License

A license, (or licence), is a document or agreement giving permission to do something.

Note: Even though Wikipedia is not a dictionary, this word generates so much spelling confusion that a note is needed. The spelling licence is used in British English, while license is usual in American English. In both cases, the verb is license (adjective licensing), with the variant spelling licence.

The holder of a copyright may (and often does) require that a license be accepted as a condition of being allowed to reproduce the copyrighted work.

This is common in commercial computer software. Unlike most goods, but like other intellectual property (such as books, movies, and music), computer software is generally regarded as being licensed, not bought. (The person who purchases a book normally owns the atoms, but not the text.) This means that the licensee has fewer rights than someone who has purchased the underlying creative work. (A publisher who buys a book (the text) may typically republish it under a new title, but a consumer who buys a book (the atoms) may not.)

Software licenses are often highly restrictive, and most software users do not bother to read them in full. So-called "shrink-wrap" licences and "click-through" licences are common. Most limit the number of computers the software can be installed on, the number of users that can use the software, and apply other limitations that are not inherent in the technology. As a result, huge fortunes have been made by selling goods that have a minimal cost of reproduction on a per-item basis.

So-called free software licenses and open source licenses are a reaction to what many see as the unfair restrictions of commercial software licenses.

See also

• Driver's license
• Intellectual property

External links:

• Danish local government rebels against MS license terms

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Licence is also a state of liberty, and is sometimes used as a synonym for licentiousness.