Legal Definitions - licensee

A licensee is an individual or entity that has been granted specific, limited permission or rights by another party, known as the licensor. This permission, called a license, allows the licensee to engage in certain activities, use particular property, or access specific areas that would otherwise be restricted or unlawful. The rights granted to a licensee are always defined and limited by the terms of the license and the authority of the licensor.

The concept of a licensee applies in various legal contexts:

• Example 1: A local bakery using a popular cartoon character on its specialty cakes.

  Explanation: The bakery is the licensee, having obtained permission from the animation studio (the licensor) to use the copyrighted character design. Without this license, using the character would be an infringement of intellectual property rights. The license specifies how the character can be used (e.g., only on cakes, for a certain period, within a specific geographic area) and often involves royalty payments to the licensor.

• Example 2: A student accessing a university's online research database from home.

  Explanation: The student is a licensee. The university (or the database provider, through the university) grants the student a license to access and use the database's content for academic purposes. This permission is limited; for instance, the student cannot redistribute the content commercially or share their login credentials, as defined by the university's terms of use and the database's licensing agreement.

• Example 3: A person attending a private art exhibition held in a gallery owner's home.

  Explanation: In the context of property law, the attendee is a licensee. The gallery owner (the licensor) has given them permission to enter the private residence for the specific purpose of viewing the art. The attendee is there for their own interest (to see art), not primarily for the commercial benefit of the homeowner. This differs from a customer in a retail store (who would be an "invitee" because their presence benefits the store owner commercially) or someone who enters without permission (a "trespasser"). The property owner's legal duty of care to a licensee is generally lower than to an invitee.