates Criminal law  Evidence v d e

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. Contents 1 Intellectual property 1.1 Mass licensing of software 1.2 Trademark and brand licensing 1.3 Artwork and character licensing 2 Academia 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 5.1 UK Legislation 5.2 Wikibooks 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 IP ownership.

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 Main article: Software license agreement

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 other countries i.e. Poland or France 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 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: Brand licensing Compulsory license Cross-licensing Music licensing Software license Statutory license Other: Amateur radio license Banking license Broadcast license Dog license Driver's license Firearms license Golf license Hunting license License to kill Liquor license Marriage license Pilot license Professional license Television license Vehicle license References 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 Look up licence in Wiktionary the free dictionary. Licensing.org Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association Licensingexpo.com Licensing International Expo ArtofLicensing.org ArtOfLicensing.org international network of art licensing professionals UK Legislation Official text of the Licensing Act 2003 - England & Wales as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom from the UK Statute Law Database Official text of the Licensing Act 2003 - England & Wales as originally enacted within the United Kingdom from the UK Statute Law Database Wikibooks Free/Open Source Software:Licensing