what is a licensee 
a licensee is any business organization or individual that has been granted legal permission or certain rights by another entity who owns certain assets to engage in any activity related to these assets the permission or license can be given on an express or implied basis licensees will compensate the owner of the license via an upfront payment ongoing fees royalties or some other revenue sharing arrangement understanding licenseesa licensee has received legal permission from another party to conduct some sort of business over which the other party holds some control ownership or authority the licensee may pay outright for this permission known as a licensing fee or may make payments based on the results of the business arrangement known as licensing revenue a licensee may pay the licensor for the permission or share revenue arising from activities arising from the permission many variations on the licensing relationship exist in the business world musical performances recordings and broadcasts often contain royalty agreements for licensing music software programs may include licensing agreements between corporate end users and the copyright holders of the underlying code patent holders of certain key technologies may demand payment for licensing its use in other products e g in consumer electronics or cars media companies license the content that they air or stream from producers or content creators research and discoveries found by scholars at universities may be licensed to private companies or startups especially in the fields of information technology science biotech and healthcare recently the creator economy and web 2 and web 3 era produced many creators who license their content including courses posts articles podcasts and videos related to any area they create some other common examples of licensee arrangements include the following under a franchise agreement the franchisee is granted permission to use the franchisor s assets such as supply chain trademarks or other intellectual property for a certain period of time typically the franchisee is granted exclusive rights to those assets within a certain localized area examples of franchisees include the owner operators of many retail stores or restaurants including some fast food locations in brand licensing the licensee is permitted to use a licensor s trademarks and logos on its own manufactured products such a sports apparel or toys for instance a hit superhero movie may be released that generates a large fan base the characters in the film are the property of the movie studio but they decide to solicit licensing agreements from various producers of consumer goods as such the likenesses of these characters may appear on clothing posters lunch boxes and in games they may also appear as action figures or dolls note that the producers of all these items are unaffiliated with the movie studio and must pay fees or royalties per the licensing agreements that represent the movie s brand a licensee may also be an entity that has been granted legal or regulatory permission to operate such a license is a mechanism for governments to oversee and in many cases tax certain business operators a liquor license is an example of this type by issuing the license a city or county ensures compliance with local regulations regarding alcoholic beverages and receives an additional revenue stream specifically associated with the sale of alcohol many types of businesses are required to obtain an operating license before being able to legally do business 1 these can range from food trucks to banks operating licenses can be granted at various levels of governance from local or state governments e g for food trucks all the way up to federal regulators e g in the case of banks a license to sell securities is a sort of similar permission granted on a state or nationwide basis national licenses are granted by financial industry regulatory authority finra a private regulatory authority that enforces the rules governing registered brokers and broker dealer firms in the united states examples include the series 7 and series 63 licenses an implied license can be a more ambiguous relationship as no express permission has been legally granted the classic example is the implied permission a firefighter has to enter a burning building even if the owner is not present to formally approve the entry in business this concept tends to involve a licensee interpreting communications with a licensor as implied permission to make use of an asset real estate licenseesan important use of licensee refers to permissions granted to access real estate typically a licensee of a property has been granted express permission to make use of land by the owner the property in question is not open to the general public a common example used in law schools is that of a hunter who has written permission to hunt on a landowner s property without this permission the hunter would be considered a trespasser and under very little legal protection from hazards encountered while hunting there nor could the hunter be considered an invitee a legal term to describe a guest with recourse to take legal action in response to damages suffered while in the property other requirementsin addition to paying any fees or revenues associated with being granted a license licensees are often subject to requirements that they treat the granted permission responsibly the hunter is expected to leave the property in the condition they found it the securities broker is required to recommend investments appropriate to the client the liquor store operator is prohibited from selling to underage customers a license does not grant free rein to exploit the licensed rights whether they be to a public or private asset 