License

• PLI improves the safety and quality of living for residents of the City of Pittsburgh through the administration and enforcement of the Pittsburgh Building Code and Zoning Code and the regulation of business and trade licenses.
• Licence or License? What is the difference between 'licence' and 'license'? In the UK, use 'licence' for the noun, but use 'license' for the verb. In the US, use 'license' for everything (i.e., for the noun and the verb).

1. Texas Department Of Safety Drivers License
2. License Bureau

Our Story

License means permission to do something, especially formal permission from a government or other authority. The word often refers to the proof of that permission, such as a card or certificate.

Licence or License?

What is the difference between 'licence' and 'license'?

• In the UK, use 'licence' for the noun, but use 'license' for the verb.
• In the US, use 'license' for everything (i.e., for the noun and the verb).

For example:

• Do you have a license? () ()
• Do you have a licence? () ()
• I need to license this vehicle. () ()

More about 'Licence' and 'License'

If you're following US writing conventions, life is easy. Use 'license.' (In the US, 'licence' does not exist.)
Those following UK conventions must know the difference between a noun and a verb because 'licence' is used for the noun, while 'license' is used for the verb. If you're unsure how to spot a noun and a verb, don't worry because we have some workarounds.

A Video Summary

Here is a short video summarizing the difference between 'licence' and 'license.'

Examples of 'Licence' and 'License'

Here are some examples of sentences with 'licence' and 'license':

• This restaurant is licensed to sell alcohol. () ()
(Here, 'licensed' is a verb.)

Tip for Brits
Try substituting the verb 'to allow' with the verb 'to license' to confirm it's a verb.

• This restaurant is allowed to sell alcohol.

As this sounds okay, 'licensed' is correct.

• May I see your driving licence please? () ()
(Here, 'licence' is a noun.)

Tip for Brits
Try substituting the noun 'papers' with the noun 'licence' to confirm it's a noun.

• May I see your driving papers please?

As this sounds okay, 'licence' is correct.

• I am unable to give you a license because of your history. () ()
• This is not worth losing your licence over. () ()

No confusion with 'licensing' or 'licensed'

There should be no confusion with 'licensing' or 'licensed.' The endings '-ing' and '-ed' mean these are always from the verb; i.e., there are no such words as 'licencing' or 'licenced' in British English or American English.

'License' in America

If you're an American, use 'license.' (In American English, license is both noun and verb.)

A Video Summary

Watch a video showing 10 big differences between British English and American English.

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See Also

adverse or averse?affect or effect?appraise or apprise?avenge or revenge?bare or bear?complement or compliment?dependant or dependent?discreet or discrete?disinterested or uninterested?e.g. or i.e.?envy or jealousy?imply or infer?its or it's?material or materiel?poisonous or venomous?practice or practise?principal or principle?tenant or tenet?who's or whose?What are nouns?What are verbs?List of easily confused words

Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most (GNU AGPLv3) to none (Unlicense). Notice that the popular licenses featured on the home page (GNU GPLv3 and MIT) fall within this spectrum.

If you’re looking for a reference table of every license on choosealicense.com, see the appendix.

GNU AGPLv3

Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available.

Texas Department Of Safety Drivers License

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Patent use Private use	Disclose source License and copyright notice Network use is distribution Same license State changes	Liability Warranty

GNU GPLv3

Permissions of this strong copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Patent use Private use	Disclose source License and copyright notice Same license State changes	Liability Warranty

GNU LGPLv3

Permissions of this copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications under the same license or the GNU GPLv3. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. However, a larger work using the licensed work through interfaces provided by the licensed work may be distributed under different terms and without source code for the larger work.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Patent use Private use	Disclose source License and copyright notice Same license (library) State changes	Liability Warranty

Mozilla Public License 2.0

Permissions of this weak copyleft license are conditioned on making available source code of licensed files and modifications of those files under the same license (or in certain cases, one of the GNU licenses). Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. However, a larger work using the licensed work may be distributed under different terms and without source code for files added in the larger work.

License Bureau

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Patent use Private use	Disclose source License and copyright notice Same license (file)	Liability Trademark use Warranty

Apache License 2.0

A permissive license whose main conditions require preservation of copyright and license notices. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Patent use Private use	License and copyright notice State changes	Liability Trademark use Warranty

MIT License

A short and simple permissive license with conditions only requiring preservation of copyright and license notices. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Private use	License and copyright notice	Liability Warranty

Boost Software License 1.0

A simple permissive license only requiring preservation of copyright and license notices for source (and not binary) distribution. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Private use	License and copyright notice for source	Liability Warranty

The Unlicense

A license with no conditions whatsoever which dedicates works to the public domain. Unlicensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions	Conditions	Limitations
Commercial use Distribution Modification Private use	Liability Warranty

The above licenses represent the entire spectrum of open source licenses, from highly protective to unconditional. One of these should work for most new open source projects. Many other open source licenses exist, including older versions of and close substitutes for some of the above. See the resources listed on our about page if you’d like to read more.