In general, a license is a permit to access and use the property of another party. The right of ownership then regulates the conduct or uses that the owner, in this case the licensor, must tolerate from the licensee. This may involve movable or immovable property, intangible property or intellectual property, while the latter is probably most relevant in the case of license law.
In a license agreement, the rights of use are regularly granted in return for a fee, the so-called license fee. The advantage of such a license is that the licensor retains ownership, but the licensee can still use it for his own purposes. This may result in lower costs for the licensee compared to an acquisition by purchase, or the licensor would not have been prepared to sell.
The license is not regulated in detail by law. Rather, there are separate standards for the subordinate areas, for example from copyright or trademark law. Due to the contractual component of the license, general contract law naturally also plays a role.
As mentioned above, the area of license law is the most relevant in relation to intellectual property. This includes copyrights, trademark rights and patents. All everyday products are based on license agreements, be it software, images, music or videos.
In internet lawcopyright is of particular importance. The ever more capable and faster Internet enables an increasing volume of data transfers every day. Ensuring that you fully benefit from your own copyrights or that you avoid infringing someone else’s copyrights is not only becoming more important, but also more difficult than ever.
Regardless of whether you want to defend your property or gain access to someone else’s, or whether you are concerned about copyrights to an image or a trademark, we will be happy to help you. Do not hesitate to contact us for a fast, professional and non-binding offer.
