license

license in public law, permission by legal authority to engage in certain acts and also the document showing such permission. Some licenses are required for the protection of the public; they assure professional competence (e.g., physicians) or moral fitness (e.g., tavern keepers). Others are designed primarily to raise revenue or to keep a registry (e.g., automobile licenses). It is a crime to engage in a licensed activity without having first procured a license. In property law, a license is a right that the owner grants some other party to make use of his land. Such licenses are revocable at will if they are not part of a contract. They are personal and hence may not be sold; they expire on the death of the grantee. A license to cross another's land is an easement in gross. In patent law, a license is a written authority granted by the owner of a patent to another person, empowering the latter to make or use the patented article for a limited period or in a limited territory.

li·cense / ˈlīsəns/ • n. (Brit. li·cence) a permit from an authority to own or use something, do a particular thing, or carry on a trade (esp. in alcoholic beverages): a gun license [as adj.] vehicle license fees. ∎  formal or official permission to do something: logging is permitted under license from the Forest Service. ∎  a writer's or artist's freedom to deviate from fact or from conventions such as grammar, meter, or perspective, for effect: artistic license. ∎  freedom to behave as one wishes, esp. in a way that results in excessive or unacceptable behavior: the government was criticized for giving the army too much license. ∎  (a license to do something) a reason or excuse to do something wrong or excessive: police say that the lenient sentence is a license to assault. • v. (Brit. also li·cence) [tr.] (often be licensed) grant a license to (someone or something) to permit the use of something or to allow an activity to take place: brokers must be licensed to sell health-related insurance [tr.] he ought not to have been licensed to fly a plane [as adj.] (licensing) a licensing authority. ∎  authorize the use, performance, or release of (something): the drug is already licensed for human use he was required to delete certain scenes before the film could be licensed for showing. ∎ dated give permission to (someone) to do something: [tr.] he was licensed to do no more than send a message. PHRASES: license to print money a very lucrative commercial activity, typically one perceived as requiring little effort.DERIVATIVES: li·cens·a·ble adj. li·cens·er n. li·cen·sor / -sər; ˌlīsənˈsôr/ n.