licence

The verb license or grant license means to give permission. The noun licence (British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Irish, or South African English) or license (American 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.
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 components 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" (Mexico/United States/Canada) would not permit a licensee any protection from actions for use in Japan.
A shorthand definition of license is "a promise by the licensor not to sue the licensee." That means without a license any use or exploitation of intellectual property by a third party would amount to copying or infringement. Such copying would be improper and could, by using the legal system, be stopped if the intellectual property owner wanted to do so.
Intellectual property licensing plays a major role in business, academia and broadcasting. Business practices such as franchising, technology transfer, publication and character merchandising entirely depend on the licensing of intellectual property. Land licensing (proprietary licensing) and IP licensing form sub-branches of law born out of the interplay of general laws of contract and specific principles and statutory laws relating to these respective assets.

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  1. The Grandfather

    Question Renew TV Licence after prolonged break

    As the title says I need to take out a TV licence after a break of some years. I watch Netflix, Prime, YouTube and non BBC catch up channels but with onset of Xmas and family about to descend I know that iPlayer and live TV will be on the menu. My question is this. If I take out a licence in a...
  2. Tomazagato

    Super licence on GT7

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  3. TVEye

    Licence scam

    I received this scam message this morning, made obvious by the fact that my licence renewal isn't due and by the comma after the email address. I tried to send it to both [email protected] and [email protected] but both send attempts failed.
  4. R

    UK driving licence

    For those who don't live in the UK once you reach the age of 70 you have to renew your driving licence every 3 years, The DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency } send a paper notifying you it needs to be renewed. this can be done on line or by snail mail. For me I as I have gleaucoma in both...
  5. Z

    Assume I need a TV licence to use Sky Q box to record anything?

    Do I need a TV licence to use my sky q box to record anything irrespective of what channel it's on? I'm desperate to cancel my license but the thought of crippling my sky q box when I'm in contract with Sky isn't that appealing really...
  6. LV426

    Licence

    I bit the bullet a couple of weeks ago and replaced my 1989 paper (only) licence with a photocard. And (as you do) I carefully checked off the vehicle codes I can drive to see that my old entitlement was properly carried forward. The codes have all changed, a lot, in the intervening period but...
  7. yokozuma

    What to charge for photo licence - advertising

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  8. S

    Question Are there TVs without a tuner?

    I have no UK TV licence as I want to watch only non-broadcast content, mainly DVDs & Blu-Rays. Is there a range of low-cost TVs without tuners, equivalent in price to standard TVs? Alternatively, is there a simple way to permanently disable or remove the tuner card from a modern flat-screen...
  9. D

    29% favor scrapping licence fee

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  10. aVdub

    Quadriplegic man gets Autonomous drivers license

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  11. signs

    Fishing rod licence/ Dog licence question

    Do you need a rod licence to fish on private land , why do you need a licence anyway ? Do people still need a dog licence ? The reason I ask is a mate of mine has just been to the post office and got a rod licence to fish on Saturday (£3.75) :)
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