What does copyright licensing mean?
• Copyright in a work may be ‘licensed’, which permits or authorizes someone else to do one of the ‘restricted acts • A licence may be ‘exclusive’, in which case the licensee receives certain rights to do certain acts to the exclusion of others. A ‘non-exclusive’ licence permits the copyright owner to re-license the same rights to different licensees • Exclusive licences must be signed by the copyright owner to be effective, non-exclusive licences commonly following a form of contract between the owner/licensor and the licensee • It is important that the assignor or licensor and the assignee or licensee are clear as to the rights that are being transferred (assigned) or licensed • Moral rights cannot be assigned or licensed, although they may be waived. The right to be identified as the author(s) of a work must be asserted in writing, as must be a waiver of moral rights.
